Was the Horton 229 really the worlds first stealth fighter?”
The Horten Ho-IX (often called Gotha Go 229 or Ho 229 due to the identity of the chosen manufacturer of the aircraft) was a late-World War II prototype flying wing fighter/bomber, designed by Reimar and Walter Horten and built by Gothaer Waggonfabrik, and has been described as the first aircraft designed to incorporate stealth technology.[1] It was a personal favorite of German Luftwaffe chief Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, and was the only aircraft to come close to meeting his “1000, 1000, 1000” performance requirements.
Quite appropriately one of the last secrets of WWII – a Nazi stealth fighter – has flown under the radar until now. With the help of the National Geographic Channel, The History Bluff will give you the details of the Horten Ho 229, which can also be described as the world’s first luxury stealth fighter. The test pilot for the 229 prototype was Erwin Ziller, an accomplished pilot who was just shy of his seventieth birthday. Plagued with arthritis and back pains, Ziller required an ergonomic cockpit and other niceties befitting an elderly man in his second world war. On February 18, 1945 the Horten 229 was ready for a test flight. The cockpit had been outfitted with a swiveling, perforated leather captain chair with lumbar support, a drop-down entertainment center, steering wheel-mounted volume controls, dual zone temperature control, Nazi logo embossed floor mats, and machine-washable cupholders. In a private meeting, Hermann Goring reported to Walter Horten that Erwin Ziller had crashe
