When playing the flight simulator Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe in the early 90s, the design of the Go229 flying wing caught my attention. Never heard of this plane before, I tried to find out more about it and some years later, I found a scale model kit of it. Although this PM Model kit (made in Turkey, quite unsual) was VERY basic - it included less than 20 parts - I bought it as it was the only Go229 kit available this time.

The Gotha Go 229 was the production version of the Horten IX, designed by the Horten brothers. It was an experimental German flying wing jet fighter that was being developed at the end of the Second War.

The Horten brothers designed several flying wing prototypes since the 1930s, the Go229 was their only design that was close of entering the military service at the end of WW2.

In 1943, the construction of the twin-jet-powered flying wing prototype Horten Ho IX V2 began. It was build after the specifications of the 1000/1000/1000 fighter bomber project: A new aircraft that should be able to carry 1000 kilogram of bombs, fly 1000 kilometers per hour and have a penetration depth of about 1000 kilometers. The Ho 229 was made of wood, since wood was not a "strategic" material and this would decrease the weight of the plane. It was covered by a special radar absorbing paint, which gave this plane some of the stealth characteristics that were used on the U.S. B-2 bomber 50 years later.

In February 1945, the Ho IX V2 made its first flight and showed excellent flying characteristics, but on its second flight, the plane crashed when one engine flamed out. Although this plane only had two hours of flying time reported, it was immediately put into production at the Gotha factory, its official name changed to Go 229.

When the Gotha factory was captured by American troops in April 1945, several different version of the Go229 were under construction, two seat all weather fighters, trainers and single seated fighter bombers.

One of the airframes was transported to the U.S., where its still waiting for restoration today. Two other were reported to be captured by the Soviets, but their fate is unknown. Currently, several other Horten designs, including the prop driven predecessor of the Ho IX are restored in Germany, so there might be the chance that this will happen with the Go229, too.