Aviation history buffs -- some pix to freak you out.

eppur_se_muova

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Fri Apr-03-09 07:05 PM
Original message

Aviation history buffs -- some pix to freak you out.

Junkers Ju 287 prototype -- a four-turbine, forward-swept wing bomber

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=

&imgrefurl=http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/LRG/ju287.html&usg=__oKo7uMK2BqYWXpNJgrjTn-3ShgM=&h=358&w=507&sz=62&hl=en&start=4&tbnid=uldOf2pybYXy3M:&tbnh=93&tbnw=131&prev=/images%3Fq%3DJunkers%2BJu%2B287%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive

Horton Ho 229 prototype jet-powered flying-wing bomber

http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/aircraft-requests/horton-brothers-flying-wings-3618.html

Maybe old news to the more serious historians, but I never knew the Nazis got further than the Me 262.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Orsino

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Fri Apr-03-09 07:29 PM
Response to Original message

1. No wonder they lost the damned war.

They put the wings on the Junkers wrong, and as for the Horton, well, the front fell off.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

MajorChode

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Fri Apr-03-09 10:40 PM
Response to Reply #1

8. They were actually way ahead of their time

The US experimented with forward swept wings well into the 90's.

Undoubtedly one mistake was going a bit too far and spending lots of money on things that weren't practical at the time, but the US was certainly guilty of that as well and perhaps on a grander scale.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

begin_within

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Fri Apr-03-09 08:35 PM
Response to Original message

2. Wow, compare the Horton to

the B-2 Stealth bomber.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

rockymountaindem

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Fri Apr-03-09 08:40 PM
Response to Reply #2

3. The flying wing concept was developed by Northrop

probably prior to its German manifestation.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

GOPisEvil

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Fri Apr-03-09 08:45 PM
Response to Reply #3

4. Don't know about the Germans, but Jack Northrop was working on a flying wing...

Edited on Fri Apr-03-09 08:45 PM by GOPisEvil

...in the 1930s. He developed the YB-35, a prop-driven wing, later converted to the YB-49, jet powered.

It was too unstable for the flight controls of the day. Flying wings only became viable with the advent of computers with enough power to make the calculations needed to maintain control.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

rockymountaindem

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Fri Apr-03-09 08:55 PM
Response to Reply #4

5. While Hitler and crew had some interesting oddball designs

I think the height of German aviation of the period came with the TA-152.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

DemoTex

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Fri Apr-03-09 09:07 PM
Response to Original message

6. German corporate Hansa Jet had forward wing-sweep. The Grumman X-29 had forward sweep.

Edited on Fri Apr-03-09 09:18 PM by DemoTex

Theoretically, forward sweep does the same thing as aft sweep. But sweep necessitates leading edge devices to slow the approach speed (for transport-category aircraft). A Learjet has almost no sweep. A Citation is straight-wing. A Boeing 727 has almost 30-degrees of aft-sweep, with plenty of leading edge slats and Krueger flaps to give it a very tame nominal approach speed near 140-knots (depending on weight).

The German Hansa Jet had considerable forward sweep. The only Hansa Jet I ever saw in the USA belonged to James (I FEEL GOOD!) Brown. A friend of mine flew the solid black Hansa for JB.

Hansa Jet

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

cloudbase

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Fri Apr-03-09 10:36 PM
Response to Original message

7. My first solo was in one just like this

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

DU AdBot (1000+ posts)

Sun May 05th 2024, 09:51 AM
Response to Original message

Advertisements [?]

Top

Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.1 Copyright 1997-2002 DCScripts.com
Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators

Important Notices: By participating on this discussion board, visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums are the opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.