全翼機の世界（全翼機おもちゃ箱　その１）

宝物

Ｂ－２パッチ　右は、横田のOpenHouseでのダンボールセール品の中から見つけた、B-2型パッチです。
Ｂ－２パッチ２号
　そして、横田近くの16号沿線の雑貨屋で見つけたB-2パッチ。
Ｂ－２テストチーム　
海外のインタネットオークションで入手した、テストチームパッチです。

Best of my 宝物

　そして、私の宝物中の宝物、N-9MBのWood Chip、Planes of Fameから販売されている限定品です。額装されており、額の大きさは47cm×57cm、木片は5.5cm×3.8cmです。かなり暗い茶色の木片は、マホガニ材の積層板（所謂、合板／ベニア板）です。本片の採取個所が不明なのでが、残念ですが。
宝物 of 宝物 WoodChip
　説明書きは、以下のようになっています。

This wood chip is an offical souvenir taken from the original Northrop N9MB Flying Wing. It was removed from the Planes of Fame Flying Wing during the restoration of the aircraft. After many years of work, the N9MB has been restored by a special group of museum volunteers.

Jack Northrop was the American genius behind the Flying Wing design. His theory was to make an entire aircraft the lifting body by eliminating the drag producing fuselage and tail group.

Four Northrop N9Ms were manufactured during 1942-1945.

N9M-1, N9M-2, N9MA, and N9MB.
They were constructed and flown to prove the Flying Wing concept as a sound design for the XB-35 and the YB-49 Flying Wings.

The first N9M flew in December 1942. Each model differed slightly in detail. The first three N9M models were powered by two 275 h.p., Menasco air-cooled, six cylinder, inline engines.These engines were procured from former unlimited air race planes at the Cleveland Air Races. The last model in the series, the N9MB, was powered by two specially built Franklin, eight cylinder, air cooled, horizontally opposed engines of 300 h.p.

The N9MB was the only one of the four models built to survive.Due to the timley efforts of Ed Moloney this aircraft was saved and is now on display at the Air Museum Planes of Fame.

The Flying Wing peaks everyone's curiosity and was a wonderment to see flying in the air. After their testing career was over, the Wings were used to train Air Force pilots in Flying Wing transition. Because of the lessons learned in the smaller sixy-foot wingspan N9Ms, the giant XB-35 and YB-49 became awesome realities during the late 1940s.

The Northrop Flying Wings were clearly ahead of their time.

　品番号は26/400。
裏には、エド・マロニー氏（Planes Of Fameの創設者で、Northrop's Flying Wingsの著者）がサインした証明書もあります。

　アメリカの博物館では、こうやって修理の際に外した部品（特に外板等）などを限定販売し、維持費等に充てている例が多いです。
この木片もそうしたもので、そういう意味では何かしらの協力ができたと思っています。