H.XVIII | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Artist's concept of the aircraft in flight | |
Role | Long-range bomber |
National origin | Nazi Germany |
Designer | Walter and Reimar Horten |
Developed from | Horten Ho 229 |
The Horten H.XVIII (18) was a proposed German World War II intercontinental bomber, designed by the Horten brothers. The unbuilt H.XVIII represented, in many respects, a scaled-up version of the Horten Ho 229, a prototype jet fighter. The H.XVIII was one of many proposed designs for the Langstreckenbomber, [1] and would have carried sufficient fuel for transatlantic flights.
In recent years, software modelling has suggested that the stealth and speed of the Hortens' flying wing jet designs would have made interception, prior to bombing, difficult and unlikely. [2]
The ability of bomber crews, in an aircraft such as the Horten H.XVIII, to attack targets in North America, might have been hampered by existing and emerging Allied air defence strategies and technologies, such as:
The A model of the H.XVIII was a long, smooth blended wing body. Its six turbojet engines were buried deep in the wing and the exhausts centered on the trailing end. Resembling the Horten Ho 229 flying wing fighter there were many odd features that distinguished this aircraft; the jettisonable landing gear and the wing made of wood and carbon based glue, are but two. The aircraft was first proposed for the Langstreckenbomber competition initiated in late 1944 and was personally reviewed by Hermann Göring: after review, the Horten brothers (with deep dissatisfaction) were forced to share design and construction of the aircraft with Junkers and Messerschmitt engineers, who wanted to add a single rudder fin as well as suggesting underwing pods to house the engines and landing gear. [2]
The B model of the H.XVIIIB was generally the same as the A model, except the four (down from six) engines and four-wheel retractable landing gear were now housed in underwing pods, and the three-man crew housed under a bubble canopy. The aircraft was to be built in huge concrete hangars and operate off long runways with construction due to start in autumn 1945, but the end of the war came with no progress made. Defensive armament was considered unnecessary due to the expected high performance. [2]
The C model of the H.XVIII was based on the airframe of the H.XVIIIA with a huge tail. It had an MG 151 turret set in the middle rear of the wing and with six BMW 003 turbojets slung under the wings; this was designed by Messerschmitt and Junkers engineers. It is uncertain if this overall design was directly developed by the Horten brothers or their manufacturer, as there is little surviving evidence of this proposed version. It was eventually rejected by the Horten brothers, as it was not a major improvement over the Ho XVIIIA.
Data from [3]
General characteristics
Performance
Armament
Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
Related lists
The Horten H.IX, RLM designation Ho 229 was a German prototype fighter/bomber designed by Reimar and Walter Horten to be built by Gothaer Waggonfabrik. Developed at a late stage of the Second World War, it was one of the first flying wing aircraft to be powered by jet engines.
Walter Horten and Reimar Horten, sometimes credited as the Horten Brothers, were German aircraft pilots. Walter was a fighter pilot on the Western Front, flying a Bf 109 for Jagdgeschwader 26 in the first six months of World War II; he eventually became the unit's technical officer. Reimar was also trained as a Messerschmitt Bf 109 pilot; however, later in August 1940, he was transferred to the glider pilot school in Braunschweig. He earned his PhD in mathematics from the University of Göttingen, having resumed his studies in 1946 with help from Ludwig Prandtl. The Hortens designed the world's first jet-powered flying wing, the Horten Ho 229.
The Junkers Ju 287 was a multi-engine tactical jet bomber built in Nazi Germany in 1944. It featured a novel forward-swept wing, and the first two prototypes were among the very few jet propelled aircraft ever built with fixed landing gear.
The Henschel Hs 132 was a World War II dive bomber and interceptor aircraft of the German Luftwaffe that never saw service. The unorthodox design featured a top-mounted BMW 003 jet engine and the pilot in a prone position. The Soviet Army occupied the factory just as the Hs 132 V1 was nearing flight testing, the V2 and V3 being 80% and 75% completed.
Boeing XB-55 was a proposed Boeing aircraft designed to be a strategic bomber. The XB-55 was intended to be a replacement for the Boeing B-47 Stratojet in United States Air Force (USAF) service.
The Horten H.IV was a German tailless flying wing glider in which the pilot was to lie in a prone position to reduce the frontal area, and hence drag. It was designed by Reimar and Walter Horten in Göttingen. Four were built between 1941 and 1943. They were flown in a number of unofficial competitions in Germany during World War II. After the war the flying examples were transported to the United Kingdom and the United States where several contest successes were achieved.
The DINFIA IA 38 was a 1960s Argentine four-engine experimental tailless transport aircraft, designed under the direction of Reimar Horten and based on the German Horten Ho VIII project and built by the DINFIA.
The Ilyushin Il-22, USAF/DOD designation Type 10, was the first Soviet jet-engined bomber to fly. It used four Lyulka TR-1 turbojets carried on short horizontal pylons ahead and below the wing. The engines did not meet their designed thrust ratings and their fuel consumption was higher than planned. These problems meant that the aircraft could not reach its required performance and it was cancelled on 22 September 1947.
The Blohm & Voss P 194 was a German design for a mixed-power Stuka or ground-attack aircraft and tactical bomber, during World War II.
The I.Ae. 34 Clen Antú, sometimes known as the Horten XVa after its designer Reimar Horten, was a two-seat tailless glider built in Argentina. Two single-seat variants competed unsuccessfully in the 1952 World Gliding Championships.
The I.Ae.41 Urubú was a two-seat flying wing tailless glider, built in Argentina by the Fábrica Militar de Aviones (FMA) in the 1950s.
The Horten H.III was a flying wing sailplane built by Walter and Reimar Horten in Germany from 1937 to 1944.
The Horten H.II Habicht (Hawk) was a German flying wing glider built in Germany in 1935. Four, including one flown mostly as a motorglider, were built. One of the gliders was used to test the aerodynamics of a prototype World War II Horten jet fighter-bomber.
The Horten H.V was a delta-winged, tail-less, twin-engined motor-glider designed and built in the late 1930s and early 1940s by Walter and Reimar Horten in Germany. The H.V aircraft were used for various experimental duties, including: innovative structure, performance, stability and control of flying wing aircraft. The first H.V was the first aircraft to be built using an all composite material structure.
The Horten H.I was a German flying wing research glider built by Walter and Reimar Horten in 1933.
The Horten H.VII was a flying wing fighter-trainer aircraft designed by the Horten brothers in Nazi Germany during World War II.
The Horten H.VIII was a flying wing research aircraft designed by Reimar Horten during World War II and only partly built by the end of the war.
The Horten H.XIII was an experimental flying wing aircraft designed by the Horten brothers during World War II.
The Messerschmitt P.1107 was a jet-powered bomber project developed in the final years of the Second World War.
The Lippisch Delta VI was a proposed single-seat, twin-jet experimental delta flying wing aircraft begun in 1943 by German designer Alexander Lippisch, as the developed version of the P.11 bomber project begun while he was still working for Messerschmitt in 1942. The only prototype was destroyed in June 1944 while still under construction.