Ho-229 WWII all wing aircraft prototype

There was a brilliant documentary on the stealth capability of the Horton aircraft which was reassembled at Northrop Grumman for tests using their fixture used for US military stealth testing.

They painted both modern and World War II era type radar at the plane and took measurements. Very interesting. Essentially because of the engine inlets it was only partially stealthy to modern radar but would’ve been much more stealthy to legacy radar of the period.

The plane the Northrop Grumman team reassembled the plane based on one of the actual war prizes that was stored in a Us gov warehouse.

 
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I remember that show. Very cool to watch

Horton was way ahead in flying wings.
 
That Nat Geo video is really hokey. A good fit for www.luft46.com, which is a fantasy site.

In the video, they built a model of the airplane out of plywood. They finished it like a fine piece of furniture. They didn't have engines and used a lot of stuff (fiberglass and the like) that the Germans didn't have. I don't think it "proved" anything other than the guys in the woodworking shop at Northrop can make a pretty mockup. Their data showed that the model's shape reduced detection range by about 20% (versus what wasn't stated). Even if it was 20%, that matters, but, but isn't significant. I'd bet the de Havilland Mosquito (another largely wooden aircraft) was similar.

Then they went on and on about the 229 surprising the Brits by coming in fast and at low altitude. Hello... An early jet at low attitude wouldn't have enough range to make it to England and back.

After that, the video went down the path that the Germans would have an A-bomb by (or in) '46, which is nonsense. The Germans had neither a serious research program nor the resources to develop an A-bomb in the war.

Basically, it is a fanboy piece on imaginary German wonder weapons...

I'm extremely biased against the cults of Flying Wings and/or Nazi Wonder Weapons. Not that it shows.
 
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They store it in the back. You can see if from the viewing platform above. Look at all the cool stuff in that area!
 
They store it in the back. You can see if from the viewing platform above. Look at all the cool stuff in that area!

Last summer it was out on the floor agains the back wall kinda to the left in your second photo.

Its one of the aircraft I would really like to see restored or replicated and flown. I understand its probably too far gone for that. The landing gear for it looks huge!
 
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They also had this one on display at the time (2015)
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[QUOTE="UngaWunga, post: 2995415, member: 23053"They store it in the back. You can see if from the viewing platform above. Look at all the cool stuff in that area![/QUOTE]
Once a year (except this one) they have an open house and you get to walk through the back and see a bunch of that stuff & other stuff not on display. Well worth the time.
 
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