WI: Lufwaffe squadrons fully devoloped and deployed at outbreak of World War 2.

Here's what Green has to say about the Ho229 V2's flight tests:

"For the initial flight trials the nosewheel was locked in the extended position, and at normal loaded weight with ten degrees of flap, take-off speed proved to be on the order of 95 mph and take-off run barely more than 500 yards. Speeds up to 186 mph were attained in level flight with the nosewheel extended, and handling characteristics exceeded the most sanguine expectations. During March the nosewheel was retracted in flight and high speed trials initiated. A maximum level speed of 497 mph had been recorded when, during a landing approach, the starboard turbojet cut suddenly, the pilot, Leutnant Ziller, undershot and the aircraft turned over and burst into flames. The prototype had logged a total flying time of only two hours."

Based on this account the plane apparently did not have poor flying characteristics (at least a slow speeds) and the crash was caused by a problem completely unrelated to its flying wing design.

Nonetheless, I will agree that 2 hrs of flying tells very little about a plane, and accept the fact that the much more extensive tests with the B-35 and B-49 would appear to show that the Northrup designs did have basic stability problems because of their flying wing configuration. Basically we really have no idea if the Ho229 would have been an adequate flyer in combat conditions, or if the positive reports by the unfortunate Lt Ziller were just "new program fever" or might have indicated the plane would not have shared the problems of the B-35 and B-49.

For what its worth (not much, I know), in the combat flight sim "IL-2 Sturmovik" the Ho229 does show some minor lateral instability and is a less effective jet fighter than the Me262, He-162, or P-80, but it does not fall out of the sky, is hard to stall, and in comparison with other planes recovers fairly quickly.
 
Sure, but in IL-2:1946 the fantasy planes are (imo) badly modelled. Try to stall with an advanced He-162 (not the early version, but the one with the forward facing wings). You will find it nearly impossible.
Not only that, but the jet engines suddenly become extremely reliable when we're talking ATL planes. Try cutting back on power and then suddenly increasing it again in an Me-262. You'll soon have to bail out because your engine(s) is/are on fire. Not so in these new ATL planes. Engines can't fail. Heck, you an even turn them off and on again in mid-flight.

Now, on the Ho-229 tests: These tests do not include 'extreme' maneuvering. There were tests to see if the design was airworthy in the first place, and then there were the high-speed trials. Nothing that really tells us how the plane would have done when it's maneuvering wildly in a dogfight, or simply making a tight turn.
And that's where the US tests come in. There no reason to believe the German flying wing design was stabler than the US designs.
 
Not only that, but the jet engines suddenly become extremely reliable when we're talking ATL planes. Try cutting back on power and then suddenly increasing it again in an Me-262. You'll soon have to bail out because your engine(s) is/are on fire. Not so in these new ATL planes. Engines can't fail. Heck, you an even turn them off and on again in mid-flight.

That actually happens to me all the time in IL-2. It's really annoying when I forget to bring my throttle down to zero after a mission, so on the next one when I turn my engine on with the throttle all the way up...

My flightmates don't like it either. :(
 
P-80 engine is worst of all in Il2. I can hardly finish one mission in it without a flameout. Shame, because in other respects (except for the under-modeled US .50 MGs) it is faster and more maneuverable than most the German jets.
 
Top