The origin of this article was pure serendipity. First I came across an article about National Geographic producing a documentary on the Horton Flying Wing which the Germans were designing at the end of WW2. In spite of their abhorrent social policies, I have a grudging respect for their technology which was pivotal in the development of the next generation of military equipment.
I then searched for the equivalent documentary which I own but produced by The History Channel. After reading the review which Amazon ranked as the best one, I was impressed. The sentiments accorded exactly with my thoughts – 100%. Then I searched for the name of the author. Under the heading Excellent Overview of Advanced WW2 German Aircraft Designs was the date of the review – 16th June 2008 and then the author’s name – DF McCleland! No wonder I thought that the reviewer was spot on
Main picture: The Horten Ho 2-29 Flying Wing
Bear in mind that most air forces commenced WW2 with biplanes albeit in their “second team” such as the Swordfish in the case of Britain. Furthermore those single wing fighters of monocoque construction which were their leading fighters were often the first example of the new generation aircraft within that air force. In the case of the British, the Hurricane was of mixed parentage whereas the Spitfire was a fully-fledged new generation fighter.
By the time the war ceased in May 1945, all manner of next generation fighters were on the cusp of being introduced or were already in limited production.
Blueprints of the Horten Ho 2-29 Flying Wing
Most avid followers of WW2 technology are aware that the first jet fighter, the Messerschmitt 262, was even used in limited quantities during WW2. However most astonishing of all is that the German’s were even designing flying wings whereas the rest of Germany’s antagonists were still grappling with designing jet fighters.
Imperfect though it was, the Horten Flying Wing was decades ahead of its time. It even resembles a 1990s Stealth Bomber.
Comments from National Geographic’s Documentary
With its smooth and elegant lines, this could be a prototype for some future successor to the stealth bomber. But this flying wing was actually designed by the Nazis 30 years before the Americans successfully developed radar-invisible technology. Now an engineering team has reconstructed the Horten Ho 2-29 from blueprints, with startling results.
First built and tested in the air in March 1944
Blast from the past: The full-scale replica of the HO 2-29 bomber was made with materials available in the ‘40s.
Futuristic: The stealth plane design was years ahead of its time. It was faster and more efficient than any other plane of the period and its stealth powers did work against radar.
Experts are now convinced that given a little bit more time, the mass deployment of this aircraft could have changed the course of the war.
The plane could have helped Adolf Hitler win the war. First built and tested in the air in March 1944, it was designed with a greater range and speed than any plane previously built and was the first aircraft to use the stealth technology now deployed by the U.S. in its B-2 bombers.
Futuristic – The stealth plane design was years ahead of its time
Thankfully Hitler’s engineers only made three prototypes, tested by being dragged behind a glider, and were not able to build them on an industrial scale before the Allied forces invaded. From Panzer tanks through to the V-2 rocket, it has long been recognized that Germany’s technological expertise during the war was years ahead of the Allies.
But by 1943, Nazi high command feared that the war was beginning to turn against them, and were desperate to develop new weapons to help turn the tide. Nazi bombers were suffering badly when faced with the speed and manoeuvrability of the Spitfire and other Allied fighters.
Hitler was also desperate to develop a bomber with the range and capacity to reach the United States. In 1943 Luftwaffe chief Hermann Goering demanded that designers come up with a bomber that would meet his requirements, one that could carry 1,000 kg over 1,000km flying at 1,000km/h.
A full scale replica of the Ho 229 bomber made with materials available in the 1940s at pre-flight.
A wing section of the stealth bomber. The jet intakes were years ahead of their time.
A wing section of the stealth bomber
Two pilot brothers in their thirties, Reimar and Walter Horten, suggested a flying wing design they had been working on for years. They were convinced that with its drag and lack of wind resistance such a plane would meet Goering’s requirements.
Construction on a prototype was begun in Goettingen in Germany in 1944. The centre pod was made from a welded steel tube, and was designed to be powered by a BMW 003 engine. The most important innovation was Reimar Horten’s idea to coat it in a mix of charcoal dust and wood glue.
Vengeful: Inventors Reimar and Walter Horten were inspired to build the Ho 2-29 by the deaths of thousands of Luftwaffe pilots in the Battle of Britain. The 142-foot wingspan bomber was submitted for approval in 1944, and it would have been able to fly from Berlin to NYC and back without refuelling, thanks to the same blended wing design and six BMW 003A or eight Junker Jumo 004B turbojets. They thought the electromagnetic waves of radar would be absorbed, and in conjunction with the aircraft’s sculpted surfaces the craft would be rendered almost invisible to radar detectors.
Inventors Reimar and Walter Horten
The plane was covered in radar absorbent paint with a high graphite content, which has a similar chemical make-up to charcoal. This was the same method eventually used by the U.S. in its first stealth aircraft in the early 1980s, the F-117A Nighthawk.
After the war the Americans captured the prototype Ho 2-29s along with the blueprints and used some of their technological advances to aid their own designs. But experts always doubted claims that the Horten could actually function as a stealth aircraft. Now using the blueprints and the only remaining prototype craft, Northrop-Grumman (the defence firm behind the B-2) built a full-size replica of a Horten Ho 2-29.
A full scale replica of the Ho 229 bomber made with materials available in the 1940s. (Photo credit © Linda Reynolds / Flying Wing Films)
Luckily for Britain, the Horten flying wing fighter-bomber never got much further than the blueprint stage above. Thanks to the use of wood and carbon, jet engines integrated into the fuselage, and its blended surfaces, the plane could have been in London eight minutes after the radar system detected it.
It took them 2,500 man-hours and $250,000 to construct, and although their replica cannot fly, it was radar-tested by placing it on a 50 ft. articulating pole and exposing it to electromagnetic waves. The team demonstrated that although the aircraft is not completely invisible to the type of radar used in the war, it would have been stealthy enough and fast enough to ensure that it could reach London before Spitfires could be scrambled to intercept it.
“If the Germans had had time to develop this aircraft, it could well have had an impact,” says Peter Murton, aviation expert from the Imperial War Museum at Duxford, in Cambridgeshire. In theory the flying wing was a very efficient aircraft design, which minimized drag. It is one of the reasons that it could reach very high speeds in dive and glide modes and had such an incredibly long range.
Had Hitler got these into production sooner, the world wouldn’t be what it is today.
My review of History Channel Production
Of all DVDs available on this subject, this one is the best. Combining graphics with expert commentary, it presents all of the German attempts at advanced aircraft design from the practical to their flights of fantasy.
Most people are aware of the Me. 262, the world’s first practical jet aircraft & their rocketry but most are unaware that the German’s were also leaders in other technology too. Examples include the Flying Wings by Horten, helicopters, vertical take-off aircraft, swept wing aircraft such as the Foche Wulf Ta 183 by Kurt Tank & rocket powered aircraft such as the Me. 163.
Possibly of all these designs the one with the most immediate potential to change the war was the Heinkel He 162 Volksjaeger or People’s Fighter. It’s simplicity of design having a wooden airframe & the jet engine mounted on top of the plane itself would have run rings around Allied aircraft.
Me 163 Komet
Hitler’s decision not to proceed with the development of the Me. 262 in 1941 must surely rank as one of his greatest blunders. By the time of its reversal, the strategic balance had decisively shifted in the Allies favour. In mitigation it was a rational decision in that in Hitler’s view in 1941, the war would be over in six months.
Undoubtedly the German’s had a vast technological lead over the Allies in aircraft design but would they have realistically have been able to capitalise on all this genius? In reality no! This DVD presents one such implausible prediction in that a Horten Flying Wing could have dropped an atomic bomb on New York in 1946. Being only a middle ranking power, Germany did not possess the resources to build an atomic bomb. Even a superpower like the USA had to make a superhuman effort in terms of the Manhattan project to develop it. Furthermore the development of “lesser” technologies almost overcame the Germans – glues for the Volksjaeger, advanced materials for the Me 262’s jet engine – to name a few. Even something as mundane as jet fuel was problematical in the latter half of the war.
Heinkel He 162 Volksjager
None of this should detract from the German’s undoubted technological excellence in aircraft design but many were flights of fantasy or dead-end technologies. It would surely have benefitted the Germans more to have focused their energies of a few designs rather than developing a multiplicity of competing designs & technologies & thereby fragmenting their effort.
Sources:
National Geographic DVD – Title unknown: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/06/090625-hitlers-stealth-fighter-plane.html
History Channel DVD entitled Secret Luftwaffe Aircraft of WW2: Review on Amazon.co.uk