Northrop YRB-49
The Northrop YRB-49A was a jet reconnaissance conversion of the flying-wing bomber line: one YB-35A airframe fitted with six Allison J35 engines, two of them in pods beneath the wing to free space for fuel, and with camera stations for photographic reconnaissance. Northrop was authorized to begin work in 1948, when an RB-49A production order was promised, but production work was ordered ended in January 1949 and only the single prototype was ever completed. It made 13 test flights in 1950 and 1951 and was scrapped in 1953; none survives.
Why It Mattered
By 1948 Northrop's jet bomber, the YB-49, was running out of chances, and a strategic reconnaissance version was the one final hope for the flying-wing programme. Northrop got the go-ahead to start RB-49 work on 3 May 1948, with 29 aircraft promised at first and a total of more than 100 talked of. In June 1948, Wikipedia records, the Air Force placed the type into full production as the RB-49A. Vintage Aviation News describes the reconnaissance variant as a last-ditch effort to salvage the YB-49 program.
Design Notes
The YRB-49A was converted from a single YB-35A airframe and kept the bomber wing of 172 ft span. Six Allison J35-A-19 turbojets replaced the eight engines of the YB-49 bomber. Two of the six were slung in pods beneath the wing, making room for more fuel tanks inside to extend the aircraft's range. The pods were also sized for the larger J40 engines planned for later aircraft. The pods increased drag, however. For its work it carried five camera stations and six 188 lb flash bombs for night operations.
Operational History
The sole YRB-49A first flew on 4 May 1950, when test pilot Fred C. Bretcher flew it from Hawthorne to Edwards Air Force Base. Its production future had already been closed off: in January 1949 the Air Force ordered all work on production RB-49s ended, while letting the single YRB-49A continue. In early 1950 the remaining YB-35B airframes then under conversion were ordered scrapped. The test programme amounted to 13 flights totaling 17 hours and 40 minutes, with mostly favorable results. On one flight, on 10 August, the pilot's canopy was accidentally jettisoned in flight, and the aircraft depressurized; the pilot lost his mask in the airstream and was given emergency oxygen. Testing ended abruptly on 26 April 1951, with a final flight to Northrop's Ontario Airport base.
Afterlife
The YRB-49A never entered service, and no production RB-49A was built. After its last flight it sat out in the open at Ontario for over two years. From 1950 it was the only full-scale flying wing aircraft remaining in existence, and in November 1953 it was authorized for reclamation. It was scrapped in late 1953, and no YRB-49A survives. The cancellation stayed contested: in a 1979 interview Jack Northrop claimed the flying-wing contracts had been cancelled because his company refused to merge with Convair, which Secretary Symington publicly denied exerting pressure over when questioned by the House Armed Services Committee.