In 1941, as Britain fall to German invasion was seemed imminent, the USAAC opened up a competition for a very long-range bomber that would have to reach Europe directly from North America. Northrop and Consolidated were asked to provide the proposals. Northrop submitted his flying wing bomber design and was received contract for the XB-35 prototype plus a 1/3-scale N9M mockup. The Consolidated submission was became XB-36. The XB-35 and N9M program was began in 1942. Unfortunately, both the B-35 and B-36 program was seriously behind schedule by numerous technical problems. The test result with the N9M indicated that the range of the XB-35 would shorter that anticipated. The USAAC concluded that the B-35 would not ready in time to contribute the war effect and decided to change the XB-35 aircraft as test vehicles. In 1946, the XB-35 finally completed and made its first flight. However, the propeller-driven B-35 was definitely outdated as it was too slow for the era of jet propulsion. The Air Force decided to authorize modification of two YB-35s by installing eight jet engines. These two aircrafts were redesignated YB-49.

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Long-range strategic heavy bomber

To build for the development of a long-range bomber

172ft.

53ft.1in.

20ft.

4x Pratt & Whitney R-4360 radials engine

391 mph

9

51200 lbs bomb load / 20x 0.50in. machine gun

The Northrop YB-49 is suitable to group with the following collection series.

U.S.A.A.F.  bomber in World War II 1937~1945

Boeing XB-15

Martin XB-16

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress

Douglas B-18 Bolo

Douglas XB-19A Flying Behemoth

Boeing XB-20

North American XB-21 Dragon

Douglas XB-22 Bolo

Douglas B-23 Dragon

Consolidated B-24 Liberator

North American B-25 Mitchell

Martin B-26 Marauder

Martin XB-27

North American XB-28

Boeing B-29 Superfortress

Lockheed XB-30 Constellation

Douglas XB-31 Raidmaster

Consolidated B-32 Dominator

Martin XB-33 Super Marauder

Lockheed B-34 Ventura

Northrop XB-35 Flying Wing

Convair XB-36 Peacemaker

Lockheed B-37 Lexington

Boeing-Lockheed-Vega XB-38

Boeing XB-39 Spirit of Lincoln

Boeing-Lockheed-Vega YB-40

Consolidated-Vultee XB-41

Douglas XB-42 (XA-42) Mixmaster

Douglas XB-43 Jetmaster

Northrop flying wing family

Northrop XP-56 Black Bullet

Northrop XP-79B Flying Ram

Northrop MX-324/334

Northrop N-9M Test-bed

Northrop XB-35 Flying Wing

Northrop YB-49 Flying Wing

Northrop B-2 Spirit

War-time U.S. heavy bomber

Consolidated B-24 Liberator

Boeing B-29 Superfortress

Lockheed XB-30 Constellation

Douglas XB-31 Raidmaster

Consolidated B-32 Dominator

Northrop XB-35 Flying Wing

Convair XB-36 Peacemaker

War-time U.S. experimental aircraft