Jack Northrop

Jack Northrop founded the Northrop Corporation, a major American aerospace manufacturer, in 1939. Prior to this, he had also co-founded the Lockheed Corporation in 1927. The Northrop Corporation eventually merged with Grumman in 1994 to form the modern defense giant Northrop Grumman.

Jack Northrop is most famous for his relentless pursuit and development of the "flying wing" aircraft design. He believed that removing the fuselage and tail would drastically reduce drag and increase aerodynamic efficiency. His experimental YB-35 and YB-49 bombers were the first major attempts to bring this concept to life.

While his propeller-driven YB-35 and jet-powered YB-49 were developed during and immediately after WWII, they were highly unstable and ultimately canceled by the Air Force. The technology required advanced computer systems to manage the stability, which did not exist at the time. The design was considered a failure by military standards in the 1940s.

Although his original designs were scrapped, Jack Northrop lived just long enough to see his vision validated. In the late 1970s, his old company, Northrop, won the contract to develop the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, which heavily utilized the flying wing design. He reportedly saw a model of the B-2 shortly before his death in 1981.