Alongside the development of the MX-334 was the Northrop "XP-79". The XP-79 held more military production value from the outset and was being developed to an exact military specification. Like the MX-334 before it, the XP-79 would also be reliant on a rocket-fueled engines and would also see the pilot laying prone in the cockpit to take on the expected 500 miles per hour speeds. A pressurized cabin would ensure survival in the estimated 40,000 feet ceilings. Interestingly, the body of the aircraft would be constructed with heavy-gauge magnesium.
One of the key design requirements as put forth by American authorities was that the new flying wing would be capable of "ramming" enemy bombers clear from the sky with little to no damage brought onto itself. As strange a requirement as this may have seemed, it was not without merit for even the Germans tested "flying ram" concepts in actual combat with mixed results. At any rate, it was a lethal approach that, by modern standards, makes little sense. The XP-79 itself would field a large swept wing surface area though, in contrast with true flying wings, would utilized a pair of vertical tail fins at the rear of the design for added stabilization and maneuverability. The cockpit was centered at the triangle's apex and straddled on either side by twin intakes to aspirate the intended twin engines. The undercarriage included four landing gear legs in a quad arrangement instead of the more conventional three-legged form. All told, the mighty little XP-79 was an impressive and futuristic aircraft design by any account - though its "ramming" quality had already destined it for failure as the concept would ultimately prove exceedingly absurd.
In practice, the XP-79 would launch from nearby Allied air bases against a fight of incoming enemy bombers. It would have launched quickly through use of rocket boosters (known as JATO - "Jet-Fuel Assisted Take-Off") and reach a high altitude within minutes. With no armament intended for the design, the XP-79 pilot was expected to make several high speed passes through the enemy formation and utilize the reinforced wing leading edges to effectively "slice" through the frames of enemy bombers themselves. As the XP-79 would have moved at such high speeds, enemy gunners could theoretically not targeted and fire upon the aircraft within time so very little danger was apparent to the XP-79 pilot - aside from the fact he was expected to ram his exceptional aircraft into the enemy. An armored glass mounting at the cockpit would protect the pilot's head and face during dives while the leading wing edges were reinforced with armor plating to absorb impact.
The US government handed down the formal defense contract to Northrop for three XP-79 aircraft in January of 1943. When trouble emerged with the Aerojet rocket boosters, the military dropped consideration of two of these three aircraft and instead looked to Westinghouse to produce all-new turbojet-minded engines for its new craft. Westinghouse delivered a pair of 19-B series axial flow turbojets each rated for an output of 1,150lbs thrust. The flying ram concept was also beginning to lose some steam for it was then ordered that the XP-79 be modestly armed with a battery of 4 x 0.50 caliber Browning M2 heavy machine guns. With armament, the tactical doctrine of the XP-79 could then change from flying ram to high-powered interceptor and be operated in a more conventional fashion. The single prototype under consideration was also further defined with the assigning of the "XP-79B" designation. She was constructed and made ready for testing, being delivered in June of 1945. The aircraft achieved first flight on September 12th, 1945 at its Northrop facility.
To put the timeline of war into perspective by this point, Hitler was dead by suicide and Germany capitulated by the end of May 1945. In the Pacific, it was not until after the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by American B-29s that the world war was truly over at the end of August of 1945. As it stood, the XP-79 was being readied for a requirement that no longer stood - a fate shared by many-a-late-war-project that would soon see the chopping block and their ultimate ends. Additionally, enemy bomber formations from the German Luftwaffe never materialized in the mid-to-late war years. Any value that Hitler's bombers held was seen in their true glory in the "Battle of Britain". After the failed initiative to take the British Isles, more attention was given by the German war industry to produce fighters over that of new bombers. Therefore, the massed formations of German bombers that Allied warplanners feared was never to be - making developments of such "bomber destroyers" as the XP-79 a moot point. Air superiority was eventually reached over both Europe and the Pacific where Allied bombers and strike aircraft could attack German soil and the Japanese mainland at will. In either case, the enemy only ever fielded capable light-and medium-class bombers - nothing in the scope of the Allied Lancasters, Flying Fortresses, Superfortresses and Liberators appearing in thousands strong.
The XP-79B's first flight would become its last. Launching from the solitude of the Muroc Dry Lake facility, the XP-79Bs engines roared to life with test pilot Harry Crosby once again at the controls. However, as Crosby made his way down the line, a US Army fire truck - for whatever reason - managed to cross his launch path, forcing Crosby to cut back on the throttle and time the passing of the truck. Once clear, he throttled the XP-79B on full and went airborne. After approximately 14 minutes in the air, Crosby attempting his first banking maneuver and it was seen that the XP-79B lost control and entered into an irrecoverable spin towards the earth from approximately 10,000 feet up. With all control lost, Crosby existed the aircraft through the available access hatch atop the mid-section of the fuselage and attempted a traditional bail out by parachute - only to be struck by one of the spinning wings of the now-pilotless XP-79B. Both pilot and machine then came crashing down into the desert floor, the XP-79B exploding into bright flames and Crosby being killed in the process (the assumption being that he was either unconscious or already dead after being struck in mid-air. The XP-79 program had proven a total loss in more ways than one and nothing more of the endeavor surfaced thereafter. The XP-79 therefore fell to the pages of history and took with it one of the more storied test pilots with it.
Performance specifications for the XP-79B with its Westinghouse powerplants included a top speed of 525 miles per hour, a service ceiling of 40,000 feet and a rate-of-climb near 6,000 feet per minute. Empty weight was listed at 5,840lbs while loaded weight was 8,670lbs.
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