Northrop XP-79

The XP-79 was an experimental flying wing fighter designed by Northrop, conceived by Jack Northrop in 1942 as a rocket-powered interceptor and ordered by the United States Army Air Forces in January 1943. Its pilot lay prone, which let him tolerate greater g-forces in pitch, and the airframe was welded magnesium monocoque rather than riveted aluminum. The planned Aerojet rocket motor proved unsatisfactory, so the aircraft was fitted with two Westinghouse 19B turbojets and redesignated XP-79B. Three glider and rocket-powered demonstrators, the MX-334 and MX-324, were flown first, and the MX-324 became the first United States built rocket-powered aircraft to fly in July 1944. The XP-79B made its only flight on 12 September 1945; control was lost in a slow roll, test pilot Harry Crosby was killed, and the project was cancelled.