Towards the end of the war, the U.S. Army stumbled upon the first Horten 229 stealth fighter. This was the world's first stealth fighter and the birth of flying wing technology, which aided in radar evasion through the reduction of protruding surfaces on the aircraft that would reflect radar signals back to detection towers. The Horten brothers who created it were novice aircraft builders, but managed the impress Luftwaffe head Herman Goering enough to allow them to build the aircraft for the Wehrmacht. With Hitler's plan to attack America in mind, the Horten brothers went full steam ahead to work on a longer ranged, 6-jet engine plane called the Horten 18: its completion would coincide with the projected completion date of Nazi Germany's atomic weapons. If Nazi engineers had had more time, this jet would have ultimately changed the outcome of the war, but unfortunately, the wonder weapons came too little, too late, not just because of the vast resources needed throughout the continent for Germany's war effort, but also because of the hindrances to their armaments production brought on by allied air superiority (whereas production lines had to go underground), as well as allied bombing campaigns that hindered supply lines, material sourcing, transport and general infrastructure across Germany. The allied forces had no idea that this plane existed until it was first seen in battle. This was one of many inventions dubbed "wunderwaffe", or wonder weapons: highly effective weaponry developed to level the playing field against the superior presence of the allied forces, who were creeping up to the German borders from all sides. Although the 229 was fitted with a pair of engines identical to that of the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter, the flying wing design made the 229 a superior fighter due to its easier maneuverability.In this National Geographic documentary Northrup engineers rebuild a jet discovered in a top-secret German facility during the final months of World War II - the Horten Ho 229. They engineer a replica made as similar as possible to the original construction but leave out mechanical operation and equipment. the sole purpose of the build is to run radar tests on the unit to see its radar footprint according to 1940s British "chain-home" radar technology. Both the wood frame of the aircraft as well as the coating applied to the exterior of the plane aided in deflecting and absorbing radar. the exterior paint of the model constructed by the engineers very closely matched the characteristics of the coating of the original design. Thanks for tuning into the EPIC WWII channel! This channel was developed out of my fascination with WWII and the magnitude of this historic era. This documentary collection covers all aspects of the war - before, during and after. Like, subscribe, share, comment, and get notifications! Your support of this channel is much appreciated. Check out my other channel about my firewood business: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRdUCxcKNLqPJn1HyL9dS1w #HORTENHO229 #STEALTHFIGHTER #HORTEN229
