Ho 229: The Story Behind Nazi Germany s Stealth Fighter (See the Pic) The Ho 229 might have been a formidable adversary - if they had got in in the air by the war’s end. Here s What You Need to Remember: Flying wing designs were not an entirely new idea and had been used before in both gliders and powered aircraft. During World War II, Northrop developed its own high-performing XB-35 flying wing bomber for the U.S. military, though it failed to enter mass production. Despite the aerodynamic advantages, the lack of a tail tended to make fly wing aircraft prone to uncontrolled yaws and stalls.
Hitler s Secret Stealth Jet: The Ho 229 In 2008, Northrop Grumman teamed up with the National Geographic channel to reconstruct a mockup of the Ho 229, which they tested for radar reflection, and then pitted against a simulation of the British Chain Home radar network. Their findings were less than overwhelming the flying wings would have been detected at a distance 80 percent that of a standard German Bf. 109 fighter. Here s what you need to know: While it may be a stretch to claim that the Ho 229 was intended to be a stealth aircraft, there’s little doubt that it pioneered design features that continue to see use in low-observable aircraft today.