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 ...

Flight testing of the X-4 began in 1948, and in 1950 both X-4s were turned over to the NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics), predecessor to NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). The first X-4 was grounded after only 10 flights, and only the second X-4 (on display at the museum) was used in the joint USAF/NACA program.

Feb 28, 2014 · The X-4 was designed to test a semi-tailless wing configuration at transonic speeds. Many engineers believed in the 1940s that the such a design, without horizontal stabilizers, would avoid the interaction of shock waves between the wing and stabilizers.

Jan 22, 2024 · X-4 Bantam: Inspirations, Origins, and Specifications. Unlike her avian namesake, the X-4 Bantam could fly high, far, and fast. She actually drew her inspiration from a former WWII nemesis,...

Sep 13, 2022 · The semi-tailless Northrop X-4 Bantam’s design helped iron out the problems of transonic flight.

When it appeared at the flight test facility at California’s Muroc Air Force Base in 1948, the Northrop X-4 Bantam was the 98-pound weakling of research airplanes.

Jan 15, 2016 · Powered by two turbojet engines and featuring swept wings, the X-4 helped demonstrate that tail surfaces are important for proper control effectiveness but that a properly configured semi- tailless airplane was a viable platform for research on dynamic stability and also provided data (from tufts) on airflow anomalies.

The twin-engine X-4 was uniquely small. Measuring only 23 feet long and 14 feet high, the X-4 was in fact smaller than the Cessna 152 two-seater so often used as a flight trainer for students.

Jan 25, 2022 · Northrop X-4 S/N 46-676 The X-4 Bantam was an experimental small twin-jet aircraft manufactured 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 attitude.

The X-4 opted for a twin-engine configuration with two Westinghouse J30-WE-7/9 series turbojets, each rated at 1,600 pounds of thrust, with air intakes on either side of the cockpit. The tail contains only one vertical tail, and the landing gear is a wheeled tricycle arrangement.