New Stealth Bomber?

[2013BRM]

Sounds intriguing

http://blogs.rollcall.com/five-by-five/the-new-ste...

[Eric Mc]

There are always such projects in the offing.

[MartG]

I'm surprised it's taken so long - the B-2 is nearly 20 years old now, and with only 19 of them in operational service ( plus one test airframe ) there must be some huge costs associated with operating such a small number of them.

Also, given how long it takes to get a modern military aircraft into service, they really do need to get working in order to have it ready to replace the B-1 ( due out of service in the 2030s ) and B-52 ( out of service in the 2040s )

[Eric Mc]

MartG said:

I'm surprised it's taken so long - the B-2 is nearly 20 years old now

It was publicly revealed in 1988 - so it's already at least 26 years old. The project began in the 1970s and can trace its ancestry back to the flying wing designs built by Northrop in the 1940s.

And, of course, it's not really taken so long. It's just that various stealth proposals which have been put forward by the industry since the 1970s have not survived changes in President or funding cuts.

There's no guarantee that any new designs will fare any better.

[TheEnd]

I'm pretty sure you can trace most plane's ancestry back to a couple of American brothers.

[Eric Mc]

TheEnd said:

I'm pretty sure you can trace most plane's ancestry back to a couple of American brothers.

In very general terms, yes. Indeed, you can go back as far as Sir George Cayley regarding the basic layout of most aircraft. His design looks more like a modern aeroplane than the Wright Brothers'

What I was alluding to was the Northrop Corporations deep interest in flying wings which had a long pedigree and which ultimately resulted in the B2.

[Eric Mc]

ash73 said:

Eric Mc said:

The project began in the 1970s and can trace its ancestry back to the flying wing designs built by Northrop in the 1940s.

Maybe the Horton 229?

To some extent. But Northrop's interest in flying wings actually was contemporary with what the Horten brothers were doing in Germany. Northrop's first flying wing was the N1M which flew in 1941 - around the same time that the Hortens were designing their flying wings.



I am sure, post war, Northrop did examine closely the Horten designs - but they had a lot of experience of flying wings from their own work too.

[MartG]

Eric Mc said:

MartG said:

I'm surprised it's taken so long - the B-2 is nearly 20 years old now

It was publicly revealed in 1988 - so it's already at least 26 years old.

Ah - I was looking at its 'in service' date of 1997

ash73 said:

Eric Mc said:

The project began in the 1970s and can trace its ancestry back to the flying wing designs built by Northrop in the 1940s.

Maybe the Horton 229?

Northrop's N-1M predates the 229 - first flight July 1940

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_N-1M

[Eric Mc]

Not so sure.

They didn't get around to building this -



or this -



ALL flying wings - and most tailless aircraft - of that era had inherent stability problems, which is why they were not really a practical proposition until computer assisted control could be used.