Hitler’s Luxury Stealth Fighter


Quite appropriately one of the last secrets of WWII – a Nazi stealth fighter – has flown under the radar until now. With the help of the National Geographic Channel, The History Bluff will give you the details of the Horten Ho 229, which can also be described as the world’s first luxury stealth fighter.

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The Horten Ho 229 was impervious to radar and provided the smoothest ride available.

The test pilot for the 229 prototype was Erwin Ziller, an accomplished pilot who was just shy of his seventieth birthday. Plagued with arthritis and back pains, Ziller required an ergonomic cockpit and other niceties befitting an elderly man in his second world war.

On February 18, 1945 the Horten 229 was ready for a test flight. The cockpit had been outfitted with a swiveling, perforated leather captain chair with lumbar support, a drop-down entertainment center, steering wheel-mounted volume controls, dual zone temperature control, Nazi logo embossed floor mats, and machine-washable cupholders.

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In a private meeting, Hermann Goring reported to Walter Horten that Erwin Ziller had crashed the 229 during a test flight. Goring reported that Ziller tried to turn on his seat warmer but inadvertendly reclined his seat backward, causing Ziller to pull back on the controls and send the 229 into a steep climb. The fighter stalled and quickly plummeted back to Earth.

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For more about the stealth plane that could have won the war for Germany, tune in to the National Geographic at Channel on June 28 at 9pm. Below is an excerpt from the National Geographic Channel special Hitler’s Stealth Fighter.