Northrop JB-1 Bat
The Northrop JB-1A "Bat" or "Thunderbug" was a prototype "jet bomb" – in effect, a surface-to-surface cruise missile – developed in the United States during World War II.[1] The JB-1A was also an early jet aircraft aircraft, with a radical flying wing planform.
In August 1942, a
Northrop had already been contracted under Project MX-334 for a small rocket propelled flying wing aircraft, and the two projects were combined. The MX-334 first flew, as a glider, on November 9, 1943. Northrop was formally contracted for a jet bomb version, the MX-543, on July 1, 1944, shortly after the Germans began their V-1 campaign against England.[3] The MX-334 flew under rocket power on July 5.[4]
Progress on the MX-543 was rapid, because much of the design work and plans were picked up directly from work on MX-334.[3] The first JB-1 was built as a manned glider to test the flight characteristics of the vehicle at lower speeds.[5] This was a typical approach by Northrop due to its lack of a wind tunnel. The first flight of the JB-1 glider was piloted by Harry Crosby on August 27, 1944.
A prospective engine, the General Electric B-1, emerged – a result of a unrelated project to convert a B-31 turbosupercharger into a small turbojet. The chief designer was GE testing manager Gene Stoeckly. (Because his parents were foreign nationals, Stoeckly had been prohibited from working on a parallel, secret project to adapt the British Power Jets W.1 engine for American production as the GE 1-A, which was developed into the I-16.[6]) After a potential customer in the form of Northrop expressed a desire for a small turbojet, development was handed off to Russ Hall and Marty Hemsworth who managed to turn the bootstrap project into ostensibly flight worthy hardware.[7]
The JB-1A, equipped with two GE B-1 engines, was ready for testing in early December 1944 at Range 64, Sana Rosa Island, Florida.[7] On December 7, 1944, it was launched and promptly stalled and crashed.[8] The stall was attributed to an improper elevon setting compounded by a failure of one of the GE B-1 turbojets.[9][10] The Army Air Forces Report on the failure stated "Flight failure was primarily attributted to improper setting of the bombs control surfaces prior to launching, but damage to the right turbo-jet engine approximately 30 seconds before take-off would not have permitted successful flight."[11] The Northrop JB-1 suffered from numerous production and structural complexities as well as being overweight. The problem of persistent turbine failures coupled with the J-1s low thrust had already caused Northrop to seek another powerplant, the Ford pulse jet as used on the JB-2.[5] That change coupled with the need to reduce the cost of manufacturing the JB-1A led to the development of the JB-10.[12]
In June 1996, the Western Museum of Flight restored the manned JB-1 glider.[13]
JB-10
With the successful USAAF flights of JB-2, and the inadequate performance of the GE B-1, the JB-1 program was reoriented towards pulsejet propulsion before the attempted first flight of the JB-1A. The remaining JB-1s were modified or completed as JB-10 missiles.
References
- ^ Carpenter & D'Alessandro 1997, p. 5.
- ^ Wolf 2021, p. 288.
- ^ a b Pape & Campbell 1995, p. 103.
- ^ Pape & Campbell 1995, p. 107.
- ^ a b Pape & Campbell 1995, p. 105.
- ^ Carpenter & D'Alessandro 1997, p. 10.
- ^ a b Carpenter & D'Alessandro 1997, p. 12.
- ^ Quigg 2014, p. 53.
- ^ a b Wolf 2021, p. 293.
- ^ a b c Werrell 1998, p. 69.
- ^ Carpenter & D'Alessandro 1997, p. 46.
- ^ Carpenter & D'Alessandro 1997, p. 15.
- ^ "Northrop JB-1 "Bat" (MX-543)". WMoF.com (Western Museum of Flight). Retrieved 2012-05-23.
- ^ a b Wolf 2021, p. 330.
- ^ Wolf 2021, p. 331.
books
- Carpenter, David M.; D'Alessandro, P. V. (1997). "JB-1A Thunderbuggy WWII Flying Wing Bomb America's First Cruise Missile the Northrop "Bat Bomb and the GE B-1 Engine. Jet Pioneers of America. ISBN 978-0-9633387-8-5.
- Mindling, George, and Bolton, Robert, U.S. Air Force Tactical Missiles 1949–1969: 'The Pioneers', 2008, Lulu Press
- Quigg, Gary Francis (2014). JB-2: America's First Cruise Missile. Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana: Department of History, Indiana University.
- Pape, Garry R.; Campbell, John M. (1995). Northrop Flying Wings: A History of Jack Northrop's Visionary Aircraft. Altglen, Pennsylvania: schiffer Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-887-40-689-0.
- Werrell, Kenneth P. (1985). The Evolution of the Cruise Missile. Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Air University Press.
- Wolf, William (2021). Off Target America's Guided Bombs, Missiles and Drones 1917-1950. London: Fonthill Media Ltd. ISBN 978-1-78155-816-4.