XB-35 Info Sought

Hey Dudes (and any Dudettes that may be lurking...)...

I am searching for some good "model-builder-worthy" online material on the XB-35/YB-35 Flying Wing. I have done extensive "googling", and have run across about 20 very good photos (including a cockpit photo, and a great photo of the aileron/spoiler details), but am still in need on the "gotcha" shots; such as more interior, wheel wells, landing gear detail, etc. Has anyone got some links that they might share, if they have done similar research in the past?

Reply to
Greg Heilers
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Hey Sir Dude Greg ,

Check out this web site

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It is in Japanese, but it has photos of all the Northrop Flying Wing projects plus a few extra projects. Hope you find the photos you need.

Gary

Reply to
m.gary.kroman

Thanks!

I had run across this link in the past, but had negelected to bookmark it. I think it is where I had found the majority of the photos I currently have.

I am in the midst of *trying* to complete the old Nove vac-form of the XB-35. I know...I know....there was an AMT kit. But I don't have it, and I had started the Nova kit almost 20 years ago...lol. I am stll curious about certain things:

1) Interior colors. All the photographic evidence seems to suggest that all interiors were unpainted (natural metal). Is this correct?

2) On all but one airframe, *no* actual gun turrets were installed... just fake "bulges". Were these simply non-rotating "bulges"? It appears that the one on the rear upper fuselage had a periscope gunsite installed. Is this so?

3) Where exactly did the crew board the craft?

4) About the leading-edge intakes. How "deep" into the wing did they go? What was behind them? Photographs show *some* kind of structural framework. Was there a mesh or grill?

Does anyone know of any good photos of the engine nacelle details? There appears to be some sort of flap-like structure on the rear underside and rear-edge.

In the past, I have seen the titles of the books: "Northrop Flying Wings", and "Flying Wings of Northrop". Does anyone have these; and are they "model-builder" worthy?

Thanks...

Reply to
Greg Heilers

Yes. Seat covers were red-orange.

It is unclear. At least the first prototype had provision for guns, but I doubt if any were ever installed. ISTR that the rest of the X/YB-35s had aerodynamic bulges only. The aft sighting blister on the first aircraft was an aluminium fairing rather than plexiglas.

Yes. There was also one in the canopy.

Probably through the nose landing gear bay, but this is merely a SWAG.

Right to the engines and radiators : )

Probably

The Schiffer book _The Flying Wings of Jack Northrop_ has many good photos of the whole series, including in-construction and in-preparation photos. There used to be a website called nurflugel.com but it seems to be off-line now : (

Reply to
Jeff C

The best printed material I've seen for the modeler is an article in Aerophile magazine (Vol 1, #4) (May 1978). It answers most of your questions and includes detailed 1/72 drawings. To wit:

(1) Unlikely the interior is mostly NMF. The photos suggest some sort of medium tone, which I would guess is consistent with the contemporary interior green, There are also many panels which are probably black. Tonal values differ from photo to photo, so I cannot say if there are additional colors.

(2) The rear upper bulge is a sighting station. The four-gun barbette for dorsal defense is forward of that, and there was also to be a four-gun tail cone. I can't say whether the macked-up bulges were rotational, but I doubt it--the main reason to put in fakes was to establish basic aerodynamics.

(3) Primary entrance was by an oval hatch in the ventral centerline well aft of the ventral barbette. This hinged forward. There was also at least one additional exit point on the left side of the aft pod just where the pod emerged from the wing surface.

(4) Each of the intakes on the B-35 was separated into six segments by vertical dams. Based on the location of the engine exhausts underwing, these ducts were relatively shallow, and probably narrowed to conform more closely to the engines. No evidence of mesh. I'd be generous with the flat black paint and try to hide the depth.

Re the nacelles, there are fillets of a sort that bring the bottoms of the nacelees to a vertical knife-edge profile, but no moving surfaces are evident.

HTH

Mark Schynert

Reply to
Mark Schynert

Greg sure ask allot of question ;-) but that is OK.

On question 1), on the back wall behind the bombardiers/copilots windows on the right leading edge, there was the flight engineer's instrument panels which was probably black with allot of gauges. Also you wouldn't want the interior to be mostly NMF, because of the glare on the instruments would be bad and you couldn't read them.

On question 2) gun turrets. The 3 view drawing shows gun barrels facing aft in the wing bulges. I believe these were meant to be rotational, I think the gun barrels had to be raised to clear the aft part of the aerodynamic fairing. The fairing where to eliminate parasitic drag. They hadn't installed the guns, because they where still in the early test phase of the XB-35 and YB-35 aircraft. They where also having allot of problems with the counter rotating propellers.

Mark is right about question 3), also I believe they could bail out through the Bomb bays, providing they open the Bomb Bay doors.

Question 4) there where X shaped structural cross members in the front spars in front of the engines, this also carried through the crew quarters and cockpit. The rear spar had them too.

Yes, there where flap-like structure on the rear underside and rear-edge. These were the landing flaps, that came down when the aircraft was landing to provide more lift on approach as the plane slowed down. All passenger airline planes use these flaps as do Bombers and fighter planes.

Those books you mentioned are very good reference sources. Check Shiffers Book Catalog, or your Library to see if they have them.

Gary

Reply to
m.gary.kroman

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