Northrop YB-49

The Northrop YB-49 was a jet-powered flying-wing strategic bomber developed in the late 1940s, derived from the earlier piston-engined XB-35 flying wing. By replacing the propellers with eight turbojet engines buried in the wing, Northrop sought to deliver a fast, long-range nuclear bomber with no fuselage or tail, an aerodynamically clean design decades ahead of its time. The YB-49 first flew in 1947. Only two were converted from XB-35 airframes (a related YRB-49A reconnaissance prototype was also built), and both crashed, one in a 1948 accident that killed test pilot Glen Edwards, after whom Edwards Air Force Base is named.

The program was cancelled in favor of the conventional B-36, and the remaining aircraft were scrapped. The flying-wing concept would not reach operational bomber service until Northrop's B-2 Spirit nearly half a century later.