Name Hal Markarian | ||
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Hal Markarian was an Armenian American aircraft designer who would be known for implementing the initial designs of the B-2 Stealth Bomber. He produced a sketch that was the inspiration for the modern B-2 Spirit. Today's B-2 Spirit has incorporated much of Markarian's design and has sustained the initial intentions which produced it.
Design for the B-2 Stealth Bomber
During the initial project of the Stealth Bomber, Hal Markarian was appointed as project manager.
The first sketches of the aircraft were done by Markarian in June 1979. Markarian's proposal was one of the two designs that were considered in the making of the Stealth Bomber. Markarian's design proposal was very similar to the YB-49, an aircraft designed by Northrop Grumman three decades earlier in 1947.
The design was under the influence of Irv Waaland and John Cashen who were experts in stealth technology. The team also included aerodynamicist Hans Grellman, as well as Dick Scherrer, a designer who had arrived from Lockheed. The design, which was the ancestor of the modern B-2 Stealth Bomber, was much lighter and thinner in design and had six engines equipped, most likely GE F404. The aircraft had a diamond shaped center body which served to accommodate a crew, fuselage and weapons.
The aircraft design that Northrop Grumman would later adopt for the Stealth Bomber was very similar in design. An exception to Markarian's design would be a deeper center-section of the aircraft. Due to demands from the Strategic Air Command, the aircraft also became much heavier and had larger weapon carriers.