Horten Ho IX / Ho 229

History

The Horten Ho IX (or "Horten Ho 229" - sometimes erroneously called "Gotha Go 229") retained some notoriety in WWII military aviation, essentially becoming the first production-worthy form of aircraft designed for true The "flying wing" - an aircraft that does not rely on any type of vertical control surfaces for flight and maneuverability. Additionally, the Ho IX/Ho 229 was the first to incorporate radar-absorbing "stealth" technology into its framework - a forward-looking achievement in 1944 - and before swept wings became the norm in the jet age Swept wings are used extensively.

That alone makes the Ho IX/Ho 229 a truly wonderful attempt in every way, with some prototypes built to complete the design. Although production orders were already underway by 1945, the end of World War II ensured that the machine had no contribution to the war in Germany, allowing readers to imagine what impact the system would have on the skies over Europe.

Wings to fly

For some time before World War II, flying wing design was the focus of ergonomic engineers. And the Horten brothers - Reimar and Walter Horten - explored capabilities and possibilities primarily in the field of powered gliding for some time (the third brother, Wolfram, later died when his bomber was shot down over Dunkirk).

Flying wings without vertical devices theoretically offer some inherent advantages by removing these surfaces, thus reducing drag to some extent. Hortens is convinced that such a structure has more disadvantages than adding to the floor plan. In flying wing designs, the fuselage is often integrated into the wing root for a very streamlined approach that contributes to efficient aerodynamic principles. The larger wing area also promotes better rates of climb, larger fuel loads (essentially longer range), and larger bomb loads. However, the lack of a vertical flight surface also presents challenges to control the aircraft - Northrop has made extensive use of its XB-35 flying-wing strategic bomber (which eventually became the modern stealth bomber Northrop B-2 Spirit achieved) solved this problem.

Northrop's attempt was actually a commissioned attempt to develop a wing-only design based on images obtained from Holden's soaring trials in the early 1930s. Until the advent of modern, powerful computers, this kind of wing-only flight, which helps pilots fly and saves planes from irreversible action, was only possible.

Hoarding roots

After the First World War, due to the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany's war production capacity was severely limited by the victorious countries. As a result, government funds that might otherwise have been earmarked for the manufacture of tanks, guns, planes, etc. were diverted to other "peaceful" causes at home. One of these undertakings was the establishment of various gliding clubs all over Germany. These sticks allowed Reimar and Walter to put some tailless glider concepts into practice.

Essentially, the Glide Club was a German attempt to circumvent the rules of the Treaty of Versailles and train young pilots while testing aircraft designs in some secrecy. Although Hortens never received formal aviation training, they still loved flying and grew into skilled pilots, excelling in their crucial early years and helping to leave a legacy that is now to come.

In 1933, when she was a teenager, she completed the first airworthy glider.

The

brothers started with model development and then produced the Ho I glider in 1934. The Ho I is a straight-wing, tailless system that seems to fly pretty well. The pilot sits in a prone position inside the tip of the wing assembly, while the elevators are used for pitch and roll control, and the air brakes are used to control yaw.

These air brakes are mounted on the upper and lower parts of the leading edge of the wing.

Despite early success, the Horten brothers were destined to push their concept further and develop a newer approach to design. They destroyed the original Ho I and started building a more efficient design. The second attempt, aptly named the Ho II, featured swept leading and trailing edge wings, a fragile glass cockpit, and was an immediate departure from previous design attempts.

Four Ho II prototypes were built to test other flying wing concepts, at least one of which was powered by a single Hirth-branded 80 hp engine mounted aft of the main body in a "thrust" arrangement. The Ho II was tested sometime in 1938, with one such flight in Darmstadt, led by renowned test pilot Hanna Reitsch.

This development in wartime Germany did not go unnoticed. Ernst Udet, head of the technical department at the Luftwaffe, liked Horten's work and brought them more funding to further develop the program.

Relocating to a more permanent environment operating out of Tempelhof Airport, the brothers soon began work on Ho III. Like the Ho II before it, the Ho III has swept wings and retractable landing gear. The system essentially followed the same design line of the Ho II as an expanded version of the second attempt. Ho III also produced four working prototypes, one of which was equipped with an engine. Notable on the powered Ho III is the inclusion of collapsible propeller blades that can be folded in flight to reduce drag.

When powered up, the Ho III is still a glider. The design uses a wide-span wing approach, with the pilot sitting in the center of the forward profile under the front-opening glass cockpit, with the engine mounted on its tail.

Ho IV builds two prototype forms following the Ho III, but was designed from the outset to test the theory and effects of high aspect ratio wings. One of the planes crashed due to an irreversible spin.

Ho V also produced two working prototypes, the second known for the use of plastic in the structure. The Ho Vs was designed to be a powered research aircraft, nothing more. These prototypes originally featured a two-person cockpit and were built between 1936 and 1938.

However, in 1942, the Ho V was converted to a single-seater form. Reverting to swept wings, these gliders have less sway along the leading edge and a straight trailing edge - more of a "true" delta shape actually.

The internal main frame structure is made of welded steel pipe with space for 2 x 80hp Hirth engines in a "push rod" arrangement.

Ho VI appeared as an example of a "one-off" prototype after Horten IV. The flight-only wing offered a greater span than others before it, but proved too fragile for even simple ground handling. A similar Ho VII followed, but with 2 Argus As 10C engines making 240 hp each.

A prototype was built from this model, which was later moved to Oranienburg in March 1945. It is believed that the Ho VII was tested to some extent there.

The Ho VIII turned out to be Horten's most ambitious attempt to fly a wing to date - a commercial endeavor with 6 engines and 60 passengers. Power will be provided by no less than six BMW 600hp engines (each) mounted in a thruster arrangement.

A wingspan of just 262.5 feet makes this flying wing structure the largest reserve yet. Range estimates put the Ho VIII at 3,725 miles at speeds in excess of 200 mph. The design could never be prototyped as the collapse of Nazi Germany in mid-1945 completely destroyed the project.

A working prototype is expected to be completed by November of that year.

"American Bomber"

Ho VIII came to be known as Ho XVIII of the "American Bomber" project - an attempt to design and build an ultra-long-range bomber capable of hitting US industrial targets, possibly from the Azores. After Christmas 1944, when other proposals from Messerschmitt, Junkers, Heinkel and Fokker-Wolff failed to meet the range requirements, the Hortens submitted their plans. The American bomber program, like many of Hitler's other ambitious visionary systems, failed at the end of the war.

The Holden brothers worked on American bombers, while Gotha focused on the further development of a flying-wing fighter-bomber based on the V2 model.

If both projects (bomber and atomic bomb) progress in Germany, it is very likely that the bomber Ho XVIII will be equipped with an atomic bomb. XVIII proved to be the last wartime order granted by the Houghton brothers on 12 March 1945.

Construction of the XVIII began in April 1945 under the concrete roof of a bulletproof bunker in Kara, near Weimar, but was never completed.

To the horror of the Horten brothers, XVIII A adopted a committee design approach involving Messerschmitt and Junkers engineers. Reimar converted the XVIII into the Flying Wing XVIII B and was accepted for construction. Armament includes 2 x MK 108 30mm guns mounted under the cockpit floor, the cockpit itself can accommodate three people.

Power will be provided by 2 Henschel He S 011 turbojets.

The German war machine is calling

Hermann Goering, burly ace of WWI (22 kills), Blue Max catcher, and now Reich Marshal of the Luftwaffe, presented his "3 x 1000" The project" called for a fast, long-range bomber with the capacity provided by a lethal lethal payload. The project name came about because the bomber had to reach a speed of 1,000 kilometers and a range of 1,000 kilometers, while carrying a payload of up to 1,000 kilograms (values ??converted to 2,200 pounds, 620 miles or 620 mph). Ambitious to say the least, such a bomber would be an important wartime addition to the Luftwaffe's toolbox. Long-range bombers were always in sight of Goering, who saw America's American war machine as the prime target of an air campaign that would undermine German industrial capabilities. However, this particular bomber program would help attack Allied targets throughout England.

To get his award plane, Goering announced that he would no longer be contracting unless the proposed plane design could meet those requirements. Only one other change was added to the request, one from the fighter division.

Their request was to add 2 x 30mm MK-108 cannons for fighter-to-fighter combat - a move that could significantly impact the aircraft's intended bomber role.

The

Horten brothers came up with their flying wing concept, arguing that the only remaining question mark was choosing a powerful engine to power their design and propel their bomber to their stated goals. The project was developed as a private enterprise, and the brothers launched Ho IX.

The German aviation ministry accepted and asked for the first flight within a short window of six months.

He Jiu Shi

Ho IX is reminiscent of previous hoarding products, although in many ways this can be seen as the culmination of their early attempts. The Ho IX is the only military fighter the brothers have come close to mass production. The design, in turn, is based on a large surface area wing and an integrated fuselage containing the weapons, engines and cockpit.

The internal structure of the central body consists of welded steel pipes. Consisting of individual wooden spars, the wings are wrapped in carbon-coated sections of plywood, held together by a special mixture of charcoal and sawdust. The body is designed to withstand loads of up to 7 grams. The landing gear is fully retractable, in a tricycle arrangement, and the front wheels are borrowed from a long-range Heinkel He 177 Greif (Griffin) heavy bomber.

The nose wheels are stowed aft under the cockpit floor, while the two main landing gear are sunk inward into the fuselage, under the root of the wings. The single-seat cockpit (complete with the original ejection seat system) provides extraordinary visibility over, over and around the upper wing section, but as one might suspect, other views are generally limited.

The powerplants initially chosen were BMW 003A-1 series turbojets flanking the cockpit, although these were not yet available at the time, instead Junkers Jumo 004 series engines. Since there is no vertical stabilizer, the Ho IX uses a lift with two spoilers of different lengths.

The dual spoiler configuration allows for improved control action in place of that provided by more traditional rudder arrangements or wing-mounted spoilers.