Northrop NM-1 "Jeep" (1940)
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Scale: 1/48
Initial Release: 2002 Medium: Styrene Kit Rarity: 3 |
About the Design
Aviation pioneer Jack Northrop (1895-1981) long dreamed of building operational "flying wings," aircraft without fuselages or tails, as such structures necessarily produced drag that reduce a plane's speed, range and overall performance. In 1939, he founded his own company, Northrop Aircraft Co., and in July 1940 the first of his experimental flying wings, the N-1M "Jeep," took the the skies over Rogers Dry Lake in Southern California.
Over numerous test flights over 2-1/2 years, the elegant diamond-shaped "Jeep" proved itself to be overweight and underpowered. Although the N-1M clearly performed below expectations, Northrop still declared the tests a "success" and was able to convince the Congress to appropriate additional funds for the development of subsequent flying wing aircraft. The N-1M is currently on display at the National Air & Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Fairfax, Virginia. |
About the Kit
This 1/48-scale injection-molded model kit of the N-1M was released by Sword of the Czech Republic in 2002. The model featured a hyper-detailed cockpit (barely visible in the completed model) as well as as extensive undercarriage and landing gear details. This is the only injection-molded version of this historic aircraft ever produced.
This model was built from an original issue. |