Documentary, video and evaulation of the Horton 229 Flying wing.

[Commander Wallace]

I came across a video that may be of interest to our Subsim members who are aircraft aficionados.The video is the Horten 229 flying wing constructed by Reimar and Walter Horton. The German war machine was innovative and forward thinking across the board from excellent torpedoes, U boat submarines and surface ships, Sturmgewehr 44 assault rifles which were the first assault rifles and tanks like the Panzer and Tiger and excellent aircraft like the Messerscmitt Bf 109 and FW-190 and ME-262 Schwalbe (German: "Swallow") and Ho 229 Flying wing.

Raw materials were in short supply and wood was on the other hand,was plentiful. Wood in aircraft was not unknown in aircraft construction as the excellent de Havilland Mosquito was also constructed of wood.

Quote: twin Rolls-Royce Merlin-powered DH.91, with the Bristol Hercules (radial engine) and Napier Sabre (H-engine) as alternatives in the Mosquito. The mosquito was used effectively as a day/night fighter in addition to being used as a relatively fast tactical bomber.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Mosquito

Quote : The design was a response to Hermann Göring's call for light bomber designs capable of meeting the "3×1000" requirement; namely to carry 1,000 kilograms (2,200 lb) of bombs a distance of 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) with a speed of 1,000 kilometres per hour (620 mph). Only jets could provide the speed, but these were extremely fuel-hungry, so considerable effort had to be made to meet the range requirement. Based on a flying wing, the Ho 229 lacked all extraneous control surfaces to lower drag. It was the only design to come even close to the 3×1000 requirements and received Göring's approval. Its ceiling was 15,000 metres (49,000 ft).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horten_Ho_229

In the video, The performance envelope and characteristics of the Ho 229 are explored. It was revealed that the HO 229 could out fly all German aircraft including the vaunted Me-262 Jet fighter. This was probably due to the engine nacelles on the HO 229 being centrally located and not as hanging appendages as on the Me-262. The flying wing also generated more lift at low speeds by virtue of the considerable surface area of it's wing and innovative design. Keep in mind, the Ho 229 flew without benefit of tail rudders or computer control. Control was achieved by use of elevons and spoliers which gave the Ho 229 flying wing pitch and yaw control.

What was fascinating in the video is evidence apparently shows the Horton Brothers were thinking along the lines of developing the Ho 229 as something of a stealth fighter. This was to defeat the Chain Home radar installation employed by England during WW2

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chain_Home

Of more concern was Hermann Göring, head of the Luftwaffe directed the Horton Brothers to develop a long range bomber, capable of delivering an atomic bomb which was scheduled to be available in Germany by 1946. The Horton Brothers began developing the Ho 18 strategic bomber which was a six engine, larger version of their flying wing jet fighter.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horten_H.XVIII

In the Video, a full mockup was constructed using construction techniques of the times and original blueprints and plans of the Horton Brothers and from conversations and interviews of Reimar and Walter Horton when they were alive. The finished non flying wing was constructed and evaluated for stealth characteristics and the findings of modern aerospace engineers on the design of the flying wing is astounding.

[Catfish]

Thanks for posting, yes it is fascinating stuff.
The Horten brothers developed their project as a glider, eliminating all spoiling surfaces and trying to get the plane flying as good-mooded and forgiving as possible. It was still able to make sudden breaks and "impossible" moves, much more responsive than e.g. the ME 262. It was also much smaller than it mostly looks, on those pictures. None of them became operative.
Germany was aware of the advantages of radar non-reflecting surfaces, since the Mosquitoes only showed a faint echo on the radar screens of the time, in comparison to e.g. a well-lit Spitfire fighter.


(OT, but just read Galland's "The first and the last": Strategically it was the wrong decision for Germany to continue to build bombers like the JU 88, 188, 288, 388, the Heinkel "Uhu" and so forth, or convert fighters to bombers, like done with the ME 262 (and like intended with the Horten/Go conversion). And, as Adolf Galland put it, too little, too late. Even after 1943 and the first heavy bombardment of Hamburg with 35.000 civilian casualties, Hitler and Goering still set priorities for aggressivity and bombing attacks, instead of putting up a better defence. Had the german fighter arm used all their planes and pilots to counter the bomber streams at that time, bomber casualties would have been too high for the allies. The german fighter production reached its peak in the fall of 1944, against all allied predictions, and actions. But they were used for useless bombing action, and manned with young and inexperienced pilots.

It is also clear by now, that the british indiscriminate carpet area bombardments did not interrupt arms production, nor did it break civilian will. It was the industry targets bombed by the US air force at daylight, that finally did that. Especially of course, when new allied fighters were able to accompany the bombers to their targets. When fuel depots and refineries became a higher priority on the bombing list, the german fighter arm collapsed within weeks.
If the Heinkel, Messerschmidt and "Gotha" jets would have been given priority and not been modified for bombing, allied air superiority would most probably not have been established. "Had", "if", and "but", those poor devils).

[Eichhörnchen]

I watched this documentary some long time ago; I seem to remember there was another in the series about the 'Amerika Bomber'. Thanks, CW... I'll watch again.

[Commander Wallace]

@ Catfish. I had no idea the Horton's were involved with gliders but it makes sense. The envisioned use of the Horton 18 as an intercontinental bomber was impractical because of the logistical problems involved such as mid air refueling and other concerns. With advanced weapons like an atomic bomb, the Horton 18 and the fighter version would have posed a significant danger to England and the Former Soviet Union.

Further, there was a critical shortage or raw materials and the Metallurgy wasn't available to build compressor fan blades able to withstand the heat of the jet engines resulting in a low TBO ( Time between overhauls ) It's likely the time it would have taken the Ho 18 to traverse the distance between Germany or even France to America's shores would have exceeded that TBO time frame by a fair margin as well to say nothing of the return trip home. Still, the design of the Horton flying wing was generations ahead of it's time.

Thanks for the Info and post Catfish.


Eichhörnchen@ I was aware of the flying wing but not the history and the video brought everything into focus. The video was a great find as I was unaware of it. Being into aircraft, It was an easy assumption that you had already viewed the video though.

[Rockin Robbins]

Some of what the Hortens did with their flying wings was so advanced that only in the last five years has NASA advanced the state of the art.




From my other hobby:

[Sophia]

Originally Posted by Eichhörnchen

I watched this documentary some long time ago; I seem to remember there was another in the series about the 'Amerika Bomber'. Thanks, CW... I'll watch again.

I guess this just confirms that i will officially be watching it. Thank you for confirming that it is indeed worthwhile. The more reason that i love this forum!