Horten Flying wing.

<XMP><BODY></xmp>Horten Flying wing.

Horten Flying Wing.

http://www.nurflugel.com/Nurflugel/Horten_Nurflugels/ho_ix/h9_02_1024.png

One of the most interesting of the planes mentioned in a book on the wartime German airforce was the Horten flying wings, accepted as the Gotha Go 229.

http://www.danford.net/horten.htm

http://www.hotel.wineasy.se/ipms/stuff_eng_detail_hoix.htm

http://www.csd.uwo.ca/~pettypi/elevon/baugher_other/go229.html

http://www.nurflugel.com/Nurflugel/Horten_Nurflugels/ho_ix/body_ho_ix.html

Horten Ho 229 American & British Intelligence Documents

        This was a tailless flying wing design propelled by two turbojets and made mainly of wood and a resin/ sawdust mix. The cabin was of plywood and a wielded steel tube framework, while most of the aircraft was of wood and "Formholtz" a mixture of wood shavings, resin and sawdust.
        Main armament was four 30mm cannon and an internal bay for 2000kg of bombs.
        "But how did it fly?" I hear you ask.
        It could top 600mph and pull 7Gs! The shape and construction would have made it very stealthy -way before such a concept was even thought of.
        I'll also add that the basic airframe was flying as a glider in 1936 -so it didn't need a dozen computers to keep it airborne.

        Looking at this thing it strikes you just how conservative the air manufacturers today are -you wonder just how good a Horten wing would be nowadays, fitted with, say, a Pegasus engine (from the Harrier) and a pair of 20mm or preferably 25mm gatlins in place of the four 30mms.
        Why a pair? -to maintain symmetry, for redundancy, and because two guns firing for half a second are more likely to take out a fast moving jet than one firing for a second.
        An alternate idea is to use a pair of the engines designed for the V/STOL version of the JSF. The hull area between these engines would form a lifting surface in the manner of the F 14. Use of advanced Flap designs would further increase short take off capabilities and conserve fuel. Use of tracked landing gear would enhance rough field operation.
        I'd opt for a 1+1 configuration. Current fashion seems to be for single-seat fighters, but the provision for being able to carry a second crew member would be useful in certain roles.
         This page suggests the interesting idea of having the second crew member facing backward. Such a configuration would fit nicely with the idea of a rearward firing RAG launcher that I suggest here. Such a RAG might be of a larger calibre such as 60mm and incorporate programmable fusing. With the obvious tail wind that such a projectile would have it may have a very useful range and could possibly be used to explode enemy AAMs. Russian SU-27 aircraft already have a rear facing radar system that can be used with the AA-11/R73 missile which can be launched at targets at any orientation to the launch aircraft, including directly behind.

AA-11/R73 Archer missile

R-73 launching to the rear

        I saw an interview with one of the design bureau that designed the Mig 29 Fulcrum or Su-27 Flanker. He said they started off designing the perfect fighter wing and worried about where to put the engines and radome later -The Horten takes it even further -it's just a wing!

Ground Attack Variant
        I'm also thinking about a dedicated ground attack version -same engine, maybe with redesigned wing for low level high speed flight. This wing would also be designed so it has a very low stall speed. Close support aircraft often need to operate at low speeds. The second seat will be useful for an observer who can designate targets or direct artillery fire and airstrikes.
        Armament :-
Maybe an GAU-8 30mm cannon -probably the four barrel GAU-13 variant (since 70rps seems a little OTT),
OR a pair of 35mm-45mm cannon
OR a double barreled 35-45mm cannon -these would be supplemented by a nose mounted .50 calibre gatling minigun for use on troops and soft skinned vehicles.
        The cannon armament may be built as a module that fits into a ventral weapons bay. This would allow the weapon to be removed for counter guerilla missions were there is little need for anti-armour capability.

Interceptor Variant
        As well as the "General purpose" and Ground Attack V/STOL flying wings there may also be a niche for an Interceptor variant for operation from conventional airfields.
        This interceptor model may combine jet propulsion with a ramjet, rocket or rocket/ramjet system to boost the speed and rate of climb.

http://www.unrealaircraft.com/classics/sr_53_177.php

One of the Horten prototypes mounted a weapon the book calls "Slanted music" and describes as a photoelectric fired vertically mounted rocket- which since this author is not that up on weapons I'm guessing it was a variant of Jägerfaust - in fact a recoilless gun.

Jägerfaust Recipe :- take a 30mm shell and put it in a pipe, along with a propellant charge and a charge of buckshot equal in weight to the shell. Make a few more, mount vertically on your aircraft, attach to a photocell, then fly under a Box of B-17s.

There may no longer be massed formations of Yankee Day bombers to use such a device on, but one wonders just how effective it would be in a modern dogfight, particularly if its existence was kept quiet. One can imagine a plane suddenly rolling or immermaning to present its dorsal surface and bang, a spread of 30mm rounds rips through the other fighter. The same system could also launch chaff and flares, and this may be the publicly stated use for the device.

Specifications for the original Gotha Go 229 A-0
Two jet engines of 892kg thrust each.
Could Take off in 450m at 150kph
Armament: four 30mm Mk 103 or Mk 108 cannon and two 1000kg bombs in internal bomb bay or two 275 gallon fuel tanks

Speed	977kph	607mph
Service ceiling	16,000m	52,480ft
Max range	1,899km	1,180miles
Weight empty equipped	4,600kg	10,120lb
Weight fully equipped	9,000kg	19,800lb
Wingspan	16.7m	54ft 8in
Length	7.5m	24ft 6in
Height	2.8m	9ft 2in

UPDATE
Schräge Musik actually refers to any conventional gun mounted at an upward angle to attack another aircraft from below. The Germans did experiment with firing systems such as photo-cells, but most seem to have been triggered more conventionally.

Schräge Musik

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