Ok, so it’s technically not a modeling question, but all this talk lately of the XP-56 Black Bullet has got me thinking. Not too long ago one of our resident experts, Blackwolf, posted a number of pictures of the only remaining XP-56, located in the Paul Gerber restoration center. Check it out here:
http://finescale.com/FSM/CS/forums/680891/ShowPost.aspx
If you look at the top fin, it’s clearly very short. This is a feature of the first prototype:
http://www.nurflugel.com/Nurflugel/Northrop/xp-56/xp-56.jpg
The second prototype had a much larger fin:
http://www.nurflugel.com/Nurflugel/Northrop/xp-56/xp-56_1.jpg
Now this seems like a no-brainer. The first prototype is the only airframe to survive, right? It would seem so, except for this:
http://www.nurflugel.com/Nurflugel/Northrop/xp-56/xp-56_crash.jpg
The reason the first prototype was written off was becaue of this, a crash during a taxi test. So this begs the question- which airframe is currently in storage? Is it a repaired first prototype, or a “backdated” second? This question has really got me annoyed lately, and I would love a definite answer.
That is, if I can get one. Thanks for checking this out.
(photo credit- http://www.nurflugel.com/Nurflugel/Northrop/xp-56/body_xp-56.html)