Horten Ho229 - How to reach performance and radar question.Part 2 - compiled by Cesar Winklemann

Horten Ho-229 V3 captured by the United States Army, 1950

In his later life, Reimar Horten promoted the idea that the Horten Ho 229 V3 was intended to be built as a stealth aircraft, which would have placed this jet’s design several decades ahead of its time. Reimar Horten claimed that he wanted to add charcoal to the adhesive layers of the plywood skin of the production model to render it invisible to radar, because the charcoal “should diffuse radar beams, and make the aircraft invisible on radar” (Horten and Selinger 1983). This statement was published in his 1983 co-authored book Nurflügel (which translates as “only the wing”). While this statement refers to the never-made production model, it seems possible that the experimental charcoal addition could have been used on the Horten Ho 229 V3 prototype. The mere mention of early stealth technology sparked the imagination of aircraft enthusiasts across the world and spurred vibrant debate within the aviation community.

The Horten 229 V3 “Flying Wing” - 48 images

The Horten 229 V3 “Flying Wing” 48 images

Horten Ho229 - a brief outline of the story. Part 1. Compiled by Cesar Winklemann

A Ho IX under construction. This document depicts the wood
construction of this flying wing. (The clamps are aligned on the left).
The jet engines are fictitious.

Horten logo

Almost unknown today, all wing twin-jet Go 229 was probably the most startling and unconventional warplane built during the WWII. It stemmed from the belief of the brothers Walter and Reimar Horten that a flying wing was the most efficient form of the heavier-than-air flying machines.They set out to prove this with a series of gliders, beginning with the Horten O in 1931. From 1936 Hortens brothers were officers in the Luftwaffe, but continued their work, wich in 1942 lead to studies for a flying-wing jet fighter.

Horten Ho229 - American & British Intelligence Documents

Horten Ho229 - American & British Intelligence Documents