Go-229

[plan_D]

[the lancaster kicks ass]

wow, what a post........................

[ev0]

:P iWas the go-229 just that "small"?

[plan_D]

You don't like the picture, Lanc?

[Gemhorse]

Awesome plan-D !!! - I only read about the Gotha recently, as you probably noticed by my mentions in recent posts...What a fantastic design this aircraft was back in the early 1940's, and it's then potential if they had've got it into service ! - I'm really fascinated with the aerodynamics they were onto then, which has obviously lead to the 'Flying Wing' designs the US got into in the 1950's, and as you've illustrated, the 'Stealth Fighters' of today....sixty years of design-evolution to arrive at them...I saw the connection when flicking through the book Erich asked about that I was reading, and first saw the Go 229. - I shall watch for more commentary on this post, as I believe this may have been the most contraversial design, next to German Rocketry, that came out of WWII....

[Lightning Guy]

Gemhorse, the USAAF was looking into flying wings well before the 1950s. Northrop's P-79 program was underway in 1943 and the original contract for the Northrop B-35 was signed in Nov. 1941!

[the lancaster kicks ass]

sorry Plan_D but it doesn't come up on my computer, it just shows that small red cross, i just thought everyone would have the same problem??

[plan_D]

It's a picture of the B-2 Spirit with a computer image of the Go-229 placed behind it. You can see the similarities between the two very clearly.
Amazing really that the B-2 used computers not only for design purposes but to merely keep it flying on the straight a level when the Go-229 was designed on the pure knowledge of aeronautical engineering.

I'm sorry you can't see it.

[the lancaster kicks ass]

so am I

[Gemhorse]

Yeah, plan-D's pic comes up on mine OK, but I've just gotta figure-out how to post pics from mine....I've only been into PC's for a year, haven't exactly had any major tuition... - being able to do that type of 'computer-generated pic,' etc., is what I'm trying to learn. I can paint it OK, by brush, but learning this computer-technology takes time I guess. - LG's onto the 'Flying Wing' history...I've only heard of it, so to speak, but it's a fascinating part of Aviation Development - Are there any particular books on the subject available ? - What I've read on the Gotha is as plan-D says, their actual flying characteristics were superb, but this was obviously due to all the Glider development behind the Go 229, as the developers, the Horten Bros. were originally from that ' field.' As with the reliability of German Jets, this was where probrems were, not with the aerodynamics...If they re-built one today, with today's reliable jet engines, it would be very impressive, I believe...considering the design's 60 years old.....

[plan_D]

Even with the engines that the Germans had I read it was a very good plane, the only trouble I saw was that the original Jumo 003 (if I remember) were too big for the designated areas provided.
It was predicted to go 512mph at sea level and the flight charateristics were supposed to be amazing. There's mention of it all the time on here, but no one seems to have devoted a thread to it. I felt it was the right time, and what a start.

[Lightning Guy]

I believe I have seen speeds higher than that posted, but those were probably for high altitude flight. I haven't seen anything on how the plane handled but its phenomenal speed should have made it nearly untouchable. It would have been interesting had Germany's Go-229 and America's P-79 faced off in an all-flying wing battle.

[the lancaster kicks ass]

if germany could scrape together enough fuel to put in it..........

[Lightning Guy]

Well, that shouldn't have been too much trouble if we were setting up a straight one-on-one show.

[Gemhorse]

Yeah, it was the BMW 003's that were too big, the Jumo 004's were the more reliable then, but the initial trials were very well received, take-off speed of 95 mph in just 500 yds, and 497 mph level speed was recorded - One of the jets cut-out and that one crashed, but with at least 3 other prototypes developing, they were over-run by the Allies...Interestingly, the project really started developing when German Intelligence discovered what the Northrop Corporation was doing, which got RLM behind them forming Sondercommando 9, which kept Technischen Amt out of it. One of the Horten brothers married Ernst Udet's secretary, which lent a lot of weight to their efforts, and eventual Goering heard of it and was delighted by it's uniqueness, so he was behind it too....Manufacturers estimations gave it a max speed of 607 mph at 39,000 ft, range 1180 miles, AUW 16,550 lbs normal, and 4,330 ft/min climb rate, max ceiling 52,500 ft. - US troops got to the Friedrichsroda plant first, so the technology must've gone Stateside....