right-hand, 60° nose-down spin. The investigation found that Constant had suffered control reversal, the control column had been pressed against his chest during his recovery attempt from the steep spin, preventing him from parachuting to safety. Actions were taken to fix this problem and prevent it from happening on other N-9M test aircraft. When Northrop's Flying Wing bomber program was canceled, all remaining N-9M flight test aircraft, except for the final N-9MB, were scrapped. For more than three decades, it slowly deteriorated until the Chino, California Planes of Fame Air Museum acquired the aircraft in 1982 and began the labor-intensive restoration process. For the next two decades, former Northrop employees and other volunteers restored the N-9MB to its final flight configuration. Since 1993, the yellow-and-blue Flying Wing has been exhibited, with flight demonstrations at several airshows every year. In April 2006, the N-9MB suffered an in-flight engine fire. The aircraft was landed safely with limited damage. Donations to the museum were solicited for its repair, and the aircraft was fully repaired to flight status. It was flown again during the annual Chino airshow on 15–16 May 2010. On 22 April 2019, the N-9MB was destroyed shortly after takeoff, when it crashed into a prison yard in Norco, California. The pilot was killed but no ground casualties were reported. The National Transportation Safety Board attributed the crash to the "pilot's loss of control for undetermined reasons", stating that "given the significant fragmentation of the wreckage, the reason for the loss of control could not be determined". Specifications (N-9M) See also References Notes Bibliography Coleman, Ted. Jack Northrop and the Flying Wing: The Real Story Behind the Stealth Bomber. New York: Paragon House, 1988. . Donald, David, editor. "Northrop Flying Wings", Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. Etobicoke, Ontario: Prospero Books, 1997. . Maloney, Edward T. Northrop Flying Wings. Corona del Mar, California: World War II Publications, 1988. . O'Leary, Michael. "Northrop's Flying Sorcery". Aeroplane, Volume 35, Number 6, Issue 410, June 2007. pp. 62–64. O'Leary, Michael. "The Shape of Wings to Come". Aeroplane, Volume 35, Number 6, Issue 410, June 2007, pp. 65–68. O'Leary, Michael. "Wings of Northrop, Part Two". Air Classics, Volume 44, Number 1, January 2008, Challenge Publications, Inc. ISSN 0002-2241. (Heavily illustrated, authoritative N-9M article.) New 'Flying Wing' Plane Hailed as Great Advance In Aviation. "The Baltimore American" newspaper, Section E, 9 February 1930. (Front-page feature article with two photos