Northrop YB-49 Flying Wing

[bootneck]

Northrop YB-49 Flying Wing

1:200 cyber-hobby.com



The Aircraft

The concept of developing aircraft of the ‘flying wing’ design originated in the 1930’s by Northrop who advocated that an all-wing design would reduce overall weights and drag caused by conventional tailplanes and fins. However the concept did not receive any formal backing until 1941 when a need arose for a very long range bomber, with endurance for a 10,000 mile round trip and able to carry 10,000lbs of bombs. The reasoning being that, should Great Britain collapse to the Germans, the USA may need to fly extremely long-range missions to bomb Germany.

The first design, at such an early stage of WW2 (before the US had become involved) was for propeller driven aircraft designs of which the XB-35 was a front-runner. By 1943 the design had evolved and another version, the YB-35, was also commissioned for evaluation. These designs however were continually beset with technical difficulties and the advent of the Jet Age was fast approaching; also the war was coming to an end so the interest in this need was waning fast.

By 1947 the YB-35 Propeller Flying Wing was virtually cancelled but two of the airframes were allocated for evaluation with eight Allison J35 Jet engines. This design was allocated as YB-49 and the two jet-engined Flying Wing airframes were completed and first flew in October 1947 with good results. One of the aircraft was destroyed in a crash in 1948 and the remaining aircraft was destroyed by fire in 1950 during high-speed taxi trials when the nose-wheel collapsed.

The Kit

This kit is produced to the small scale of 1:200, even so the wingspan is a healthy 10 ¼ inch (26cm) although the length is only 2 ¾ inch (7cm). There are four grey-coloured sprues, containing 54 parts, and one clear sprue which has eight canopy/aimer/observation parts. The engraved panel lines are very finely moulded with just enough depth to still show through after spaying with primer and topcoat. Concern is noted about where the wing pieces attach to the sprue. These attaching points look rather thick so care will need to be taken when removing the parts, especially the leading edges, as it could affect the smooth finish of your kit.

The intakes/nacelles are built in to the leading edge of the wings and are finely moulded however, they are solid so effort will be needed to open them out should you want to give an impression of their depth.

There is an exquisitely detailed cockpit area of eight parts; the floorpan, consisting of six seats; the instrument panel; engineer’s consoles and a telescopic gun mount – all in a space of less than an inch!

Detail in the wheel wells is really good, considering the scale, in that part of the detail is moulded into the upper wing area whilst the remaining detail is in a box-unit where the struts are connected before fitting into the wing opening. Each main wheel unit consists of 3 strut pieces plus two wheels. The front wheel unit is formed with the strut, flap and one wheel. All these pieces are tiny and yet very well detailed with minimal sink marks that are only evident on the inner sides of the kit.

The clear sprue holds eight canopy and observation window parts but only five of these are required for the YB-49 kit. The largest piece, which is the main canopy, measures just over ½ inch (1.2cm) and the smallest 1/10 inch (4mm). Care will need to be taken when applying adhesives to these tiny parts!

The decal sheet contains standard USAF markings and insignia plus walkway demarcations and fuelling point markers, which is all that would normally be worn on prototype/experimental aircraft. A detailed schematic of the decal locations is produced on the underside of the box along with the colour details; the paint numbers refer to GSI Creos Corp. Mr Model paints.

Conclusion

This is my first look at one of cyber-hobby.com's 1:200 scale kits and I am impressed with the detail on such a small kit. The aircraft type should make it popular not only for the general aircraft modeller but also those interested in modelling prototype/experimental aircraft and it could also attract a few ‘What-if?’ subjects. The boxing is of a sturdy 'lid and base' type and the artwork is quite impressive, showing the YB-49 in flight with panel colour variations with vents and oil stains to good effect.

I like this model and it has tempted me to look positively at other kits produced by cyber-hobby.com. I would happily recommended this kit to anyone wishing to build something away from the mainstream aircraft models.

Review sample courtesy of

UK distributors for

[Dads203]

Nice review Mike, saw these the other day and wondered what they

Would be like, now i know , cheers

Dan

[Julien]

Nice kit,

Its BIG even in 1,200!

Julien