[harrison987]

HI,

To answer your original question...

The Ho229 was not deigned for stealth. it was designed for SPEED, WEIGHT, and ease of construction. Wood was plentiful...aluminum and steel was not. This is why every late-war aircraft (1944/1945), normally having aluminum and steel parts...were switched to wood. eg.) Me109 Vertical Stab and rudder, instrument panel, belly hatches, first aid hatch...Fw190 D9/Ta152 Control surfaces, instrument panel, etc. He162...Me163...etc.

Anything that could be replaced with WOOD..."was"...this was to save on the rare steel and aluminum. Metal factories were under HEAVY stress from allied bombing...which is why wood for fighters was thought about in the first place. Plus every furniture maker could make parts, as opposed to being specific to an aircraft manufacture.

As Horton was gifted at gliders...and materials late in the war were scarce, they went to wood as much as they could. It had NOTHING to do with "stealth" or radar. They technology was still fairly new...and the main goal was to take down bombers and save their country......not fly all the way to England to avoid the radar system.

The sleek design was for speed and aerodynamics...the construction materials due to what was on hand.

I think the "stealth" ("Hitler's Stealth Fighter") name was only a term that was brought up in the last 20 years...simply because "TODAY'S" technology brought that term about. No one was calling it a "stealth" fighter in the 1950's. It was what it was - a lightweight, easy to build, aerodynamic glider, deigned to mount jet engines for speed.

There wasn't a directive to "build a fighter capable of evading radar". The name "stealth" was an unknown bi-product (as mentioned above)...and not on Germany's mind at the time (they had better things to do).

The Ho229 existed, in it's prototype form...

Just like the Messerschmitt_P.1101 existed...in prototype form (it was copied to make the Bell X-5).

Whether built in parts...assembled afterward, etc...the Ho IX V3 is the SAME aircraft as the Go/Ho229. The only difference being the prototype designation. It existed because there is one...right as NASM.

If you are asking if an aircraft not used in combat should be termed as something was "existed" is up to you.

Whether it flew in combat...or was in trials for combat...in my opinion it existed. if it was only on a drawing board and nothing was ever attempted to make one...like the Me609, or other oddball fantasy items termed "luft '46"...then no...they never existed.

Hope this helps.


Mike