Horten Ho-229 Flying Wing

[Second Air Force]

The Horten has been in hibernation for the last couple of months. One reason was that I was "engineering" how to rebuild the inlet and exhaust openings. This vacuform is really quite terrible in these areas but I was somewhat stumped at how to fix the issue. The final idea was brass tubing into which the engine components can be installed. The openings in the wing must first be opened up to a diameter to allow the tube to fit, then the tube will be fine-tuned to the correct shape for the inlet lip. The exhausts will be easier, I think.

Horten Ho-229 Flying Wing

[No.1]

Now it is wake up time

[draken35]

Hard work to do but result will be great...

[Sall]

 

[Second Air Force]

Two months later and the second engine inlet tube has been fitted. Next it will be time to fix the tubes in one half of the wing and get the alignment perfected, then on to other modifications.

Horten Ho-229 Flying Wing

[No.1]

Good you get time for this one

[Second Air Force]

I was tired of pistons last night so the jet came back to the workbench!

[draken35]

[Sall]

 

[Second Air Force]

I'm resurrecting the Horten from the unfinished section of models! It's been quite a while since this got any attention.....

Currently the planning is going forward for cockpit, canopy and wheelwells. I've decided to do this as a "what-if" production version so there will be quite a lot of changes from the V-3 photos we're all used to seeing. More will be posted soon.

[Second Air Force]

First item I decided to deal with was the canopy enclosure. As I earlier mentioned, this will be my interpretation of what the production Ho 229 might have looked like if it had been fully developed.

As the Horten brothers designed it, the canopy on the V-3 version looks impractical to me. The pilot would have had a very limited field-of-vision to the sides since he sat so low in the wing. I've redesigned the seating situation to bring the pilot higher, something along the lines of a Mustang or MiG-15, for example. With that in mind, a trip through the clear parts box found a windscreen and bubble canopy that will work quite nicely. I didn't do much to the parts as yet, just matched them to the basic contour of the wing:

Horten Ho-229 Flying Wing

[No.1]

I did not mention details of canopy until you did not point it in this post. Thank you mate and welcome back to this subject

[Second Air Force]

More research into the history of the Ho229 and I have a few more projects underway. First I scratchbuilt a cockpit tub from styrene and brass wire. Then I added some spares box bits and resin side consoles copied from a Me262. The instrument panel and seat are being sourced from the Bf109 spares box:

Horten Ho-229 Flying Wing

Next it was time to attack the exhaust outlet openings. I fabricated these from the brass tubing and will attach the Jumo 004 turbine section inside:

Horten Ho-229 Flying Wing

Next step was to figure out the wheelwells. On the V3 prototype this area was open and showed all the center section structure. Surely, on a production machine, these would be fully boxed in so I made these wheelwells from styrene sheet and strips:

Horten Ho-229 Flying Wing

Much more to be done, but the basic shapes are coming together. I've also dug through the landing gear parts and am on the way to a set of struts and wheels.

[No.1]

Good upgrade, this is far advanced now

[Second Air Force]

It's a rough start, at least!

Still so many things to design before this gets rolling. I have debated when to fix all the molding dimples and bumps, before or after gluing the two halves together. Now, as I look back on it, I should have smoothed the surfaces before I disassembled the wing from the first build. That way it would have been nice and rigid and sanding would be easier. As it is, I think I'll finish the interior items and glue the halves together before working on the surfaces.