FHC Collection anything taking place?

[Jesse C.]

A bit of good reading on the Horton 229

https://www.historynet.com/horten-broth ... ionhistory

[JohnB]

I understand that yaw dampers were under development to control some of the inherent yaw instability (hunting).

The book I referenced says Minneapolis Honeywell did develop a full time electronic stability control system, and that it did help, but did not solve the problem.

As you note, the stability issue was not a "fall from the sky" issue, but stability was necessary for the bomb runs of the period.

But to be fair, all advanced military aircraft of the period needed various fixes because they were pushing the state of the art.
Avionics of the day were pretty primitive, they needed development as well as lots of maintenance...the early B-47 bomb/nav system had 41 elements and 370 vacuum tubes...the target acquisition and fire control system for interceptors was equally complex, with weight figures for avionics in many hundreds of pounds.
Then you had airframe and engine issues (as an example, I recall that the first B-52 loss was due to a generator fire), and you can appreciate the Air Force and the contractors and subcontractors had their hands full with dozens of tech issues.

So to add a mission impact stability issue which conventional aircraft designs didn't have (or at least has less of), and the Flying Wing's disadvantages outweighed its advantages.

[bdk]

So to add a mission impact stability issue which conventional aircraft designs didn't have (or at least has less of), and the Flying Wing's disadvantages outweighed its advantages.

The YB-49 should have been accepted for emotional reasons. Just that last scene in War Of The Worlds did it for me! What enemy wouldn't have been scared to death of something like that, looking so sinister with the ominous engine smoke trails.

[Dan K]

So to add a mission impact stability issue which conventional aircraft designs didn't have (or at least has less of), and the Flying Wing's disadvantages outweighed its advantages.

The YB-49 should have been accepted for emotional reasons. Just that last scene in War Of The Worlds did it for me! What enemy wouldn't have been scared to death of something like that, looking so sinister with the ominous engine smoke trails.

Agreed!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esqQXQ9n7u4

[Spitty]

It didnt affect the Martians...