History:
In 1944 Jack Northrop proposed to the USAAF a pioltless flying wing designed
to deliver a war head of up to 2,000 lb of high explosive over a range of 400
miles. Powered by two GE turbojets with 400 lb of thrust each, housed in the
central fuselage with the explosive in two pods ether side of the fuselage.The
missile was to be launched from a trolley mounted on a pair of rails, using
rocket boosters. On the 1/7/1944 Northrop received a contract for three JB-1's,
one to be a piloted glider, known as the MX-543 "Bat" to test the
aerodynamics of the design as well as the guidance system and two prototypes
fitted with engines. The MX-543 "Bat" first flew on the 27/8/1944
and past a successful test program, but when the JB-1 was tested with the GE
B1 turbojet engines it was found to be underpowered.
On the 19/2/1945 the USAAF abandoned all work on the JB-1 to concentrate on a redesigned missile the JB-10, this had the same wings but the fuselage was modified to accept the Ford PJ-31-1 Pulse Jet from the JB-2 "Loon" program, from April to October 1945 the JB-10 was launched in a series of tests successfully.
But from the start it was doomed, as it was designed to aircraft standards of quality being made of Aluminum and Magnesium, it was simply to expensive and the whole JB-10 program along with the JB-2 program was canceled at the start of 1946, after only 11 JB-10's were made.
|
|
