Horten HO VIII

[Regulus 1]

Hi,

I once heard the story that this plane was destroyed by it's designers on the moment that Allied experts were about to take it in hands. Is this correct and where did this happen ?

Thanks and best from Johan

[PPoS]

Well here is says:

"The construction progressed quickly through the spring of 1945, and the aircraft was half finished when the American forces reached Gottingen."

So there's your answer!

http://www.nurflugel.com/Nurflugel/Hort ... _viii.html

[Cantankerous]

Well here is says:

"The construction progressed quickly through the spring of 1945, and the aircraft was half finished when the American forces reached Gottingen."

So there's your answer!

http://www.nurflugel.com/Nurflugel/Hort ... _viii.html

Even though this thread is 17 years old, I should note that photos of the incomplete Horten Ho VIII prototype appear on pages 118 and 119 of the bookazine Luftwaffe : Secret Wings of the Third Reich by Dan Sharp. The Ho VIII design was to be a long-range reconnaissance/strike aircraft to spot and sink Allied shipping along the European coast, and would have had six piston engines in pusher configuration and a crew of three. The Ho VIII prototype was meant to test the flight characteristics of the Ho VIII patrol bomber, which is why it was powered by six Argus As 10C engines. After World War II ended, while working for the British, the Horten brothers reworked the Ho VIII design was reworked by the Horten brothers into a flying wing airliner with a huge nacelle to haul freight, and they also envisaged a slightly larger flying wing airliner with a wingspan of 157 feet as well as giant flying wing airliner with a wingspan as big as that of the Airbus A380.

References:
* Sharp, D., 2017. Luftwaffe: Secret Wings of the Third Reich. Mortons.
* Sharp, D., 2019. Luftwaffe: Secret Projects of the Third Reich. Mortons.
* Shepelev, A., and Ottens, H., 2006. Ho 229, The Spirit of Thuringia: The Horten All-wing jet Fighter. London, UK: Classic Publications. ISBN 1-903223-66-0.