N-9M

The Northrop N-9M was a ‘flying wing’, a design developed by Jack Northrop, consisted of a steel tube center section which housed the pilot, though wood was used for a large part of the aircraft to reduce weight. Initially, the N-9M was powered by twin 290hp Menasco C65-1 engines, driving two-bladed propellers. The later N-9M-B model was upgraded to 400hp Franklin engines. The Northrop N-9M proved useful in helping to train XB-35 and XB-49 pilots however once the US Army canceled the XB-35 program all but the final (N-9M-B) aircraft were scrapped. Continue reading for two more videos and information.

First flown in 1942, the N-9M (M for Model) was the third in a lineage of all-wing Northrop aircraft designs that began in 1929 when Jack Northrop succeeded in early experiments with his single pusher propeller, twin-tailed, twin-boom, all stressed metal skin Northrop Flying Wing X-216H monoplane, and a decade later, the dual-prop N-1M of 1939-1941. Northrop’s pioneering all-wing aircraft would lead Northrop-Grumman many years later to eventually develop the advanced B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, which debuted in Air Force inventory in 1989.

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