Book Review of
The Fighter/Bomber Horten Ho-229
Author Marek Rys
Kagero Publications
ISBN: 978-83-66148-97-0
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright 2020
MSRP: $24.95
ISBN: 978-83-66148-97-0
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright 2020
MSRP: $24.95
HISTORY:
The Horten Ho-229 was the first ever “Flying-wing” jet. The machine was built at the end of WWII in the German Gotha factory. Today, the best known structure of this type is the American strategic bomber Northrop B-3 “Spirit”, but the two planes are separated by a difference of 44 years of technologica development.
It was a very unusual structure, not only due to the shape of the airframe, but also the materials it was made of – it was largely plywood and wood, not only duralumin and steel. The plane was powered by two Junkers Jumo 0048 jet engines.
The Horten Ho-229 was flown in January 1945. It was armed with two powerful 30mm Mk 108 cannons, and the performance exceeded all Allied planes at that time. Never the less, the Ho-229 was planned to be used as a bomber.
As modern research has shown, the Ho-229 had a 40% effective reflection area of radar waves, compared to a typical WWII fighter (in the case of comparative trials the Bf-110 was used). This means that it was the first stealth aircraft ever made.
At the end of the war, the Americans managed to obtain two Ho-229V3’s, which were in the process of being assembled . An older model , the Horten Ho-IX V1, was also taken over.
Today, Horten’s “Flying Wings” can only be admired in the United States at the Planes of Fame Aviation Museum in Chino, California, and at the reconstruction repository of the National Air and Space Museum in Suitland, Maryland.
THE BOOK:
Kagero Publications is based in Lublin, Poland.
The book is soft-cover of 20 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format. I comes in a self-sealing, clear cello envelope.
The cover is dark green with a white line drawing a top view of the Ho-229. Atop this is a color illustration of the top of the Horton Ho-229A-0 in a hypothetical livery of JG-300 unit, in a wave pattern camouflage of 2 shades of green, with blue, white and blue bands around its tail and skeletal white German crosses on its wings.
In the 6-view of it in the book, it further shows the bottom as overall medium-gray with black German crosses outlined in white on the wings and sides, front and rear views.
The color illustration of the Ho-229V-3 at the bottom of the cover is also a 6 view in the book, showing it from all 6 sides. The top and bottom views show its in the natural colors of the materials used to make it: plywood, wood, duralimin and steel. It carries no markings
The back cover shows a color illustration of the Ho-229A-0 sitting on its landing gear. It shows a black no. 12 on its nose gear door. It covers the whole cover and no scale is given for the illustration.
The text in the book is multilingual, in Polish and English.
The first page shows the history of the Ho-229, over 4 black and white cover illustrations of other books by Kagero: “Pz.Kpfw. VI Ausf. B Tiger II (Sd.Kfz. 182)”, “Nakajima B5N Kate”, “Ju-88G” and “Fiat CR.42”.
Kagero’s street address in Lublin, Poland, the copyright date of 2020 for the book and its ISBN number are provided.
Next are 15 line drawings of the Ho-229, all in 1/72nd scale.
There are two 1/48th scale color 6 view profiles in the center of the book.
Inserted into the book are 2 loose line-drawing blue prints.
The larger one is in 26 ¼” x 19” format, printed on both sides and folded to fit the book.
The face side shows a 6-view of the Ho-229V-2 in 1/32nd scale.
The reverse side shows a 6-view of the Ho-229V-3 in 1/32nd scale and illustrations of the landing gear.
The smaller one is in 22 ½” x 15 ½” page format, printed on both sides and folded to fit the book.
The face side shows 6-views of the Ho-229V-2 and the Ho-229V-3 in 1/32nd scale.
The reverse side shows 11 views of the Ho-IX-V1,
This is a neat book about this experimental aircraft. It will be of great interest to aircraft modelers planning to build a Ho-229 and also to aircraft historians alike.
I want to sincerely thank Casemate Publishers, the North American distributor of Kagero books. All Kagero book titles can be viewed on Casemate’s web-site at:
The Horten Ho-229 was the first ever “Flying-wing” jet. The machine was built at the end of WWII in the German Gotha factory. Today, the best known structure of this type is the American strategic bomber Northrop B-3 “Spirit”, but the two planes are separated by a difference of 44 years of technologica development.
It was a very unusual structure, not only due to the shape of the airframe, but also the materials it was made of – it was largely plywood and wood, not only duralumin and steel. The plane was powered by two Junkers Jumo 0048 jet engines.
The Horten Ho-229 was flown in January 1945. It was armed with two powerful 30mm Mk 108 cannons, and the performance exceeded all Allied planes at that time. Never the less, the Ho-229 was planned to be used as a bomber.
As modern research has shown, the Ho-229 had a 40% effective reflection area of radar waves, compared to a typical WWII fighter (in the case of comparative trials the Bf-110 was used). This means that it was the first stealth aircraft ever made.
At the end of the war, the Americans managed to obtain two Ho-229V3’s, which were in the process of being assembled . An older model , the Horten Ho-IX V1, was also taken over.
Today, Horten’s “Flying Wings” can only be admired in the United States at the Planes of Fame Aviation Museum in Chino, California, and at the reconstruction repository of the National Air and Space Museum in Suitland, Maryland.
THE BOOK:
Kagero Publications is based in Lublin, Poland.
The book is soft-cover of 20 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format. I comes in a self-sealing, clear cello envelope.
The cover is dark green with a white line drawing a top view of the Ho-229. Atop this is a color illustration of the top of the Horton Ho-229A-0 in a hypothetical livery of JG-300 unit, in a wave pattern camouflage of 2 shades of green, with blue, white and blue bands around its tail and skeletal white German crosses on its wings.
In the 6-view of it in the book, it further shows the bottom as overall medium-gray with black German crosses outlined in white on the wings and sides, front and rear views.
The color illustration of the Ho-229V-3 at the bottom of the cover is also a 6 view in the book, showing it from all 6 sides. The top and bottom views show its in the natural colors of the materials used to make it: plywood, wood, duralimin and steel. It carries no markings
The back cover shows a color illustration of the Ho-229A-0 sitting on its landing gear. It shows a black no. 12 on its nose gear door. It covers the whole cover and no scale is given for the illustration.
The text in the book is multilingual, in Polish and English.
The first page shows the history of the Ho-229, over 4 black and white cover illustrations of other books by Kagero: “Pz.Kpfw. VI Ausf. B Tiger II (Sd.Kfz. 182)”, “Nakajima B5N Kate”, “Ju-88G” and “Fiat CR.42”.
Kagero’s street address in Lublin, Poland, the copyright date of 2020 for the book and its ISBN number are provided.
Next are 15 line drawings of the Ho-229, all in 1/72nd scale.
There are two 1/48th scale color 6 view profiles in the center of the book.
Inserted into the book are 2 loose line-drawing blue prints.
The larger one is in 26 ¼” x 19” format, printed on both sides and folded to fit the book.
The face side shows a 6-view of the Ho-229V-2 in 1/32nd scale.
The reverse side shows a 6-view of the Ho-229V-3 in 1/32nd scale and illustrations of the landing gear.
The smaller one is in 22 ½” x 15 ½” page format, printed on both sides and folded to fit the book.
The face side shows 6-views of the Ho-229V-2 and the Ho-229V-3 in 1/32nd scale.
The reverse side shows 11 views of the Ho-IX-V1,
This is a neat book about this experimental aircraft. It will be of great interest to aircraft modelers planning to build a Ho-229 and also to aircraft historians alike.
I want to sincerely thank Casemate Publishers, the North American distributor of Kagero books. All Kagero book titles can be viewed on Casemate’s web-site at:
Highly recommended.