Pre-1928 a three-place JN-4D was rebuilt as 285=3035 c/n 1.
Author: Terry
Northstar Viking
Single seat single engined biplane with two-axis control. Wings have swept back leading and trailing edges, and constant chord; no tail, canard wing. Pitch control by fully flying canard; yaw control by tip rudders between wings; no separate roll control; control inputs through stick for pitch and pedals for yaw. Wings braced by struts and transverse X cables; wing profile; double surface. Undercarriage has three wheels in tricycle formation; glass fibre suspension on main wheels. Push-right go left nosewheel steering independent from yaw control. Brake on nosewheel. Aluminium tube framework, without pod. Engine mounted between wings driving pusher propeller.
Shown at Sun ‘n’ Fun in March 1983 at Lakeland, Florida, the Viking is a variation on the famous Easy Riser theme.Whereas UFM of Kentucky has fitted the Easy Riser with a conventional tail giving rise to the Aeroplane (a 1983 model), Northstar had preferred a canard of variable incidence, thus acting as an elevator, for its Viking.
Designed for cross countries, it gives its pilot comfort and a large speed range. Its Kawasaki TA440 is equipped with an electric start, making it necessary to have a 12 V battery on board. The fuel tank is moulded into the seat back, whose structure is of glass fibre, and other nice touches include a twin blade ground adjustable variable-pitch propeller and a rudder bar which is adjustable according to the height of the pilot. Northstar supplies its Viking in kit form requiring 75 100 h for assembly at an introductory price (March 1983) of $5395. The kit does not require any special tools, assembly being largely with pop rivets.
Engine: Kawasaki TA440, 38.5hp at 6000rpm
Propeller 60 in / 1.52 m ground adjustable) inch
Micro V belt reduction, ratio 2.25/1
Max static thrust 235 lb, 107 kg
Power per unit area 0.22 hp/sq.ft, 2.4 hp/sq.m
Fuel capacity 5.0 US gal, 4.2 Imp gal, 18.9 litre
Wing span 32.0 ft, 9.75 m
Total area of main wings 170 sq.ft, 15.8 sq.m
Nosewheel diameter overall 16 inch, 41 cm
Main wheels diameter overall 20 inch, 51 cm
Empty weight 244 lb, 11.1kg
Max take off weight 502 lb, 228 kg
Payload 258 lb, 117 kg
Max wing loading 2.95 lb/sq.ft, 14.4 kg/sq.m
Max power loading 13.0 lb/hp, 5.9kg/hp
Load factors +5.0, 3.0 design
Max level speed 54 mph, 87 kph
Never exceed speed 55 mph, 88 kph
Max cruising speed 45 mph, 72 kph
Stalling speed 23 mph, 37 kph
Max climb rate at sea level 800 ft/min, 4.1 m/s
Best glide ratio with power off 7/1
Northstar
1983: 5221 W. Montebello #15, Glendale, AZ 85301, USA.
UL builder
Northrop/Northrup Special
The Northrop Special was built by Russ Northrop in 1952. Powered by an 85hp Continental C-85, he inverted gull-wing midget racer was competed into 1955, then was sold as N33N.
It is sometimes credited to Northrop Aviation, but there was no connection, and the spelling of Russell’s name is seen both ways.
Northrop (Northrup), Russ
Russell Northrup/Northrop and James R Williams,
Rochester NY.
USA
The spelling of Russell’s name is seen both ways.
Northrop B-21 Raider
The Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider is an American strategic bomber under developed for the United States Air Force (USAF) by Northrop Grumman. As part of the Long Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B) program, it is a long-range, stealth intercontinental strategic bomber for the USAF, able to deliver conventional and thermonuclear weapons.
The classified Long Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B) program began in 2011, and the Air Force issued a request for proposal to develop a LRS-B aircraft in July 2014. A development contract was awarded to Northrop Grumman in October 2015. Boeing and Lockheed Martin, who submitted losing bids for the project, filed bid protests; in October 2016, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) rejected the challenges and sustained the USAF’s decision to award the LRS-B contract to Northrop Grumman. The GAO report revealed that cost was the deciding factor in selecting Northrop Grumman over the Boeing-Lockheed Martin team.
In March 2016, the USAF announced seven tier-one suppliers for the program: Pratt & Whitney, BAE Systems, Spirit AeroSystems, Orbital ATK, Rockwell Collins, GKN Aerospace, and Janicki Industries.
Many aspects of the B-21 program are highly classified; the program is designated as a special access program. The Congressional Research Service noted in a report that the B-21’s technical details and specifications, such as speed, enabling systems, “size, required stealth, structure, number and type of engines, projected weapons, and onboard sensors remain classified” although some information about various other aspects of the program have been made public since 2015. A 2015 media report said that the Air Force wanted the bomber to also function as an intelligence collection platform, battle manager, and interceptor aircraft. In 2016, then–Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James said that the B-21 would be a “fifth-generation global precision attack platform” with networked sensor-shoot capability. Northrop Grumman described the B-21 at its 2022 “unveiling” as “the world’s first sixth-generation aircraft.”
The F-35 program manager Chris Bogdan said the B-21’s engines would be similar enough to the F-35’s Pratt & Whitney F135 engine to reduce its cost.
In January 2020, Air Force officials released new B-21 renderings and Northrop Grumman, showing the distinctive flush and blended inlets and the two-wheel main landing gear design. The drawing appeared to show a smaller, lighter aircraft than the B-2.
The program completed its critical design review in December 2018.
In September 2022, the USAF announced that the B-21 was to be unveiled in early December 2022 in Palmdale, California. The bomber was first shown to the public at a 2 December 2022 ceremony at Northrop Grumman’s production facilities in Palmdale, California. At the unveiling, Northrop CEO Kathy Warden said that the B-21 is designed with modular, open systems architecture to allow easy upgrades, and potentially, the ability to export components to foreign buyers. Warden said that the B-21’s internal operations were “extremely advanced compared to the B-2” and that the B-21 was slightly smaller than the B-2, with a longer range.
While the potential for an uncrewed flight was not mentioned during the ceremony, a US Air Force spokeswoman said the aircraft was “provisioned for the possibility, but there has been no decision to fly without a crew”.
At the 2016 Air Warfare Symposium, Air Force officials announced that the LRS-B would be formally designated “B-21” because the aircraft would be the 21st century’s first bomber. In September 2016, Air Force officials announced that the B-21 would be named “Raider” in honor of the Doolittle Raiders. The then-remaining survivor of the Doolittle Raiders, retired Lt. Col. Richard E. Cole, was present at the naming ceremony at the Air Force Association conference.
The head of the Air Force Global Strike Command said he expected the service would place an initial order for 100 B-21s and build up to a full fleet of 175 to 200. Two USAF studies suggested that Air Force could increase its initial purchase from 80-to-100 to 145 aircraft. Initial operating capability (IOC) was expected to be reached by 2030.
Assembly of the B-21 takes place at the United States Air Force Plant 42 near Palmdale, California, at the same facility Northrop Grumman used during the 1980s and 1990s to build B-2 bombers. In January 2017, Northrop Grumman was awarded a $35.8 million contract modification for a large coatings facility at Plant 42, to be completed by the end of 2019; the contract announcement did not specifically mention B-21, but the facility was likely meant for B-21 stealth coating. Because the program is classified, officials released very little information about it. By the summer of 2019 it was reported that construction of the first unit was underway. In early 2021, several media outlets reported that as completion of the first B-21 approached, construction on the second unit had begun.
By February 2022, six B-21s were under construction. The first B-21 was moved to a calibration facility the following month. About 5,000 Northrop Grumman employees worked on the program as of December 2022.
As of 2022, the B-21 was expected to enter service by 2026 or 2027. It is to complement and eventually replace the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit, but not the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bombers.
In December 2022, the cost of a B-21 aircraft was estimated to be US$700 million; at the time, Air Force officials estimated that the cost to develop, purchase, and operate a fleet of 100 B-21s over a 30-year period would be at least $203 billion.
Maintenance and sustainment of the B-21 will be coordinated by Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, while Edwards Air Force Base, California, will lead testing and evaluation. In March 2019, Ellsworth was selected as the base to host the first operational B-21 unit and the first training unit.
In May 2022, the USAF announced that they expected first flight of the B-21 to take place in 2023.
The new bomber has stayed on cost and on schedule. The Air Force has set a $500 million ceiling for the unit cost in 2010 dollars; in 2019, Northrop said the Air Force’s target cost would be just over $600 million, accounting for inflation.
The first new B-21s will be based out of Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota, and formal training will be conducted there as well. Maintenance and sustainment will be handled at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma, while testing and evaluation is being performed at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
B-21, also known as Cerberus, achieved its first flight to Edwards Air Force Base on November 10, 2023.
Northrop T-X / 400
The consortium of Northrop Grumman and its subsidiary, Scaled Composites, along with BAE Systems, was among the most favoured teams to win the competition to replace hundreds of T-38 Talon trainers for the USAF under the T-X program.
The Northrop Grumman and their teammates were progressing well with their T-X entrant, which received the in-house name Model 400. The jet was first spotted at Mojave Air And Space Port, where Scaled Composites calls home, in late August of 2016. The company made no comment on the prototype even as low quality photos of it taxiing hit the web. Not too long after it took to the skies, but still the only indication from Northrop Grumman that it existed was them stating that the Model 400 prototype would be officially unveiled in early 2017.
Originally, Northrop Grumman intended to run with an updated version of BAE System’s Hawk T2 trainer, but that idea was axed when it was clear that the 40-plus-year-old design would not meet the USAF’s performance requirements. Following this change in strategy, Northrop Grumman’s design process became especially secretive—although it was widely known that Scaled Composites, acquired by Northrop Grumman in 2007, would be heavily involved.
Dubbed the Model 400, the aircraft looks like a modernized, composite hybrid of the T-38 Talon and the F-20 Tigershark. It packs a single F404-GE-102D engine, a derivative of the same engine used in the F/A-18A/D, the JAS-39A/D (Volvo RM12), the F-117A, and India’s Tejas light fighter—as well as Lockheed’s T-X competitor, the T-50A.
The engine/airframe appears to lack an expanding nozzle usually indicative of an afterburning capability.
Ultimately, this design can potentially be pitched as an entirely new aircraft while still leveraging Northrop’s hugely successful T-38 Talon lineage.
Just around the time that the company was supposed to officially unveil their exciting new T-X contender, one that had been flying for some time at that, the company canned its participation in the T-X program entirely. The move was startling to say the least, with Northrop Grumman not only giving up the possible opportunity to build at least 350 new tactical jets—an opportunity that is becoming increasingly rare—but also giving up on 50 plus years of pilot training heritage.
A statement by Northrop Grumman reads:
“Northrop Grumman and its principal teammate BAE Systems have carefully examined the U.S. Air Force’s T-X Trainer requirements and acquisition strategy as stated in the final request for proposals issued on Dec. 30, 2016. The companies have decided not to submit a proposal for the T-X Trainer program, as it would not be in the best interest of the companies and their shareholders.”
Northrop-Grumman Firebird Gallery
Northrop-Grumman Firebird / Scaled Composites Firebird Model 355
The Firebird concept actually dates the back to the latter half of the 2000s, with Scaled Composites, Northrop Grumman’s storied subsidiary, eventually building a technology demonstrator. That highly experimental aircraft was a forerunner to the current Northrop Grumman designed Firebird, which is a clean-sheet, production-ready aircraft. Scaled Composites’ Firebird demonstrator first flew in 2010 and proved that an optionally manned, highly flexible surveillance aircraft could not only work, but it could compete for missions with both unmanned and manned platforms at the same time.
Firebird in manned configuration. It can be flown by one or two pilots and uses open architecture Garmin 3000 avionics.
Firebird is that it can self-deploy anywhere in the world with a pilot at its controls and even work out of small, rough airfields. Once forward deployed, it can then be converted into unmanned configuration and fly missions lasting over 30 hours. It single six-cylinder Lycoming TEO-540 engine runs on avgas.
Being able to tailor payloads to the operating environment and mission, some operations and operating areas benefit from or even necessitate a human in the cockpit, while others largely benefit from long-duration missions run from a ground station. Being able to provide both in one airframe is revolutionary, at least in terms of a purpose-built aircraft being sold and sustained by an American aerospace-defense prime contractor.
The Firebird can be easily broken down and flown on a transport. Its modular carbon fiber design made this nearly a default capability.
Firebird was into the back half of its flight test program circa 2019.
Northrop Primary Glider / Zogling
The “Northrop” is an American copy of the “Zogling” which was designed in Germany in the 1920s as a training glider. Apparently, the Northrop primary glider takes its name from a Marvin Northrop of Minneapolis who imported a Zogling from Germany and from that glider had plans drawn and published in Modern Mechanics in 1930.
Thousands of Primaries were built all over the world starting with the Grunau 9 by Edmund Schneider. The Zogling was copied and modified by many. In Britain Slingsby got started with a copy called the “Dagling”
Wingspan: 10 m
Wing area: 15 sq.m
Wing chord: 1.5 m
Length: 5.428 m
Empty weight: 86 kg
Takeoff weight: 170 kg
Aspect ratio: 6.7
