The Northrop N-1M is an American single-seat, twin-engine experimental flying wing built by Northrop in 1939-40 to prove Jack Northrop's all-wing concept. Nicknamed the 'Jeep', it first flew on 3 July 1940 and was the first entirely all-wing aircraft designed, built and flown in the United States. Developed by Northrop Aircraft.
The Northrop N-1M is an American single-seat, twin-engine experimental flying wing built by Northrop in 1939-40 to prove Jack Northrop's all-wing concept. Developed by Northrop Aircraft.
Photo: Greg Goebel, Public domainSee Specifications for full detail.
The Northrop N-1M is an American single-seat, twin-engine experimental flying wing, built by Northrop Aircraft as a testbed for Jack Northrop's all-wing designs. Nicknamed the 'Jeep', it first flew on 3 July 1940 at Baker Dry Lake, California. It was the first entirely all-wing aircraft designed, built and flown in the United States. [1] [2]
The N-1M made more than 200 flights, and its results fed into the N-9M scale test aircraft and the full-size XB-35 bomber. Northrop handed it to the Army Air Forces as a museum piece in November 1943. After restoration between 1979 and 1983 it is on display at the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. [2] [3]
Jack Northrop's interest in the flying wing went back to 1929, when his Avion Corporation built an all-metal monoplane with its engine inside the wing structure, the first step towards an all-wing design. He had to sell that company in 1930. By 1939 his earlier Northrop Corporation had become a Douglas subsidiary, and he set up a new, independent company in Hawthorne, California, where he concentrated on the flying wing. [3]
Northrop believed an aircraft with no fuselage or tail would be more aerodynamically efficient than a conventional one. The N-1M was built in 1939 and 1940 as a flying testbed to show that a practical flying wing could be made to work The reduced-scale design tested in 1940 eventually led to the full-size XB-35 bomber. [2] [1] [3]
The wing was built mostly of specially laminated layers of glued wood and covered in thin plywood, joined to a centre section of tubular steel, and the aircraft was painted yellow. It spanned 38 ft 8 in (11.79 m) with a wing area of 350 sq ft, was 17 ft 11 in (5.46 m) long and 4 ft 11 in (1.50 m) high, and weighed 3,900 lb (1,769 kg) at gross weight. Its published top speed is 200 mph, with a range of 300 miles and a ceiling of 4,000 ft. [1] [2]
The N-1M was built to be reconfigured, so that different layouts could be flown without building a new aircraft. Technicians could change its centre of gravity, the dihedral and sweep of the wing, and the position of the wingtips. It first flew with two 65 hp Lycoming O-145 four-cylinder engines. They proved too weak, and during testing Northrop replaced them with two 120 hp Franklin 6AC264F2 six-cylinder engines. [2] [1]
Vance Breese made the first flight on 3 July 1940 at Baker Dry Lake, when the N-1M bounced into the air unexpectedly during a high-speed taxi run. In its first form it was overweight and underpowered and could fly no higher than about five feet. Breese then left to join the team developing the North American B-25 bomber, and Moye Stephens took over the test flying. [1] [2]
Stephens had made about 30 flights by the end of 1941, and by November that year he had found a rolling oscillation, a form of Dutch roll, which was managed by changing the wing settings. Theodore von Kármán proposed changes to the trailing edges of the elevons to solve the early control problems. John Myers replaced Stephens in May 1942, and the N-1M went on to make more than 200 flights. [2] [1]
On 22 November 1941, with the N-1M still flying, the Army Air Forces signed a development contract with Northrop for a full-size flying-wing bomber, the XB-35. To test that design at smaller scale, Northrop built four N-9Ms, one-third-scale models of the XB-35 made of wood, laminated plywood and welded steel tube and powered by two 290 hp Menasco engines. The first flew on 27 December 1942 with John Myers at the controls. [4] [5]
The first N-9M crashed near Muroc on 19 May 1943 after about 22.5 flying hours, killing its pilot, Max Constant, who could not recover from a spin. The last of the four, the N-9MB, was restored by the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino, California and flown at air shows from 1993 until it crashed at Norco, California on 22 April 2019, killing the pilot, David Vopat. The full-size XB-35 first flew in 1946 and its jet-powered derivative, the YB-49, in 1947. [5] [4] [6]
Northrop formally transferred the N-1M to the Army Air Forces on 8 November 1943 as a museum piece for the planned Army Air Forces Museum. It was stored at Freeman Field, Indiana and later at Park Ridge, Illinois, and passed to the Smithsonian after the Korean War began in 1950. [2]
Restoration at the Smithsonian's Paul Garber Facility began in May 1979 and was completed in March 1983, returning the aircraft to the configuration in which it last flew. The N-1M is displayed at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. [2] [1]
Not trackable. The only N-1M last flew in the early 1940s and is now a static exhibit, so it never appears on a live tracker. It can be seen at the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.
| Performance | |
| Max Speed | 174 kn (200 mph / 322 km/h) |
|---|---|
| Cruise SpeedCruise Speed — The economical speed an aircraft sustains for the bulk of a flight - lower than maximum speed, chosen for the best balance of time and fuel burn. Glossary → | Not published |
| RangeRange — How far an aircraft can fly without refuelling. Quoted figures vary with payload, speed and reserves - see also ferry range and combat radius. Glossary → | 300 mi |
| Service CeilingService Ceiling — The highest altitude at which an aircraft can still climb at a useful rate (typically 100 ft/min). Above it, the air is too thin to keep climbing meaningfully. Glossary → | 4,000 ft |
| Airframe & Weight | |
| Wingspan | 38 ft 8 in |
| Length | 17 ft 11 in |
| Height | 4 ft 11 in |
| WeightMTOW — Maximum Take-Off Weight - the heaviest an aircraft is certified to be at the start of its take-off run, including fuel, crew, payload and the aircraft itself. Glossary → | empty: not published; MTOW: 3,900 lb |
| Power & Payload | |
| Engines | 2 × Franklin 6AC264F2 six-cylinder piston engines, 120 hp each (originally 2 × 65 hp Lycoming O-145) |
| Crew | 1 (pilot) |
| CapacityPayload — Everything an aircraft is carrying that isn't the aircraft or its fuel: passengers, cargo, or weapons. Payload and fuel usually trade off against each other. Glossary → | None - single-seat research aircraft |
| Program & Service | |
| Manufacturer | Northrop Aircraft |
| Origin | United States |
| First Flight | July 3rd 1940 |
| Service Entry | Never entered service |
| Retired | November 8th 1943 |
| Number Built | 1 |
| Unit Cost | Not publicly disclosed - a one-off research aircraft built by Northrop, and no cost was ever published |
4 notable events involving the N-1M, 1940 to 1983. Curated rather than exhaustive.
Vance Breese was carrying out a high-speed taxi run when the N-1M bounced into the air. It was the aircraft's first flight. With its original 65 hp Lycoming engines it was overweight and underpowered.
Myers replaced Moye Stephens, who had made about 30 flights by the end of 1941 and found a rolling oscillation that was corrected by adjusting the wing. The N-1M eventually made more than 200 flights.
Northrop formally handed the N-1M to the Army Air Forces for its planned museum. It was stored at Freeman Field, Indiana and Park Ridge, Illinois before passing to the Smithsonian after 1950.
Work at the Paul Garber Facility, begun in May 1979, returned the N-1M to the configuration in which it last flew. It is now displayed at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.
| N-1M (Lycoming O-145) | The aircraft as first flown in July 1940, with two 65 hp Lycoming O-145 four-cylinder engines. In this form it was overweight and underpowered and at first could fly no higher than about five feet. Vance Breese and then Moye Stephens tested it, and Stephens had made about 30 flights by the end of 1941. |
| N-1M (Franklin 6AC264F2) | The same airframe re-engined during testing with two 120 hp Franklin 6AC264F2 six-cylinder engines. With changes to the elevon trailing edges proposed by Theodore von Kármán and adjustments to its wing settings, it went on to make more than 200 flights in all. This is the configuration the Smithsonian restored it to between 1979 and 1983. |
| N-9M (follow-on) | Not a variant of the N-1M but its direct successor: four one-third-scale flying models of the XB-35 bomber, built of wood, laminated plywood and welded steel tube with two 290 hp Menasco engines. The first flew on 27 December 1942. One crashed in 1943, killing its pilot, and the last, the N-9MB, flew at air shows until it crashed in 2019. |
The only N-1M built survives. It passed to the Smithsonian after 1950 and was restored between May 1979 and March 1983.
No newly associated news articles since this aircraft was added to PlanesDB. When new news articles are published, they will be automatically added and tracked here.
Numbered as cited in the Overview article. Click a reference to see where it's used.
Additional reading you might find interesting...
PlanesDB entries are living documents - this is how this one has evolved, and who helped make it happen. Spotted something out of date? Help update it.
