Northrop X-4 Bantam
The Northrop X-4 Bantam is a prototype small twinjet aircraft manufactured by Northrop Corporation in 1948. It had no horizontal tail surfaces, depending instead on combined elevator and aileron control surfaces (called elevons) for control in pitch and roll attitudes, almost exactly in the manner of the similar-format, rocket-powered Messerschmitt Me 163 of Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe. Some aerodynamicists had proposed that eliminating the horizontal tail would also do away with stability problems at fast speeds (called shock stall) resulting from the interaction of supersonic shock waves from the wings and the horizontal stabilizers. The idea had merit, but the flight control systems of that time prevented the X-4 from achieving any success.
Summary from Wikipedia, photo via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA.
- Manufacturer
- Northrop
- First flight
- 1948-12-15
- Length
- 7.1 m
- Wingspan
- 8.2 m
Specifications
- Max speed
- 543 kt
- Range
- 360 nm
- Service ceiling
- 42,300 ft
- Rate of climb
- 7,700 ft/min
- Max takeoff weight
- 7,820 lb
- Empty weight
- 5,507 lb
- Powerplant
- 2 × Westinghouse J30-WE-7 / WE-9 turbojet engines
- Engines
- 2
- Seats
- 1
- Length
- 23.3 ft
- Wingspan
- 26.8 ft
- Height
- 14.8 ft
- Number built
- 2
Specifications are approximate and may vary by variant. Compiled from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Reference and training only. Specifications vary by variant — consult the manufacturer and the official documents.