Horten H 9 (IX): The first flying wing stealth aircraft

Horten H 9 (IX): The first flying wing stealth aircraft

The Horten H IX (9), powered by 2 jet engines, was the logical continuation of the flying wing concept of the Horten brothers. Partly one finds in the literature also the designation Gotha Go 229, after the intended production company Gothaer Waggonfabrik, or Horten Ho 229, according to the numbering of the Reich Ministry of Aviation. The first official flight took place on February 2, 1945. The pilot certified the aircraft's good flight characteristics. However, none of the Horten brothers were present during the flight test because they were already working flat out on the Horten H XVIII (18), a large, long-range flying-wing bomber that was to be used for attacks on the USA. At this late point in time, however, the realization of such a project was impossible due to the turmoil of war.The fuselage of the Horten H IX consisted of a tubular structure covered with plywood, the wings were made entirely of wood. Deployable flaps near the wingtips acted as rudders. The outer skin, consisting of individual Fournier layers, had a thickness of 2 cm, in which a mixture of coal dust and glue was incorporated to absorb radar beams. Since it is made entirely of wood - i.e. it is not conductive - it could not be localized by the radar systems of the time, which later tests in the 1990s confirmed. This would have made the Horten H IX one of the first aircraft to be deliberately designed as a stealth aircraft.But the Horten has other camouflage properties. The engines are hidden in the fuselage and all surfaces are blinded or rounded. Two important factors influence the radar signature of a stealth aircraft: (1) materials that traverse radar waves and (2) a special shape that cannot create an echo. Stealth technology does not make an aircraft completely invisible, but it reduces the detection area so much that early warning systems and defensive weapons hardly stand a chance.On April 14, 1945, American troops reached the production facility in Friedrichroda and captured not only construction documents but also the almost completed fuselage of the Horten H IX V3 shown here.

Development, whereabouts and current use of the technology:Shortly before the end of the Second World War, a new type of aircraft, the Horten H IX, takes off from a secret airfield in Germany for its maiden flight. This weapon could potentially have changed the course of the war. The Horten H IX was a masterpiece of German engineering that was 20 to 30 years ahead of other aircraft of the time. Because the aircraft was kept under lock and key by the US American allies for 60 years, the question arises from today's perspective as to whether the aircraft already had stealth properties back then, or whether this was deliberately sought by the designers. That was one of the last mysteries of the war.In the last months of the Second World War, Allied troops went all over Germany in search of the supposed "wonder weapon". Because according to secret services, Hitler had a weapon with which he hoped to win the war after all. On April 14, 1945, the US Army discovered a top-secret deposit 160 kilometers northeast of Frankfurt. In it she found one of the most advanced weapons of the Nazi regime, made almost entirely of wood. The soldiers must have been speechless at the sight of the futuristic wooden jet-powered plane, as nothing like it had been seen before. Little did they know what significance their discovery would have for future aircraft design.In July 1945, the Horten and other important projects were shipped to the United States in strict secrecy and reassembled. However, flying skills are never tested there. For 60 years, the only existing Horten IX was kept hidden from prying eyes. The US government kept the coveted piece among other spoils of war in a hangar near Washington D.C. in “Silver Hill” on, the museum's depot. For the technicians there, it is still difficult to understand how the Germans could build such an advanced aircraft with the technology available at the time.The idea for the Horten IX, an aircraft designed to be invisible on radar screens, arose after experiences in the most famous air battle of World War II, the "Battle of Britain". In preparation for the invasion of Britain, Herrmann Goering ordered the Luftwaffe to destroy the Royal Air Force in the summer of 1940. But the British meanwhile had radar systems, which were an excellent means of air defense. With this new technology, the British were able to determine the distance, altitude and number of approaching enemy aircraft while still on the approach over mainland Europe. The Royal Air Force targeted the approaching German planes with a network of radio stations. This new technology reduced the advantage the Germans had from their numerous approaching bombers. The Battle of Britain was decided by radar.After the disaster, the German generals want to regain supremacy in air combat and are planning a fighter-bomber that combines the very latest technologies. The aircraft should be able to travel 1000 kilometers per hour, fly 1000 kilometers and carry a 1000 kilogram bomb.The Horten brothers had already made flight tests with so-called flying wings as gliders in the 1930s and gained experience with the Horten Ho III, for example. After being commissioned by the Ministry of Aviation, the autodidacts wanted to equip such an aircraft with the most innovative technology, a jet engine. The Horten H IX should be extremely little. The aircraft had a wingspan of over 15 m. The tanks were made of aluminium.In the USA, too, tests were carried out with so-called flying wings long before the Horten brothers. The aircraft manufacturer Northrop / Grumman was also convinced that this technology would one day revolutionize flight construction. More than 10 years before the Nazis started construction, Jack Northrop was experimenting with flying wings of his own. The Northrop N-1M from 1940 was equipped with a pusher propeller - but there were problems with the control of the new technology.After World War II, the huge Northrop YB-49 would become America's first long-range intercontinental bomber. The design as a flying wing had the advantage that the machine could only be located when it was already over the radar station. However, the machine also had problems with the controls, resulting in accidents. In 1950, the USA ended the project.

More than 30 years later, the top-secret Northrop Tacit Blue was tested to prove the stealth technology worked. This aircraft proved that rounded corners increase stealth capability. Completely invisible on radar, this innovative aircraft gave Northrop a second chance to build another flying wing.The experience was consistently implemented in the construction of a new bomber, the Northrop B-2 Spirit, which was presented to the public in 1989.