synternia: Pictured here is an unpowered glider prototype built in 1944. The first jet-powered prototype was undergoing final assembly when it was captured by US troops as a part of Operation Paperclip, an initiative to keep advanced German technology out of Soviet hands.
The Ho-229 would have been powered by 2 Junkers Jumo 004B turbojet engines, giving it a top speed of 977 km/h. For armament, the Ho-229 would have boasted two 30mm cannons and a 1,000kg bomb load.
* **[Another view of the glider prototype](https://i.imgur.com/SSLd8zh.jpg)**
* **[Jet-powered prototype under construction](https://i.imgur.com/hN5gyxL.jpg)**
KDY_ISD: An actual completed airframe of one of these exists at the Udvar-Hazy annex of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, along with a number of glider prototypes. It’s really an amazing museum.
technique_only: As a glider, it would have been useless for air-to-air combat of course. With its proposed jet engines, it would have been an interesting fighter or fighter-bomber. But like the Me 262 (which was arguably a far more capable design, given the limitations of technology then to make a flying viable), too little too late. (And the claims of it being [stealthy have been debunked](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horten_Ho_229#Claimed_stealth_technology) and would have been largely pointless given its limited ground attack capabilities against a foe that didn’t rely on radar on the offensive)
And to dispel other rumors: Jack Northrop’s [YB-35 and YB-49](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_YB-35) were developed concurrently with this bomber. In fact, the YB-35’s tech demonstrator, the XB-35, began engineering design in 1942 although it didn’t fly until January 1946. The YB-35, the pre-production prototype, didn’t fly until 1948 whereas the jet powered [YB-49 first flew in 1947](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_YB-49).
Now, I mentioned limitations – part of the problem was that the flight controls of the day had its limitations. The lack of digital fly by wire meant that aerodynamically unstable aircraft were just that – unstable and wouldn’t fly reliably (a big reason why the 1950s had so many test pilots die was that aviation was pushing the boundaries quite literally, and technology wasn’t catching up).
The second YB-49 prototype crashed, killing its two pilots, one of whom was Capt Glen Edwards, for whom Edwards Air Force Base is now named.
Of course, digital fly by wire would solve a lot of these problems, which helped make the flying wing design viable in the form of the B-2. Jack Northrop – who was near bankrupt near the end of his life – was given a clearance to see the prototype of the B-2 when it was being designed in absolute secrecy. Jack Northrop reportedly wept at the sight, saying that his design had finally been validated
beetbear: This looks like the plane in Raiders of the Lost Ark, without the props.
WoopyDoopyDo: I remember this from [Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_Weapons_of_the_Luftwaffe). Loved that game.
texasguy911: Looks like it would require a big turn radius with such wing area. Would not be good against other slimmer jets in a dog fight. Might have had higher ceiling altitude, though.
zsaleeba: Interestingly, blended wing designs like this are [becoming popular again with aerospace designers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_X-48).
snakeob69: I swear everything that the Nazi’s made or designed is terrifying. This thing doesn’t even have a motor but it looks like a death swan.
rexsingh: It’s pretty cool how imagination becomes reality. Given the production methods and materials of that era, they still pulled this off.
Ohalrightmate: How were they getting materials and fuel and everything needed to build these so late in the War. I mean they got overrun, with enemy so close and Germany getting bombed in to oblivion where were they getting the materials and how were they getting there?
Bowldoza: According to Jane’s, it killed more Germans than enemies
matteothehun: Kind of looks a little like a Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_B-2_Spirit
TheBeardedGod: The Batwing?
Billy1138: I remember stealing this at the end of Medal of Honor Frontlines.
iConverge: I love how we were giving Nazi scientists safe haven and a job, under the guise that we were developing and taking their technology so it didn’t fall into others hands, and then using them against the rest of the world and our citizens. Fucking deplorable.
Edit: I love the downdoots. And, as usual, because I told the truth. Giving war criminals amnesty and harboring them because “we didn’t want Soviets having their technological advancements” is still reprehensible. Sure, some of the technologies benefited a small minority of our society. They again, if you don’t think Project MK Ultra wasn’t enlisted and studied without the Nazis, and that we’re not directly in-line with the erosion of our society similar to how it’s documented in Mein Kamf, then you’re truly and utterly unable to learn. Funny thing, too. HistoryPorn and you guys are blind to actual history.
aarkerio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Lusty
And then people complain about China.
Whaddaya Say?