Flying Wings & Radical Things: Northrop's Secret Aerospace Projects & Concepts 1939-1994

John K. "Jack" Northrop and the company he founded in 1939, Northrop Aircraft, Inc., will be forever linked with the giant futuristic Flying Wings of the 1940s. But those iconic designs were not the only ideas to spring from the mind of this pioneering visionary and the innovative engineers who foll [...]
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John K. "Jack" Northrop and the company he founded in 1939, Northrop Aircraft, Inc., will be forever linked with the giant futuristic Flying Wings of the 1940s. But those iconic designs were not the only ideas to spring from the mind of this pioneering visionary and the innovative engineers who followed him. Many piston-powered and turbojet concepts, both conventional and radical in shape and purpose, were proposed and developed over the company's proud fifty-five year history.This book unveils Northrop's once-secret radical designs, many for the first time, with never-before-published drawings, models, and photos of such novel concepts as a ship-based vertical take-off and landing fighter, a supersonic intercontinental cruise missile, a rocket-boosted jet spaceplane trainer, and a radical combination truck/aircraft/boat cargo vehicle. Much of this material has only recently been declassified. Here for the first time is the untold story of Northrop's rare, unique, and formerly super-secret aircraft and spacecraft of the future. Featuring stunning original factory artwork, technical drawings, and never-before-seen photographs, this book shows an amazing array of radical high-performance aircraft concepts from Jack Northrop and his team of brilliant and innovative engineers.