This video brought to you in part by our Patrons over on Patreon. If you’d like to support our efforts here directly, and our continued efforts to improve our videos, as well as do more ultra in-depth long form videos that built in ads and even sponsors don’t always cover fully, check out our Patreon page and perks here: www.patreon.com/TodayIFoundOut And as ever, thanks for watching!
Is simon trying to buff up son!! Like us Americans! Either fat as hell or BUFF! Lol. You taking that testosterone aren’t ya!! Get it boy!!! U will feel like 18 again!
meanwhile, the Ukrainians are filling 3D printed molds with explosives and using 3D printed drones to deliver them with pinpoint precision, for 250$ and some Vodka.
My Uncle was an Air Force Colonel involved in the B-2 acquisition program. The reason why they cost 2 Billion a piece is this: Originally the Air Force went to Northrop and said "we want you to build us a stealth bomber. We'll order 100 of them and pay 500 million a piece for them." Northrop spent over a decade designing, building and testing the B-2 and when they were ready to start building the 100 aircraft the Air Force changed its mind and said "We only want 20". Northrop had to recoup all of the money they had spent over the previous decade so to do this they raised the price of each one from 500 million to 2 Billion. It was a smoke and mirrors thing. Congress wanted to cut the budget so the Air Force said "we'll only order 20". Even though they would still be spending 90% of what they originally planed on spending on the 100 it was still 10% less and on paper going from 100 to 20 looks like a big cut so congress was satisfied. That's the government for you.
That is true, but in addition to the number of units cut, the increases in the development costs were also because halfway through development, the USAF decided it didn't just want a high altitude bomber but it also had to be able to be capable of low level flight and penetration. Thus the re-design of the rear wing shape and added elevons to accommodate stability and maneuverability at low altitudes. (you can see int he B-21 it does not have the added points on the rear of the wing. B-21 is High altitude. This is probably what the wing shape of the B-2 looked like before the USAF decided they also wanted low level.
You missed one of my favorite heartwarming stories. Northrop lived long enough to see and hold the design model. He couldn't speak due to illness, so he wrote "Now I know why God kept me alive all these years."
I saw a doco about his first flying wings, In it they mentioned that he was bitter about how the concept was killed off. In his last months he was picked up by the government and taken to a dark hanger.... they turned on the lights to show the prototype B2... slightly heartwarming story!
Unless they changed the vid post upload after you posted this comment, 39:15 they cover that exact topic. Single line so easy to miss if this is in the backround.
I used to work on the B-2 project. I was an engineer at Vought, which built the engine sections of the plane, so I can say something about the price per unit. If you simply divide the total program cost by the number of planes built, you get a number about 6 times bigger than it originally would have been because we only built 25 of them instead of 150. If the unit cost is $2B with only 25 built, it would "only" have been $333M in today's money with 150, and that's pretty reasonable actually. IOW, the unit cost is a function of the number built and so always increases with that number decreases. I can also say that those that were actually built cost more individually than would have been the case if more had been built. This is because the tooling needed to build the things most efficiently was never made. Because the design and materials were so radical, the tooling had to be rather different than normally used in aircraft construction. And for the 1st 20 or so planes, in addition to mastering making the parts and assembling them properly which is part of every plane's construction, every assembly also had to be tested for stealth. Often, this required slight changes to the shape of parts, which meant changes to the tooling needed for them. Thus, all 25 were built using cheap, disposable tooling and then a lot of artisanal hand-shaping and such, which is very expensive. The plan was that once all such issues had been resolved, we'd get permanent tooling for mass production and thus lower costs. And this agreement happened about the time Vought was building plane #20 (as a subcontractor making only part of the plane, we were building plane numbers way ahead of them rolling off the final line). And shortly after this is when the program got cut to 25. So there was no point in buying the proper tooling when we weren't going to get any real use out of it, and so ALL the the planes ended up being artisanally built.
I love these. The B-2's and the SR-71 are my favorites. At big Chiefs games (season opener, home playoff games) they do flyovers with B-2's at the end of the anthem. I still get delighted like a little boy. EDIT: I said 3, but there is usually just 1.
The SR71 is an amazing aircraft. It will be very neat to see what they replace it with. The technology involved with the SR71 is astounding, I can't imagine how far they have come since then.
@@Welcome2TheInternet Nice! I’ve been flying things for nearly three decades now, and the fact that “washout” and an analog clock are so misunderstood it drives me nuts.
That "commerce", does that mean all pilots are merchants? Or dealers? Commercial, sounds like a delay. Is no good. Can't you all change that to "professional"? Cause that what it is.
That is an absolutely STUNNING aircraft. I saw one once at a local airshow - momentarily as it zipped overhead in a relatively low-altitude flyby. It's still beautiful and I'd love to get a look at one closer up.
Meanwhile, the cost of the B-21 Raider was estimated at $700 million per aircraft. Air Force officials estimated that they would spend at least $203 billion over 30 years to develop, purchase, and operate a fleet of at least 100 B-21s.
The fact that these aircraft leave from the center of the continental U.S. and hit targets anywhere in the world before returning to the center of the continental U.S. is absolutely insane!
Especially from tax payers perspective. Do you know how many mortgages or university fees that beast burns (fuel, spares, general maintenance) every time it takes off.
@@andreypetrov4868 yeahp. Simon explained it. But capability costs money. And the more capable the more it costs. No matter what the technological area. The question that needs asking is not "do you know how much this costs to develop, fabricate, and maintain?". The real question is "Do we need the capabilities this piece of tech is capable of." If the answer is yes, then, pending availability, the funds WILL be found or extracted from the populace. If the answer is no, then you either dumb down the tech to be able to meet capability demand, or you invent tech that isnt as capable, and therefore costs less.
@@zoltankaparthy9095 oh i dont have one and wasnt remarking on the goodness or badness of it. Lol. I was using "insane" the way millenials and gen z use it, as a synonym for "crazy" or "sick" or "mindblowing". Lol
I saw one of these at an airshow do some flyovers at tinker AFB about 7 or 8 yrs ago. Other than how it looked, I was so surprising at how quiet it was. You could've hear it at an elevation of probably 2000 ft above!!
This channel has become essential viewing.. A bit too much stock videos...(the money got annoying...) we love the historic footage, it's the only place we'll find it... and boy is your research good. What a piece of engineering, hell, what a piece OF ART! Nothing is more beautiful than science expertly rendered.
I grew up a few hours from a big Airforce base. Got used to seeing Blackhawks training, and it was spooky how silent they could be. They'd fly less than 500 ft over our house, and it just sounded like someone flapping a paper bag. When I finally got to see a B2 demo at an airshow in the 90s, its quietness similarly stunned me. It's Bonkers how engines moving a plane that BIG could be so sneaky!
Another theory. Look at a stealth head on. The way the fuselage sits above the wing, with no traditional plane parts, makes it look almost like a flying disc.
There are three rather common shapes for UFO sightings: a flying saucer, a cylinder, and a triangle. Not unreasonable to assume those triangle UFOs are somewhat related to the development of the B-2. Not saying there is anything alien. Just that if that thing flys over, it does look like something unreal.
Col Winston E Moore, then 509th Bomb Wing Commander, flew in to Pease AFB, Portsmouth, NH, in December 1970, a year after the B-52's left, and we only had KC-135 Tankers for over a year then, which was a quiet period at the base at that time. We were able to look into the cockpit, after he had landed at our base. 😊
I see B2s once in a while. I was mowing the yard one day when I thought I heard a motorcycle starting up right behind me. I looked around and saw a B2 making a turn in low level flight over a field. Surprised me how loud, (and how close) it was.
We had a flight of them park on the far side of Nellis's flightline back around 2013. We were working there on a construction project and I learned to hate the sound of those planes second only to the BONE.
For totally personal reasons, I need to push for a Jimmy Doolittle video. The Smithsonian has listed him alongside Earhart and Lindberg as one of the most important pioneers of flight.
Crazy, I consider myself an Aviation Buff, made a hobby & Career out of it and Still, the industry Amazes me to this day, like this story does. I had no Idea that Flying Wings went so far back into early Aviation History. Nice Piece-o-Werk compiling so much history & information that was presented such that I couldn't stop listening. It takes a Lot to cut thru my Cosmic Levels of ADHD & you've succeeded ! I went thru Grade School & Jr College in Santa Barbara and it wasn't until a few years ago I'd discovered its Rich Aviation history and how many American Aviation Legends went to the same schools. I wonder if there's a story in there somewhere ? 😉
I watched this entire thing. Such a great and detailed story of the magnificent B2. I saw it for the first tine in my life last year in South Beach flying over the water for the annual air show. It was eerily quite and yet so impressive to see flying low and off in the distant waters of Miami beach.
I was an officer in the USAF in SAC, 509th Bomb Wing, 1969 to 1974, after college and graduate school. The B-52's went off to bomb Vietnam, and the FB-111 arrived in December 1970. I was a Squadron Section Commander in 1972 as a Captain. In 2001, when my wife and I were nearby in Dayton, Ohio for amateur radio we saw the stealth Tacit Blue plane at the Wright Patterson AFB, museum. 😅
As you said: They rebuilt one of the Horten bombers as a mockup. This was done at the literal Skunkworks. They put it on the pole and blasted it with the equivalent of WWII radar. While not comparable to the performance of the B2 (the engine intakes lit up like the 4th of July), the reduction in the Horten’s overall radar cross section was sufficient to reduce advance warning times enough to make them a viable threat, had they been available in any numbers.
@@spaceageGeckoAt no point did I state that the HO-229 was the blueprint or inspiration for the B2 nor that it was completely stealthy. It is stealthy enough for its purpose. I also said that the performance was nowhere near the B2. Big difference. For all I care, this might have been a parallel development where none of the engineers were aware of the others work. I just don’t know and in this case I don’t really care who inspired who etc. I suggest watching the NatGeo documentary referenced by Simon though. You can easily find it on TH-cam. The interesting bit with the radar tests starts at around the 37 minute mark. The engineers state that (and I quote) the Horten design achieved a “20 percent overall reduction of the detection range”. Which was a huge deal. All you need to add is historical context about the radar capabilities available at the time as well as the capabilities of fighter planes. The rest is simple math. In other words: The HO-229 was detected later, when it was already a lot closer to the target. Also, it was a jet powered aircraft which could just outrun most propeller driven fighters and interceptors of the time. The defenders and their Spitfires would have arrived too late to engage the bombers before they dropped their bombs on their targets. During the height of the Battle of Britain, the Brits barely managed to scramble fighters to engage the regular German bombers. Now, I am not an expert here, but detecting an enemy bomber later, while it is also flying faster than anything that you can muster sounds like a recipe for a really major headache - especially when you are already hanging on by a thread and have to carefully plan your resources and cannot really afford to lose any planes or pilots. The objective of the HO-229 was never to become invisible. The goal was to buy the plane just enough time to fulfill its task. The stealth tech in the B2 on the other hand buys it enough time so it can watch the fireworks and blind AA firing because the enemy has no freaking idea where the hell you even are. Likely they only learned that something was up because suddenly a lot of important stuff started blowing up around them seemingly at random and with no warning whatsoever. And then they can just dip and be out of there, and back home in time for tea and medals. My point stands: This plane would have made a difference in the European theatre, especially during the Battle of Britain, had it been available in numbers. Which it wasn’t, thankfully.
I actually was inside that facility, after the B2 run. Talking with those there they said you get the $2B price tag due to the government canceling the full production run. So instead of amortizing the tooling cost over many units it now has to be amortized over the few. Tooling is a fixed cost no matter how many units are built. It was an interesting experience being inside that place.
Excellent video with historic details about the flying wing concept I've never heard before. I knew the Germans had experimented with flying wings in the 1940s, but had no idea so many previous efforts had been made to develop one. I guess the closest the Germans got was the semi-flying wing in Indiana Jones or the Amerika bomber in Captain America! 🙂 My great nephew is currently one of that small group of pilots flying B-2 out of Whiteman AFB with the 509th. It's a pretty exclusive "club." As of 2021, there had only been a total of 550 B-2 pilots, with just 80 active at any given time. To put that into perspective, more people have taken space flights (around 600) than have piloted B-2. In an interesting twist, my dad (his great great grandfather) was a B-29 pilot during and after WWII... also piloting and flight instructing in KB-29 (refueler), B-50, KB-5O, and even the occasional B-36... much of that time also with the 509th.
This made for the yummiest dark cherry fruit snack in the 80s. It was the chaser in the fighter plane fruit snacks from fruit corners. They had the shsrk ones too if any xennials remember
I was in my deer stand when one of these came overhead. I could not hear it and all of a sudden everything got dark as it went over it was going slow and it looked like it would fall right out of the sky. It was going to do a flyover at a veterans parade in Branson Missouri about 5 mi from where I was at. I could not hear the thing until it went past me. And then it was still pretty quiet. But once it got to Branson they kicked on news afterburners that this guy said they don't have😂. And that thing was deafening 5 Mi away. And it went straight up in the air. I'm sure it did not have anything for a payload in it. That is the weirdest thing I have ever seen as far as aircraft go. That thing came right through the holler over top of me so I imagine they were using this flyover in Branson as part of a training session to maneuver in between the valleys. This thing is damned impressive and I imagine it's probably worth the money we spend on it because we waste trillions of dollars on other crap that we gain nothing from.
It was reported during the 90s that the unit cost per aircraft excluding development costs was closer to $200 million. The huge development costs spread over a tiny number of units distorted the unit costs.
I live in mid Missouri, and seem to be in just the right spot to have the training missions do their turn around and head back over the general area of my property. I always have to stop what I'm doing to watch.
How many channels does this guy have? I'm glad that he's got a lot of subs, Just goes to show that there are still plenty of people with a thirst for information.✌🏼
"D1 made only an 8 second flight, crashing into a wall; damaging the aircraft and slightly injuring the pilot... therefore it demonstrated it had stability" Boy, those olden days folks sure had a weird way of gaging stability
What I remember most about this plane, was the sound wave that hits like a hammer. My understanding is that the design of engine outwash was designed to be (1) as silent as practicable to those in the plane's fore view, and (2) as imposing and noticeable as possible for all those in the "rearview mirror."
I seem to remember reading something about Jimmy Stewart having a hand in the B-36s being chosen by the Air Force because they were close to what they'd flown during World War II, and he argued, not unreasonably, that's the more familiar aircraft would simply work better than a design that was new and hard to fly.
I have got to see one of these bad boys up close, they worked in the hanger we had for the E4b while traveling across country. Since we had similar clearances, for pulling alert duty on the NAOC, and it was parked in our hanger they let us get a little peak at it. Really badass. Really tight quarters.
I live 1 mile outside of Whiteman, the flightline is literally 2 fields away from the entrance to my rural suburb of a little outside Knob Noster, MO. I watch the B-2's take off and land or feel them shake my house on a regular basis when they take off. Also, Whiteman received it's first B-2 in 1993 not 94, when they entered service.
1993 is correct. I grew up on Whiteman and graduated high school in Knob Noster. I hear Ray Stockdale is still coaching wrestling there and that's insane.
@@cantisanic9666 Hahaha Mr. Stockdale, I graduated in 2000, (1 year late) what year were you? Honestly, until you said that I thought he died. But apparently he was coaching girls wrestling as of Dec 2023.
I was 11 when I got to see the B2. My dad worked for Northrop and worked on the B2. The memory I got in my head is that it wasn’t very big. But then ago it probably was over a 100 yards away.
Gold is meaningless metal, it's useful in scientific applications and it's desired by those with no sense of taste. The United States Dollar reigns supreme. Please note, the US Dollar is responsible for inventing modern stealth technology, for inventing the internet, for inventing the Integrated Circuit, for inventing the worlds first mRNA vaccine, and so much more. Gold is used by countries we won't do business with so they're desperate to get others to back that dead horse. Gold, Silver, Platinum these metals are far more useful as metals in sensors, electronics, chemical reactors, plating, etc in modern technology and medical devices then they are gathering dust in a vault. Only losers use gold as a currency. I've got two forms of currency cash/the US Dollar; and ammo. If SHTF gold is heavy and useless except in making you a target, ammo is valuable and useful and doesn't weigh as much but is worth ten times it's weight in gold in any emergency.
Gold, Silver, Platinum these metals are far more useful as metals in sensors, electronics, chemical reactors, plating, etc in modern technology and medical devices then they are gathering dust in a vault. Only losers use gold as a currency. I've got two forms of currency cash/the US Dollar; and ammo. If SHTF gold is heavy and useless except in making you a target, ammo is valuable and useful and doesn't weigh as much but is worth ten times it's weight in gold in any emergency.
Who cares, gold isn't money anymore unless the US refuses to do business with you. Gold is best used in sensors and technology, wasting precious metals on jewelry or sitting in vaults is just silly. There's a reason all nations stopped using gold to back our currencies.
The Horner bros won many trophys in their flying wing gliders . In the history that i read that in one contest their wing glider ascended to a height so high the pilot passed out for lack of oxygen regaining conscience when the glider lost altitude.
Simon, you forgot to mention the highly classified thrust augmentation system in the wings, utilising Thomas Townsend Brown’s mega-volt differential system from the leading edge to trailing edge of the wings. This system probably conferred extra RADAR stealth due to the extremely high voltage electrical field around the aircraft. Check out TT Brown and electro gravitics
yaayy, nerding out on military aviation, please gimme more, how about a look at the Sabre/Supersabre? Or how about the Do 335 with dual propellers and a "dart" tail?
I remember seeing a b2 fly out of amberly air base in Ipswich (Brisbane, AUS) and never seen anything like it. But mygodim still waiting to see a B52 stratofortress in person😢
The engineering of the B-2 bomber probably started in the early 1970's, and it was a long and arduous process because almost everything about the B-2 was more or less brand new, which mean extremely expensive engineering work to be done. The design that was shown to Jack Northrop just before he died in 1981 was probably still a long way from the final version that emerged in 1988.
I'm an engineer, the reason why arms manufacturers charge such a high price for products is because they technically do not own the patents or the designs of such aircraft and weapons. The designs are technically owned by the public via the government. Which in American patent and copyright law, the government cannot own patents or copyrights. Now for the manufacturers, if you do not own your designs then you have to recoup and/or make your profit by charging an exorbitant fee.
When Viktor Belenko defected with his MiG-25 Foxbat he did not land on Hokaido, Japan. He landed at Hakodate Regional Airport which is located on northern Honshu, not Hokaido.
Interesting fact. Boeings proposal for a bomber was not going to be accepted. And the deadline to resubmit a proposal being just days away after their 1st proposal being denied. The 3 engineers who personally submitted the proposal returned to their hotel room.(on a Friday) They spent Friday,Saturday and Sunday designing a new bomber proposal. They drew on their experience and knowledge of several other bombers they had been involved with and created the new design by incorporating different parts and ideas of each different bomber including engines. On Monday, the last day to submit a proposal, they submitted their new bomber concept. This bomber was ultimately accepted by the Airforce. Its known today as . "THE B-52" Designed in 3 days in a hotel room, literally on napkins and scratch paper. Then drawn on paper from a local department store.
Thanks for another great review Simon. There seems to be a repeated issue of these post war aircraft designs. It appears the focus of many designs is that of launching attacks on the USSR from USA. I imagine there would be a similar focus by the USSR against America, but we don't see much information about them. Time for an update?
It's mostly useful thing to have in army. But given amount of time invested in design, production and ongoing cost of maintaining thing in flying order and being stealth. It's absolutely horrendous economic decision to keep them in service. Also it's usable in bombing nations who don't have interceptors. Flying this above china, Russia, Arabia, Australia whole European countries is just stupid. It wouldn't return from mission, it's a sitting duck for any reasonable anti air capabilities. 2 billion dollars for one😂😂😂 how many few million dollars cost kindjal rockets can be made for one B2...
The only squadron of these in the world is about 2 hours from me. Our neighbor was an attack helicopter pilot at the same base. His wife said when they went out with the B2 pilots, there was no shortage of confidence among those guys...
We live not far from Whiteman AFB. It's not uncommon to see them flying in and out as you drive by. They occasionally have airshows there, and you can take a carefully-guarded walkaround of the aircraft. They also often do flyovers of the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals during the national anthem, which I suppose is good practice for the pilots. I'm also a private pilot, and just happened to be in the air right before one of those flyovers. I was listening in on the approach frequency and heard the controller warn the B2 that there was an unidentified aircraft in the area and that they weren't talking to them. They were talking about me, so I keyed the mike and identified myself. They asked me to move a few miles out of the way, where we had a great view of the flyover from above. Afterward, the B2 returned to Whiteman, and we were allowed to go on our way. I'll never forget the experience.
I test flew a Mitchell A10 a few years back. It had a continuous yaw that had me intensely focused on not adding pilot induced yaws. Then to get back and land it had no way to reduce it's glide angle. Finally i set up to land several miles out. Upon landing the relief to turn off adrenaline was overwhelming. The most ever i have worked to stay alive to date. Any A10 pilots out there today?
This video brought to you in part by our Patrons over on Patreon. If you’d like to support our efforts here directly, and our continued efforts to improve our videos, as well as do more ultra in-depth long form videos that built in ads and even sponsors don’t always cover fully, check out our Patreon page and perks here: www.patreon.com/TodayIFoundOut And as ever, thanks for watching!
This is thye very reason that we are on the short end of the military stick and have spent FAR FAR FAR more than any other country.
Is simon trying to buff up son!! Like us Americans! Either fat as hell or BUFF! Lol. You taking that testosterone aren’t ya!! Get it boy!!! U will feel like 18 again!
I live near Whiteman AFB the home base for the B2 fleet. See them in the air almost daily.
meanwhile, the Ukrainians are filling 3D printed molds with explosives and using 3D printed drones to deliver them with pinpoint precision, for 250$ and some Vodka.
Mili-tree or
Mili-tary ? 🤔
Military has 4 syllables.
My Uncle was an Air Force Colonel involved in the B-2 acquisition program. The reason why they cost 2 Billion a piece is this: Originally the Air Force went to Northrop and said "we want you to build us a stealth bomber. We'll order 100 of them and pay 500 million a piece for them." Northrop spent over a decade designing, building and testing the B-2 and when they were ready to start building the 100 aircraft the Air Force changed its mind and said "We only want 20". Northrop had to recoup all of the money they had spent over the previous decade so to do this they raised the price of each one from 500 million to 2 Billion. It was a smoke and mirrors thing. Congress wanted to cut the budget so the Air Force said "we'll only order 20". Even though they would still be spending 90% of what they originally planed on spending on the 100 it was still 10% less and on paper going from 100 to 20 looks like a big cut so congress was satisfied. That's the government for you.
Porkbarrel spending. Congressmen still got tgeir kickbacks.
That is true, but in addition to the number of units cut, the increases in the development costs were also because halfway through development, the USAF decided it didn't just want a high altitude bomber but it also had to be able to be capable of low level flight and penetration. Thus the re-design of the rear wing shape and added elevons to accommodate stability and maneuverability at low altitudes. (you can see int he B-21 it does not have the added points on the rear of the wing. B-21 is High altitude. This is probably what the wing shape of the B-2 looked like before the USAF decided they also wanted low level.
Wow, thank you for sharing 👍🏽
Maybe but buying less of then also cuts maintenance costs, since you are maintaining less planes.
Pretty much this. The first B2 cost $30 billion, the rest were $800 million each
So with that price tag, it should be called the 2B
👏👏
😂😮😄
Bravo 🎉🎉😂
GOOD ONE!👍👍
How much do we need?
"Billion, with a B, and two of em" that's why it's called "B2"
Might be a better way of putting it. Lol
You missed one of my favorite heartwarming stories. Northrop lived long enough to see and hold the design model. He couldn't speak due to illness, so he wrote "Now I know why God kept me alive all these years."
😢❤
I saw a doco about his first flying wings, In it they mentioned that he was bitter about how the concept was killed off. In his last months he was picked up by the government and taken to a dark hanger.... they turned on the lights to show the prototype B2... slightly heartwarming story!
Unless they changed the vid post upload after you posted this comment, 39:15 they cover that exact topic. Single line so easy to miss if this is in the backround.
I used to work on the B-2 project. I was an engineer at Vought, which built the engine sections of the plane, so I can say something about the price per unit. If you simply divide the total program cost by the number of planes built, you get a number about 6 times bigger than it originally would have been because we only built 25 of them instead of 150. If the unit cost is $2B with only 25 built, it would "only" have been $333M in today's money with 150, and that's pretty reasonable actually. IOW, the unit cost is a function of the number built and so always increases with that number decreases.
I can also say that those that were actually built cost more individually than would have been the case if more had been built. This is because the tooling needed to build the things most efficiently was never made. Because the design and materials were so radical, the tooling had to be rather different than normally used in aircraft construction. And for the 1st 20 or so planes, in addition to mastering making the parts and assembling them properly which is part of every plane's construction, every assembly also had to be tested for stealth. Often, this required slight changes to the shape of parts, which meant changes to the tooling needed for them. Thus, all 25 were built using cheap, disposable tooling and then a lot of artisanal hand-shaping and such, which is very expensive. The plan was that once all such issues had been resolved, we'd get permanent tooling for mass production and thus lower costs. And this agreement happened about the time Vought was building plane #20 (as a subcontractor making only part of the plane, we were building plane numbers way ahead of them rolling off the final line). And shortly after this is when the program got cut to 25. So there was no point in buying the proper tooling when we weren't going to get any real use out of it, and so ALL the the planes ended up being artisanally built.
Born too late to fly the B52.
Born too early to fly the B52.
Born just in time to fly the B52.
Erm this is a B2 video
@zillamill Someone didn't watch to the end of the video...
54:47 , bud 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
@@ajm2872 wooooaah b52 mentioned
@@zillamill 🤣
I love these. The B-2's and the SR-71 are my favorites. At big Chiefs games (season opener, home playoff games) they do flyovers with B-2's at the end of the anthem. I still get delighted like a little boy. EDIT: I said 3, but there is usually just 1.
The SR71 is an amazing aircraft. It will be very neat to see what they replace it with. The technology involved with the SR71 is astounding, I can't imagine how far they have come since then.
@@stephenhood2948 they replaced it with satellites lol
@@Lemingtona-x5g Not entirely. Satellites have predictable orbits and can be avoided. Some sort of photo capable aircraft will always be needed.
@@stephenhood2948 not really all aircraft can be taken down. this planes only use is 3rd world countries
All Countries have airborne signals detection platforms, why would they have them if they aren't necessary??
I’m a Commercially Licensed Pilot… YOU GOT WASHOUT RIGHT!!! WELL DONE!
It's not a difficult concept to grasp. It's first year undergrad stuff.
Kind regards,
An aerodynamicist.
@@Welcome2TheInternet Nice! I’ve been flying things for nearly three decades now, and the fact that “washout” and an analog clock are so misunderstood it drives me nuts.
That "commerce", does that mean all pilots are merchants? Or dealers? Commercial, sounds like a delay. Is no good. Can't you all change that to "professional"? Cause that what it is.
@@voornaam3191 Actually, you nailed it. “Commercially Licensed” means flying making $$$. Kinda. The regs are longer than my 6’1”+ frame… 😎
@@voornaam3191 whats the diff between commercial and professional?
That is an absolutely STUNNING aircraft. I saw one once at a local airshow - momentarily as it zipped overhead in a relatively low-altitude flyby. It's still beautiful and I'd love to get a look at one closer up.
Great episode! Thorough, well written and informative. Today I found out about great content!
Meanwhile, the cost of the B-21 Raider was estimated at $700 million per aircraft. Air Force officials estimated that they would spend at least $203 billion over 30 years to develop, purchase, and operate a fleet of at least 100 B-21s.
The b2 was supposed to be a simular price (ignoring inflation)
But instead of 100 bombers they cut back by a lot
The fact that these aircraft leave from the center of the continental U.S. and hit targets anywhere in the world before returning to the center of the continental U.S. is absolutely insane!
Tell us your better plan
Especially from tax payers perspective. Do you know how many mortgages or university fees that beast burns (fuel, spares, general maintenance) every time it takes off.
@@andreypetrov4868 yeahp. Simon explained it. But capability costs money. And the more capable the more it costs. No matter what the technological area. The question that needs asking is not "do you know how much this costs to develop, fabricate, and maintain?". The real question is "Do we need the capabilities this piece of tech is capable of." If the answer is yes, then, pending availability, the funds WILL be found or extracted from the populace. If the answer is no, then you either dumb down the tech to be able to meet capability demand, or you invent tech that isnt as capable, and therefore costs less.
@@zoltankaparthy9095 oh i dont have one and wasnt remarking on the goodness or badness of it. Lol. I was using "insane" the way millenials and gen z use it, as a synonym for "crazy" or "sick" or "mindblowing". Lol
@@jamesleatherwood5125strange you had to explain that.
And famously piloted by John Travolta and Christian Slater in that mid 90s documentary
That's the B3.
Wrong plane
@@stevenschalck2781 d'oh
I live near Whiteman airforce base. These things are so awesome to see. You can hear when they pass over you because the sound changes so much
Excellent documentary! For selected topics, such as this, it really helps to have a long duration format.
I saw one of these at an airshow do some flyovers at tinker AFB about 7 or 8 yrs ago. Other than how it looked, I was so surprising at how quiet it was. You could've hear it at an elevation of probably 2000 ft above!!
Literally looks exacly like what batman would fly
Nice video! Love how it ends with the BUFF outliving everything meant to replace it. 😂
This channel has become essential viewing.. A bit too much stock videos...(the money got annoying...) we love the historic footage, it's the only place we'll find it... and boy is your research good. What a piece of engineering, hell, what a piece OF ART! Nothing is more beautiful than science expertly rendered.
Everyone I think I have subscribed to every channel you guys have I see there’s one more! Keep up the great videos!
I grew up a few hours from a big Airforce base. Got used to seeing Blackhawks training, and it was spooky how silent they could be. They'd fly less than 500 ft over our house, and it just sounded like someone flapping a paper bag. When I finally got to see a B2 demo at an airshow in the 90s, its quietness similarly stunned me. It's Bonkers how engines moving a plane that BIG could be so sneaky!
Another theory.
Look at a stealth head on. The way the fuselage sits above the wing, with no traditional plane parts, makes it look almost like a flying disc.
There are three rather common shapes for UFO sightings: a flying saucer, a cylinder, and a triangle.
Not unreasonable to assume those triangle UFOs are somewhat related to the development of the B-2.
Not saying there is anything alien. Just that if that thing flys over, it does look like something unreal.
@HappyBeezerStudios the whole UFO thing is funny. Most idiot average Joe's don't know what is flying over them so everything is a UFO.
Former USAF SAC member here. I love the FB 111. One of the coolest fighter/bombers ever made.
Get a room. (Sorry, silly mood)
AHHH it's was a PIG.
Col Winston E Moore, then 509th Bomb
Wing Commander, flew in to Pease AFB, Portsmouth, NH, in December 1970, a year after the B-52's left, and
we only had KC-135 Tankers for over
a year then, which was a quiet period
at the base at that time.
We were able to look into the cockpit,
after he had landed at our base. 😊
The B-1’s little brother also known as the F-14’s cousin.
I see B2s once in a while. I was mowing the yard one day when I thought I heard a motorcycle starting up right behind me. I looked around and saw a B2 making a turn in low level flight over a field. Surprised me how loud, (and how close) it was.
We had a flight of them park on the far side of Nellis's flightline back around 2013. We were working there on a construction project and I learned to hate the sound of those planes second only to the BONE.
Relatively speaking, were it nearly any other aircraft capable of self powered flight, where the B2 was ‘loud’, the other planes would be deafening.
@@matthewdyer1568WHAT? 👴🏽
@@devonwilliams2423”B2 lowkey quiet. Got that stealth rizz”. That better, kid?
@@bigwheel9132 🤣🤣🤣🤣 thank you for translating.
For totally personal reasons, I need to push for a Jimmy Doolittle video. The Smithsonian has listed him alongside Earhart and Lindberg as one of the most important pioneers of flight.
I share the last name also.
DNA testing showed something around 16th cousin
Wow! Your best presentation yet!
I was able to walk around it at Edwards AFB the week after it flew its first flight - quite a thrill
Grandpa BUFF approves of his shout-out
At 54:50 while talking about the B-52's long service life the video was of a B-47.
Correction, "Natzi's fled to Argentina".... Tell it like it was.
Amazing level of detail in this episode, trully outstanding!
Crazy, I consider myself an Aviation Buff, made a hobby & Career out of it and Still, the industry Amazes me to this day, like this story does. I had no Idea that Flying Wings went so far back into early Aviation History. Nice Piece-o-Werk compiling so much history & information that was presented such that I couldn't stop listening. It takes a Lot to cut thru my Cosmic Levels of ADHD & you've succeeded !
I went thru Grade School & Jr College in Santa Barbara and it wasn't until a few years ago I'd discovered its Rich Aviation history and how many American Aviation Legends went to the same schools. I wonder if there's a story in there somewhere ? 😉
Great Video; Buff & Franklin 2024
Sadly, if Buff wins in November he'll have to retire from military service.
B-2 is still my favourite plane of all time. Thanks for this video!
I watched this entire thing. Such a great and detailed story of the magnificent B2. I saw it for the first tine in my life last year in South Beach flying over the water for the annual air show. It was eerily quite and yet so impressive to see flying low and off in the distant waters of Miami beach.
I was an officer in the USAF in SAC,
509th Bomb Wing, 1969 to 1974, after
college and graduate school. The B-52's went off to bomb Vietnam, and
the FB-111 arrived in December 1970.
I was a Squadron Section Commander
in 1972 as a Captain.
In 2001, when my wife and I were nearby in Dayton, Ohio for amateur
radio we saw the stealth Tacit Blue
plane at the Wright Patterson AFB,
museum. 😅
Excellent video! Props to Gilles for a phenomenal script. He is a beast researcher and writer.
Let's go!!!! Cheers from Tennessee
As you said: They rebuilt one of the Horten bombers as a mockup.
This was done at the literal Skunkworks. They put it on the pole and blasted it with the equivalent of WWII radar.
While not comparable to the performance of the B2 (the engine intakes lit up like the 4th of July), the reduction in the Horten’s overall radar cross section was sufficient to reduce advance warning times enough to make them a viable threat, had they been available in any numbers.
The Ho-229 was in no way stealthy nor did it inspire the B-2.
@@spaceageGeckoAt no point did I state that the HO-229 was the blueprint or inspiration for the B2 nor that it was completely stealthy. It is stealthy enough for its purpose. I also said that the performance was nowhere near the B2. Big difference. For all I care, this might have been a parallel development where none of the engineers were aware of the others work. I just don’t know and in this case I don’t really care who inspired who etc.
I suggest watching the NatGeo documentary referenced by Simon though. You can easily find it on TH-cam. The interesting bit with the radar tests starts at around the 37 minute mark.
The engineers state that (and I quote) the Horten design achieved a “20 percent overall reduction of the detection range”. Which was a huge deal. All you need to add is historical context about the radar capabilities available at the time as well as the capabilities of fighter planes. The rest is simple math.
In other words: The HO-229 was detected later, when it was already a lot closer to the target. Also, it was a jet powered aircraft which could just outrun most propeller driven fighters and interceptors of the time. The defenders and their Spitfires would have arrived too late to engage the bombers before they dropped their bombs on their targets. During the height of the Battle of Britain, the Brits barely managed to scramble fighters to engage the regular German bombers. Now, I am not an expert here, but detecting an enemy bomber later, while it is also flying faster than anything that you can muster sounds like a recipe for a really major headache - especially when you are already hanging on by a thread and have to carefully plan your resources and cannot really afford to lose any planes or pilots.
The objective of the HO-229 was never to become invisible. The goal was to buy the plane just enough time to fulfill its task.
The stealth tech in the B2 on the other hand buys it enough time so it can watch the fireworks and blind AA firing because the enemy has no freaking idea where the hell you even are. Likely they only learned that something was up because suddenly a lot of important stuff started blowing up around them seemingly at random and with no warning whatsoever. And then they can just dip and be out of there, and back home in time for tea and medals.
My point stands: This plane would have made a difference in the European theatre, especially during the Battle of Britain, had it been available in numbers. Which it wasn’t, thankfully.
@@DeputatKaktus Apologies, there a lot of people who are convinced the HO-229 inspired the B-2 and I mistook you for one.
Very much enjoyed this presentation.
"Smoothly faired" like a boat. Great researcher/writers and delivery of course
I actually was inside that facility, after the B2 run. Talking with those there they said you get the $2B price tag due to the government canceling the full production run. So instead of amortizing the tooling cost over many units it now has to be amortized over the few. Tooling is a fixed cost no matter how many units are built. It was an interesting experience being inside that place.
Also a redesign of some parts due to airforce wanting the b2 to work well at both low ans high alt
A "small" change can force a lot of redesigning
Great video. Thank you.
Excellent video with historic details about the flying wing concept I've never heard before. I knew the Germans had experimented with flying wings in the 1940s, but had no idea so many previous efforts had been made to develop one.
I guess the closest the Germans got was the semi-flying wing in Indiana Jones or the Amerika bomber in Captain America! 🙂
My great nephew is currently one of that small group of pilots flying B-2 out of Whiteman AFB with the 509th. It's a pretty exclusive "club." As of 2021, there had only been a total of 550 B-2 pilots, with just 80 active at any given time. To put that into perspective, more people have taken space flights (around 600) than have piloted B-2.
In an interesting twist, my dad (his great great grandfather) was a B-29 pilot during and after WWII... also piloting and flight instructing in KB-29 (refueler), B-50, KB-5O, and even the occasional B-36... much of that time also with the 509th.
This made for the yummiest dark cherry fruit snack in the 80s. It was the chaser in the fighter plane fruit snacks from fruit corners. They had the shsrk ones too if any xennials remember
Got to see one of these fly by a few months ago at an air show. Such a surreal aircraft to see in flight
Very cool content 👌
Greatly appreciate you educating the world on the B.U.F.F. :D
Fantastic video
I'm a human pretending to be a bot pretending to be human.
Well you're not doing a very convincing job of it.
I’m a dude playing a dude Disguised as another dude!
@@CNSTAdventures That's exactly what I was gonna write!!! 😂👍
I know who I am.. !
I'm a American white guy during the day but at night I become a Chinese porn star named One Hung Lo....
Grow up bot fly.
I live across the Red River from Barksdale AFB and see the B-52s all the time they are incredible to see flying so slow and still be airborne.
I was in my deer stand when one of these came overhead. I could not hear it and all of a sudden everything got dark as it went over it was going slow and it looked like it would fall right out of the sky. It was going to do a flyover at a veterans parade in Branson Missouri about 5 mi from where I was at. I could not hear the thing until it went past me. And then it was still pretty quiet. But once it got to Branson they kicked on news afterburners that this guy said they don't have😂. And that thing was deafening 5 Mi away. And it went straight up in the air. I'm sure it did not have anything for a payload in it. That is the weirdest thing I have ever seen as far as aircraft go. That thing came right through the holler over top of me so I imagine they were using this flyover in Branson as part of a training session to maneuver in between the valleys. This thing is damned impressive and I imagine it's probably worth the money we spend on it because we waste trillions of dollars on other crap that we gain nothing from.
The B-21 will be a beast. I hope they can make a true massive force of them, at least 100.
a well produced documentary
It was reported during the 90s that the unit cost per aircraft excluding development costs was closer to $200 million. The huge development costs spread over a tiny number of units distorted the unit costs.
I live in mid Missouri, and seem to be in just the right spot to have the training missions do their turn around and head back over the general area of my property. I always have to stop what I'm doing to watch.
You sound genuinely interested in this one! It’s a good video.
How many channels does this guy have?
I'm glad that he's got a lot of subs,
Just goes to show that there are still plenty of people with a thirst for information.✌🏼
"even a john deere traktor could fly" made my day 🤣🤣🤣
Damn, it's wild that those spies weren't exposed by the polygraph tests. Did the administrator forget to cross check them with their star signs?
"D1 made only an 8 second flight, crashing into a wall; damaging the aircraft and slightly injuring the pilot... therefore it demonstrated it had stability"
Boy, those olden days folks sure had a weird way of gaging stability
What I remember most about this plane, was the sound wave that hits like a hammer. My understanding is that the design of engine outwash was designed to be (1) as silent as practicable to those in the plane's fore view, and (2) as imposing and noticeable as possible for all those in the "rearview mirror."
I seem to remember reading something about Jimmy Stewart having a hand in the B-36s being chosen by the Air Force because they were close to what they'd flown during World War II, and he argued, not unreasonably, that's the more familiar aircraft would simply work better than a design that was new and hard to fly.
It don’t look so stealth I mean you can totally see it in the video🤷♂️👀
True
I have got to see one of these bad boys up close, they worked in the hanger we had for the E4b while traveling across country. Since we had similar clearances, for pulling alert duty on the NAOC, and it was parked in our hanger they let us get a little peak at it. Really badass. Really tight quarters.
*parked in not worked in.
I live 1 mile outside of Whiteman, the flightline is literally 2 fields away from the entrance to my rural suburb of a little outside Knob Noster, MO. I watch the B-2's take off and land or feel them shake my house on a regular basis when they take off.
Also, Whiteman received it's first B-2 in 1993 not 94, when they entered service.
1993 is correct. I grew up on Whiteman and graduated high school in Knob Noster. I hear Ray Stockdale is still coaching wrestling there and that's insane.
@@cantisanic9666 Hahaha Mr. Stockdale, I graduated in 2000, (1 year late) what year were you? Honestly, until you said that I thought he died. But apparently he was coaching girls wrestling as of Dec 2023.
@@Synthwave9Y’all should just go ahead and kiss. Get it over with.
@@bigwheel9132Alright you first then. :)
I was 11 when I got to see the B2. My dad worked for Northrop and worked on the B2. The memory I got in my head is that it wasn’t very big. But then ago it probably was over a 100 yards away.
I love planes & I love that Simon loves planes because I am here for his love of airplanes
Worth it
Wow i wasn't aware of the northrop grumman history and thought it was based on the 229. Thank you
These planes are awesome! I really enjoyed the walk around I had at S.A.C. Just imagine what we have now, still hidden away from the public!👽✈
I adore this plane.
How many pounds (or kilos) of gold does $2B weigh?!!
about 110,000 kilos
So how much of $2 billion is skimming , fraud and corruption ? I’m guessing between 1/4 and 1/3
Gold is meaningless metal, it's useful in scientific applications and it's desired by those with no sense of taste.
The United States Dollar reigns supreme. Please note, the US Dollar is responsible for inventing modern stealth technology, for inventing the internet, for inventing the Integrated Circuit, for inventing the worlds first mRNA vaccine, and so much more. Gold is used by countries we won't do business with so they're desperate to get others to back that dead horse.
Gold, Silver, Platinum these metals are far more useful as metals in sensors, electronics, chemical reactors, plating, etc in modern technology and medical devices then they are gathering dust in a vault. Only losers use gold as a currency. I've got two forms of currency cash/the US Dollar; and ammo. If SHTF gold is heavy and useless except in making you a target, ammo is valuable and useful and doesn't weigh as much but is worth ten times it's weight in gold in any emergency.
Gold, Silver, Platinum these metals are far more useful as metals in sensors, electronics, chemical reactors, plating, etc in modern technology and medical devices then they are gathering dust in a vault. Only losers use gold as a currency. I've got two forms of currency cash/the US Dollar; and ammo. If SHTF gold is heavy and useless except in making you a target, ammo is valuable and useful and doesn't weigh as much but is worth ten times it's weight in gold in any emergency.
Who cares, gold isn't money anymore unless the US refuses to do business with you. Gold is best used in sensors and technology, wasting precious metals on jewelry or sitting in vaults is just silly. There's a reason all nations stopped using gold to back our currencies.
The Horner bros won many trophys in their flying wing gliders .
In the history that i read that in one contest their wing glider ascended to a height so high the pilot passed out for lack of oxygen regaining conscience when the glider lost altitude.
Simon, you forgot to mention the highly classified thrust augmentation system in the wings, utilising Thomas Townsend Brown’s mega-volt differential system from the leading edge to trailing edge of the wings. This system probably conferred extra RADAR stealth due to the extremely high voltage electrical field around the aircraft. Check out TT Brown and electro gravitics
Remember the F-117 ms-dos computer game. Most fun part is that the in game low polygon model ended up much more realistic than the cover art :)
yaayy, nerding out on military aviation, please gimme more, how about a look at the Sabre/Supersabre? Or how about the Do 335 with dual propellers and a "dart" tail?
I think the hypersaber(f107) would be more interesting
I remember seeing a b2 fly out of amberly air base in Ipswich (Brisbane, AUS) and never seen anything like it. But mygodim still waiting to see a B52 stratofortress in person😢
Theres one on display in Darwin- Seriously amazing aircraft to be able to walk around and just gaze into the gaping maw that is its bomb bays
The engineering of the B-2 bomber probably started in the early 1970's, and it was a long and arduous process because almost everything about the B-2 was more or less brand new, which mean extremely expensive engineering work to be done. The design that was shown to Jack Northrop just before he died in 1981 was probably still a long way from the final version that emerged in 1988.
I'm an engineer, the reason why arms manufacturers charge such a high price for products is because they technically do not own the patents or the designs of such aircraft and weapons. The designs are technically owned by the public via the government. Which in American patent and copyright law, the government cannot own patents or copyrights. Now for the manufacturers, if you do not own your designs then you have to recoup and/or make your profit by charging an exorbitant fee.
When Viktor Belenko defected with his MiG-25 Foxbat he did not land on Hokaido, Japan. He landed at Hakodate Regional Airport which is located on northern Honshu, not Hokaido.
Interesting fact.
Boeings proposal for a bomber was not going to be accepted. And the deadline to resubmit a proposal being just days away after their 1st proposal being denied.
The 3 engineers who personally submitted the proposal returned to their hotel room.(on a Friday)
They spent Friday,Saturday and Sunday designing a new bomber proposal. They drew on their experience and knowledge of several other bombers they had been involved with and created the new design by incorporating different parts and ideas of each different bomber including engines.
On Monday, the last day to submit a proposal, they submitted their new bomber concept.
This bomber was ultimately accepted by the Airforce. Its known today as
. "THE B-52"
Designed in 3 days in a hotel room, literally on napkins and scratch paper.
Then drawn on paper from a local department store.
Thanks for another great review Simon. There seems to be a repeated issue of these post war aircraft designs. It appears the focus of many designs is that of launching attacks on the USSR from USA. I imagine there would be a similar focus by the USSR against America, but we don't see much information about them. Time for an update?
Russia has invested in air defense, missiles and icbms.
When its all said and done. It will be you they use this equipment on. Praise the military machine indeed.
Just to think this is "old" tech, the B-21 Raider will make it look like a Zeppelin bomber.
YEESSSSS just the kind of sexy, snappy content that grabs my long-since eroded attention span- an hour long history of flying wing aircraft!
Only fans will recognize the thumbnail as the B-21 Raider and not the B-2…😂
It’s cheaper successor.
An informative content.....a B2 stealthy bomber ...
Why are two of my favorite youtubers bald and British?
The BUFF is highly underrated.
the 2022 grounding led to the B1B opening the Rose Parade. That thing is LOUD.
It's crazy when you realize the B-2 is 40 years old. And no other country even has anything comparable.
It's mostly useful thing to have in army. But given amount of time invested in design, production and ongoing cost of maintaining thing in flying order and being stealth. It's absolutely horrendous economic decision to keep them in service.
Also it's usable in bombing nations who don't have interceptors. Flying this above china, Russia, Arabia, Australia whole European countries is just stupid. It wouldn't return from mission, it's a sitting duck for any reasonable anti air capabilities. 2 billion dollars for one😂😂😂 how many few million dollars cost kindjal rockets can be made for one B2...
@@dragancrnogorac3851russian bot detected
Opinion ignored
Comparing a bomber to a balistic missile lol
I would love to see a B-1 Lancer incorporate lessons learned from the YF-23 and the B-2.
The only squadron of these in the world is about 2 hours from me. Our neighbor was an attack helicopter pilot at the same base. His wife said when they went out with the B2 pilots, there was no shortage of confidence among those guys...
We live not far from Whiteman AFB. It's not uncommon to see them flying in and out as you drive by. They occasionally have airshows there, and you can take a carefully-guarded walkaround of the aircraft. They also often do flyovers of the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals during the national anthem, which I suppose is good practice for the pilots. I'm also a private pilot, and just happened to be in the air right before one of those flyovers. I was listening in on the approach frequency and heard the controller warn the B2 that there was an unidentified aircraft in the area and that they weren't talking to them. They were talking about me, so I keyed the mike and identified myself. They asked me to move a few miles out of the way, where we had a great view of the flyover from above. Afterward, the B2 returned to Whiteman, and we were allowed to go on our way. I'll never forget the experience.
I test flew a Mitchell A10 a few years back. It had a continuous yaw that had me intensely focused on not adding pilot induced yaws. Then to get back and land it had no way to reduce it's glide angle. Finally i set up to land several miles out. Upon landing the relief to turn off adrenaline was overwhelming. The most ever i have worked to stay alive to date. Any A10 pilots out there today?
Another plane video Whistle boy.... your really spoiling us...
The monopoly in the military aircraft industry is insane
Got in quickly ;)
Fun Fact: In the year 1953 the YB-49 was used to drop an Atomic Bomb on the invading Martians as the approach Los Angles.