Warplanes of the USA: Ohio, Dayton, National Museum of the USAF: Northrop

Warplane Survivors USA: Ohio, Dayton, National Museum of the USAF: Northrop

(USAF Photos)

(NMUSAF Photos)

(Rogerd Photo)

Northrop P-61C Black Widow (Serial No. 43-8353), C/N N1399.  The Black Widow on display in the NMUSAF was presented to the museum by the Tecumseh Council, Boy Scouts of America, Springfield, Ohio, in 1958.  It is painted and marked as a P-61B assigned to the 550th Night Fighter Squadron serving in the Pacific in 1945.

(USAF Photo)

(NMUSAF Photos)

(Martin McGuire Photo)

Northrop A-17A (Serial No. 36-0207).  The aircraft on display, Air Corps serial number 36-207, is the only A-17 series aircraft known to exist.  It was delivered to the Air Corps and assigned to Barksdale Field, Louisiana on 25 June 1937.  Following a brief stay at Kelly Field, San Antonio, Texas, the aircraft was assigned in April 1940 to Bolling Field, Washington, D.C., and also served as a support aircraft for U.S. Military attaches in Honduras, Guatemala and Haiti.  The aircraft was dropped from Army Air Forces records in January 1945.  The aircraft is marked in the colors of the 90th Attack Squadron, 3rd Attack Group, at Barksdale Field in June 1938.

(NMUSAF Photos)

(YoSam Photo)

(Valder137 Photo)

Northrop YC-125B Raider (Serial No. 48-0626), painted as (Serial No. 48-0622), C/N 2510.

(NMUSAF Photos)

(Martin McGuire Photo)

Northrop F-89J Scorpion (Serial No. 52-1911), FV-509, C/N N405.  The Maine Air National Guard transferred the Scorpion on display in the NMUSAF to the museum from  in July 1969.  This aircraft was the last F-89 in service with an operational unit.  It is painted to represent an F-89J (Serial No. 53-2509) assigned to the 449th Fighter Interceptor Squadron in the late 1950s.  Based at Ladd Air Force Base, near Fairbanks, Alaska, it carries insignia red arctic markings.

(NMUSAF Photos)

Northrop X-4 Bantam (Serial No. 46-0677), C/N 3238.  During the Second World War, engineers in the USA and UK studied semi-tailless aircraft, and the German Luftwaffe fielded the semi-tailless Me 163 Komet.  After the war ended, Northrop built two X-4s to test if this configuration could perform at transonic (near-supersonic) speeds better than conventional aircraft.  Flight testing of the X-4 began in 1948, and in 1950 both X-4s were turned over to the NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics), predecessor to NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration).  The first X-4 was grounded after only 10 flights, and only the second X-4 (on display at the museum) was used in the joint USAF/NACA program.  Instability of the X-4 at high speed led to the conclusion that semi-tailless aircraft were not suitable for transonic flight (with the technology then available).  The X-4 on display in the NMUSAF was transferred to the museum shortly after the program ended in 1953.  It was restored by the Western Museum of Flight, Hawthorne, California.

(YF-5A Prototype, USAF Photo)

(NMUSAF Photo)

Northrop YF-5A Freedom Fighter (Serial No. 59-4989), FA-989.  Painted as (Serial No. 64-13332).  The YF-5A on display in the NMUSAF, one of three prototypes ordered, was delivered to the museum in 1970.  It is painted as a "Shoski Tiger" of the 4503rd Tactical Fighter Squadron TFS), which combat tested the F-5 in Vietnam in 1965-1967.  The 4503rd TFS later was redesignated the 10th Fighter (Commando) Squadron in March 1966.  In October 1966 the 10th F(C)S began training South Vietnamese pilots to fly F-5s and later turned its aircraft over to the South Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF) in June 1967.

Northrop T-38A Talon (Serial No. 60-0566).

(NMUSAF Photo)

Northrop T-38A Talon (Serial No. 65-10441).

(NMUSAF Photos)

Northrop AT-38B Talon (Serial No. 63-8172), HM, C/N N5519.  The NMUSAF’s AT-38B flew as a lead-in-fighter trainer until its retirement in 1991.  It came to the museum in 1999 and was placed on display in 2004.

(Greg Hume Photo)

Northrop SM-62 Snark, early intercontinental cruise missile.

(NMUSAF Photos)

Northrop YF-117D Tacit Blue.  Built in the early 1980s in great secrecy, the revolutionary Tacit Blue aircraft tested advanced radar sensors and new ideas in stealth technology.  Tacit Blue proved that a stealthy aircraft could have curved surfaces, unlike the faceted surfaces of the F-117 Nighthawk, which greatly influenced later aircraft like the B-2.  Tacit Blue’s design also minimized the heat signature emitted from the engines, further masking its presence.  Tacit Blue was aerodynamically unstable, but it had a digital fly-by-wire system to help control it.  With its low, “all-aspect” radar signature, Tacit Blue demonstrated that such an aircraft could loiter over and behind the battlefield without fear of being discovered by enemy radar.  Using advanced sensors, it could also continuously monitor enemy forces (even through clouds) and provide timely information through data links to a ground command center.  Moreover, these sensors functioned without giving away the location of the aircraft.  The Tacit Blue aircraft flew 135 times before the program ended in 1985.  The aircraft was declassified and placed on display at the NMUSAF in 1996.

(Bobbi Zapka, USAF Photo)

(NMUSAF Photos)

Northrop Grumman RQ-4A Global Hawk (Serial No. 98-2003), BB, c/n AV-3.   The Global Hawk on display in the NMUSAF was the third prototype built.  Designated Air Vehicle-3 (AV-3), it was officially designated an YRQ-4A.  However, AV-3 had anything but a normal career for a prototype.  After the terrorist attacks of 11 Sep 2001, the USAF deployed AV-3 to Afghanistan in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.  Because it still showed some of the "crankiness" of a prototype, AV-3 was nicknamed "Grumpy."  Nevertheless, it also flew reconnaissance missions in support of Operations Southern Watch (OSW), Iraqi Freedom (OEF), Enduring Freedom (OEF) and the Combined Task Force-Horn of Africa.  During Operation Iraqi Freedom, AV-3's sensors successfully tracked Iraqi Republican Guard forces during a fierce sandstorm in March 2003.  While the dust blinded AV-3's optical and infrared sensors, its radar provided information accurate enough for fighters and bombers to attack the enemy successfully with Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) weapons.  In February 2006, it made another spectacular flight by flying autonomously and non-stop from Australia to Edwards Air Force Base, California.  Over its career, AV-3 completed 251 flights for 4,891.3 total hours flying time.  This total included 195 combat sorties and 4,152.7 combat hours.  A remarkable aircraft, AV-3 went on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in 2008.

(NMUSAF Photos)

Northrop Grumman B-2A Spirit (Serial No. 82-1070), WM, C/N 1005/AV-5.  This the static test article used for structural stress tests during B-2 development. The airframe has no flight deck or engines.  It is named "Spirit of Freedom".   In 1993 the Spirit of Ohio (endured more than 1,000 hours of extensive temperature testing at the McKinley Climatic Laboratory at Eglin Air Force Base, Floriad.  It withstood temperatures ranging from -65 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit, rain and high humidity.  To verify the test results outside the laboratory, the Spirit of Ohio deployed to Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, in March 1996 for further cold climate testing.  To signify these tests, the technicians painted the "Fire and Ice" artwork on the nose landing gear panel and signed it.  Presented to the museum in 1999, that nose panel was installed on the NMUSAF's B-2 during restoration.

(NMUSAF Photos)

Northrop McDonnell Douglas YF-23A Black Widow (Serial No. 87-0800).  The YF-23A competed in the late 1980s/early 1990s against the YF-22A in the Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program.  During the late 1970s, a new generation of Soviet fighters and Surface-to-Air Missiles (SAMs) prompted the USAF to find a replacement for the F-15 Eagle air superiority fighter.  In 1986, the USAF awarded demonstration contracts to two competing industry teams, Lockheed-Boeing-General Dynamics (YF-22A) versus Northrop-McDonnell Douglas (YF-23A).  The Northrop YF-23A, unofficially named the Black Widow II, emphasized stealth characteristics.  To lessen weight and increase stealth, Northrop decided against using thrust vectoring for aerodynamic control as was used on the Lockheed YF-22A.  Northrop built two YF-23A prototypes.  In 1991, after extensive flight testing, the USAF announced that the Lockheed YF-22A had won the airframe competition.  Northrop ended its ATF program, and the YF-23A on display came to the NMUSAF in 2000.

(NMUSAF Photo)

Northrop BQM-74C, devloped o simulate subsonic aircraft, including cruise missiles, for the US Navy in the late 1970s.  Prior to the beginning of Operation Desert Storm in 1991, the US Air Force acquired 44 BQM-74Cs and reconfigured them from aerial targets into decoys.  The BQM-74C's ability to fool Iraqi air defenses significantly reduced US and coalition aircraft losses.

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