The Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit requires a two man crew of a pilot and commander (co-pilot). They train for an additional six months after their regular pilot schooling. It is sixty nine feet long, has a wingspan of one hundred and seventy two feet, and is seventeen feet tall. Its maximum speed is Mach 0.95 (six hundred and thirty miles per hour) at an altitude of forty thousand feet. It needs refueling after six thousand nautical miles.
The Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit has two internal bays for fifty thousand pounds of ordinance and payload. On its inside it is equipped with a color, nine-tube, electronic flight instrumentation system (EFIS), which displays flight, engine and sensor data and avionics systems and weapons status. The cost of all its fancy paraphernalia is approximately $1.157 billion, all of which is worth it when trying to stay undetected on a mission. After all, the crew has no flares, no high speed after burn, and no missiles to fire back. They have only one thing to protect them. Their stealth.
It all started when two brothers began to design wings for the new Nazi regime in Germany. With the outbreak of WWII in 1939, the Horton brothers continued their groundbreaking work under a shroud of secrecy. But while the Germans were developing their wings, a forty year old American aircraft designer called Jack Northrop was quietly working on a flying wing design of his own. Jack had been dreaming about flying wings since the 1920s , and had long held the belief that the way to success in wing design was by reducing the drag created by a tail and fuselage. In the end he got rid of the tail altogether.
But as the war came to an end, so did the need for a flying wing aircraft. Still, Jack Northrop was convinced that...
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...re chosen that had either military or communication significance. Throughout operation Allied Force, the B-2s conducted 45 sorties, often in weather that other allied aircraft could not fly in, and produced incredible target hit rates. The B-2, if proof was ever needed, had come of age as the most awesome bomber in history.
But its role as a peacekeeper was about to change with the start of the twenty-first century, when the B-2 bombers were among the first to lead the fight against terrorism. From 9/11 onwards, in operation Enduring Freedom, the stealth bomber was held against the Taliban forces of Afghanistan. But it was in 2003 during operation Iraqi Freedom that the B-2s were put to their strongest test. They had to attack the most heavily defended targets in the world. Once their mission was over, they head back home to friendly soil, their flight complete.
By the end of World War I the world was beginning to realize the ability air combat presented. When World War II started planes became much more effective. Though still fabric covered, the aircraft were faster and more agile than the variants used in the Great War. In 1938, the first year of the Second World War, Curtiss unveiled their P-40 Warhawk. This aircraft was one of the best of its time and laid the foundation for modern aircraft engineering. But by 1940 the German Luftwaffe had begun to develop faster, long-ranged fighter-bombers. All current Allied aircraft could not keep up with the long range of the B-17 bombers who needed escort. In 1940, North American Aviation received an order from Britain requesting another shipment of
In today’s world, the use of airplanes in wars or in everyday life has become a part of how we live as human beings. Removing the air forces of the world is like taking a step back in time when wars were only fought on land or sea. WWI began only eleven short years after the Wright brothers achieved powered flight in 19031 and yet aircrafts were being used for surveillance and eventually combat purposes. It is understood that these aircrafts were primitive, but they laid down the foundation for what we know today as fighter jets. The Fokker Eindecker “revolutionized air combat by successfully employing a synchronized forward -firing machine gun mounted on the engine cowling”2. Because this airplane became the first to successfully use a synchronized machine gun, it allowed its pilots to become the first aerial combat tactitions3.
One Avroite said, “The thing that always bothered me was the cold, callous, deliberate way it was cancelled. We salvaged nothing…let's face it, the Arrow was the most advanced aircraft of its day. Yet all that knowledge, all that development, years and years of study was wiped out. Deliberately wiped out. No salvage” (Dixon Kostyan 34).
1. What do you think of when you drive by that big B-52 at the museum? Being the history buff that I am, I think about Vietnam, where that old “Buff” was used the most. “Why should I care about Vietnam?” you ask yourself. Well, last time I checked there’s a history section in the PFE guide, so there might be a test later! The intent of this paper is to inform you about Operation Linebacker II. I’ll explain the events leading up to the operation, discuss the strategy, and finally I’ll sum up the results of a bombing campaign Sir Michael Knight characterized In the book Strategic Offensive Air Operation as “...may have played a role not unlike two B-29s over Japan 27 years earlier”. (Knight: 77) I’ll start by explaining why President Richard Nixon gave the order to begin this new bombing campaign.
The history of flying dates back as early as the fifteenth century. A Renaissance man named Leonardo da Vinci introduced a flying machine known as the ornithopter. Da Vinci proposed the idea of a machine that had bird like flying capabilities. Today no ornithopters exist due to the restrictions of humans, and that the ornithopters just aren’t practical. During the eighteenth century a philosopher named Sir George Cayley had practical ideas of modern aircraft. Cayley never really designed any workable aircraft, but had many incredible ideas such as lift, thrust, and rigid wings to provide for lift. In the late nineteenth century the progress of aircraft picks up. Several designers such as Henson and Langley, both paved the way for the early 1900’s aircraft design. Two of the most important people in history of flight were the Wright Brothers. The Wright Brothers were given the nickname the “fathers of the heavier than air flying machine” for their numerous flights at their estate in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Orville and Wilbur Wright created a motor-powered biplane in which they established incredible feats of the time. The Wright Brothers perfected their design of the heavier than air flying ma...
December 1940, the Army Air Corps planned an experiment for black aviators in an all black fighter squadron. This group would be called the 332nd fighter group and would consist of four fighter squadrons, the 99th, 100th, 301st, 302nd. (4 A). The squadrons that made the most history would be the 99th and the 100th. The 99th was to be made of 33 to 35 pilots and 278 ground crew men, but those accusations came from another source when the real number of men in the 99th would be a total of 12 black cadets and 1 officer trainee. 3 squadrons usually make up a fighter group so the 99th was nicknamed the “lonely Eagles”. They would be flying PT-17s, then BT-13s, and later AT-6s, that would have better landing flaps, retractable landing gear, and 650-horse power engines (Mckissack). They would be the first fighter squadron of the 332nd to go into combat over North Africa. Being part of the 12th Air force, they would fly tactical missions over the Mediterranean theater (Haulman). Going over in ships, April 15, 1943, they would arrive in Morocco, May 1943, only to be told that the battle between the Germans and North Africans was basically over. They then tested out P-40L War Hawks, and Curtis’s, that were built to reach up to 350 mph, climb over 22,000 ft., and ferry over 1,000 miles. The planes would be put through flight drills and mock dog fights. The 27th, part of another group, trained with the men in Africa. The war was always back and forth so the...
The P-51 Mustang is regarded by many sources as the greatest fighter plane ever created. With the technological advancements this plane achieved, to it’s service record, to it’s importance in winning World War Two, the Mustang is truly one of the greats. The Mustang played a key role in long range bomber support and saved countless bomber crew’s lives, and pilots loved to fly it. The P-51 had the most aerial victories of any American fighter in World War Two and it was flown by some of America’s top aces. The P-51 was a beast of a fighter plane
...f 173 fighter aircraft models were made during the war. Fighter planes best showcased the constant struggle for supremacy in technology for the Axis and Allied powers as each side seemed to be in desperate need to outdo the other through improving the features and abilities of the aircrafts. The credentials for the top fighter aircrafts included the top speed, how much armament it could carry, the range, durability, visibility out of cockpit windows, and the overall flying performance. Two american fighters that received high marks were the North American P-51D Mustang and the Republic P-47D. For many the North American P-51D Mustang is considered the greatest fighter in World War 2 due to its range of 1140 miles that could increase to 2200 miles when external tanks were used. It visibility in the cockpit received high marks, as did its speed and maneuverability.
Armies and Navies have clashed since antiquity, but the airplane that enables aerial combat is barely a century old. Airplanes saw widespread combat in the First World War, and, despite the doubts and financial concerns of military leaders of the time, the brave men who fly them have gained their own dedicated military division, the United States Air Force. Billy Mitchell, through his charisma and an image that endeared him in American culture, was an instrumental figure in developing the modern Air Force.
In 1940, Preston Tucker created the Tucker Aviation Corporation, and wanted to manufacture aircraft and marine engines. He designed a fighter aircraft, the Tucker XP-57, which the U.S.A.A.C. took an interest in. Again, this n...
Bombers have been around since the start of the 20th century during World War I. However, strategic bombings became more popular and used form World War II on. The bomber plane had evolved since World War I. Many bomber planes that were bi-planes, meaning the plane had two main wings on both sides instead of one. They also used dual engines. The Germans, however, used the zeppelins which were big targets for fighter planes and the design was not continued after the war.
In the 1900's, transportation and weapons became important for the different wars that the United States were involved in. Planes were one of the most significant inventions in the 20th century. Being able to fly from place to place was a new lifestyle for America's military. In World War II, military planes were a huge part of the war, and without them, many things that happened, would not have happened. As America was getting involved with Japan, they needed a more powerful plane. That plane that they needed was known as the B-29 Superfortress. The B-29 had a greater impact on Japan than any other plane because of the amount of destroyed resources in Japan, the most destructive firebomb in history, and the dropping of the first atomic bomb.
"Wrights’ Perspective on the Role of Airplanes in War." Wright Stories Wright Brothers Inventing The Airplane History of Flight Kitty Hawk Wright Contemporaries Military Airplane RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr.
In 1957, the army began developing a new fighting force based on the helicopter. ...
Many have heard of the Tuskegee Airmen and their accomplishments. They were a group of African American fighter pilots. They proved to be quite vital to the success of World War II. What many people may not know is the Tuskegee Airmen had several squadrons which fought throughout Europe during the war. The most famous squadron was the 332nd fighter squadron, they were commonly known as the Red Tails. Charles McGee was among those men apart of the Red Tail squadron. Charles McGee is one of most notable men in the Red Tails due to his accomplishments throughout the war. I will be explaining his life and all of his accomplishments throughout this paper on famous individuals in aviation.