Horten HO 229 Nazi Stealth Plane secrets revealed
In this age of the war on terror, the scene would be strikingly familiar: a pilot brings his batwing-shaped craft onto an approach heading, using his instruments and experience to close with an enemy target. The enemy radar is searching the sky but the plane’s advanced design renders it all but invisible. The incoming strike will be a complete surprise. At the appointed moment, the pilot opens the bomb doors, verifies his target a last time, and drops his payload to destroy an enemy airbase’s radar and fuel facilities.
The scene offers us a surprise as the pilot turns for home: the insignia on the wing is the iron cross of the German Luftwaffe and the year is 1946.
The aircraft I’m speaking of is the Horten Ho 229 which was an advanced single-seat fighter/bomber that reached prototype stage in WWII Germany. The prototype aircraft were captured by Allied forces, crated up, and sent back to the United States as the war drew to a close. The look of the plane is incredibly similar to our B2 bomber design:
Northrop Grumman has built a period-accurate replica of the Ho 229 from the original German blueprints, right down the specified paint and glue to conduct radar tests. According to the reports, the radar in use at the time would not have detected this plane had the Germans used a low-level approach across the channel. They could have struck British installations pretty much at will.
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Absolutely amazing. The rebuilt prototype is fascinating, although it doesn’t look like it was actually flown. I’d *love* to see a simulator version, see how it flew.
Comment by Bob James | July 1, 2009
The original prototypes were flown during the tail end of WWII (1945) and they say the handling characteristics were rather good; more than sufficient to provide a stable bombing platform. The issue of the day was a matter of the available engines. While the Jumo jet engines slated for use could provide the thrust they were gas-guzzlers which cut the range of the ship to less than what Goering was demanding. The Allied bombing campaign kept them from manufacturing better ones and our front-line units overran the factory and testing center before they could be built in any significant numbers.
I have no doubt the ship could be fitted with engines available today that would bring her to her full potential. (It wouldn’t be ‘stock’ but I’d love to see it anyway.)
Northrop Grumman’s tests were designed to see if this ship qualifies as the 1st true ‘stealth’ aircraft. Given the results I’d have to say the answer is a resounding ‘yes.’ Remarkable engineering.
Comment by ricjames | July 1, 2009
To be completely accurate the Ho 229 was not invisible to radar, even radar of the day. It has a lower radar cross section than a conventional bomber of the day. The Germans in 1944-45 did not have the same understanding of stealth technology that we have today. Areas like the cockpit and engine inlets have the same radar reflecting properties as they do on a normal aircraft (if you look at a B2 you will see that these areas as disguised and/or covered with RAM to solve exactly the same issues that the Ho 229 would have had). The lack of vertical control surfaces coupled with the large amount of wood construction conspire to reduce the radar cross section from that of a regular aircraft. What Northrop found in testing was that the lower radar cross section, coupled with the 600+ MPH speed of the Ho 229 would have allowed it to reach, bomb, and leave before British fighters could be scrambled to intercept them. They would have know they were coming, but there would have been little they could do about it except try and shoot them down with anti-aircraft weaponry from the ground.
A note on the wood construction. The Horten brothers would have preferred to use aluminum for the plane, but lacked the tools and knowledge of how to work it. The main reason the Ho 229 was made from wood was because the Hortens had extensive experience working it. Underneath the wood is a mild steel framework.
The engines for the Ho 229 ended up being the Jumo 004B, but the plane was initially designed around the BMW 003, but the 003 was not ready in time for the planned production of the Ho 229. A miscommunication in specifications of the 004B further delayed the flight readiness of the Ho 229 V2 as the areas designed to house the engines were built too small and the wings had to be reworked to fit the engines. The Jumo 004B gets a bad rap for reliability. Junkers built it as a compromise. Their original test engines could last well over 100 hours, but used too much cobalt, nickle, and other materials that were in very short supply. The 004B was built from mild steel that was aluminized in the hot areas, as well as an alloy called Cromadur. These compromises led to the amazingly short service life of often just 10 hours. However, the Ho 229 would have eventually been powered by the Jumo 004D, which was in production at war’s end. The 004D was about 20% more efficient, used an afterburner which allowed it to produce even more thrust, and had a revised fuel control to prevent flameout that could occur when the engine was throttled up too fast.
The Ho 229 was an amazing aircraft that was hurried into production with engines that were also hurried into production. Like a lot of German technology at the end of the war the ideas behind it were light years ahead of their time, but the execution was not up to par.
Comment by Tom Krapf | July 30, 2009