P144010 HO-229 NIGHT FIGHTER

Horten Ho-229 (the designations used are also Horten Ho IX or Gotha Go-229) is a German, twin-engine, jet fighter-bomber with a flying wing arrangement from the end of World War II. In cooperation with the Luftwaffe Sonderkommando 9 experimental center, in 1942 a project of the Ho-IX fighter plane with a flying wing system powered by two BMW 003A-1 jet engines was created. The construction of the V1 and V2 prototypes started soon and were completed in 1942. Problems with the BMW engine meant that the first Ho-IX V1 prototype was flown as a glider in the summer of that year, without engines and with a fixed front landing gear. However, the second prototype, the Ho-IX V2, was redesigned and equipped with Jumo 004 B-1 engines (2x8.5 kN). The flight tests with these engines began in January 1945. The plane reached the speed of about 800 km / h in the first flight, but after 2 hours of testing, the fire of one of the engines caused the prototype to completely crash during the landing attempt. Before that, however, the task of preparing the production was entrusted to the Gothaer Waggonfabrik plant, where the construction of prototypes under the designation Go-229 V3 to V7 began, as well as preparation for production of the Go-229 A-0 trial series. The first prototype made at Goth's plant (Go-229 V3), equipped with Jumo 004C (2x10kN) engines, was ready for testing, and work on the remaining prototypes (some of them in the two-seat night fighter versions) was seriously advanced when the plants were seized by American troops. Technical data: length: 7.47m, wingspan: 16.76m, height: 2.81m, maximum speed: 977km / h, rate of climb: 22m / s, maximum ceiling 16000m, armament: fixed-4 cannons MK108 cal. 30mm Suspended - up to 1000 kg of bombs.