Next week we'll have the latest restock of the 1/48 SWS Ho 229 Flying Wing.
This is one of the most popular 1/48 kits this year highlighting this fantastic aircraft. It features detailed engine and landing gear. This kit allows you to build and highlight many areas of the wing ribs and interior wing fuel tanks. This allows for some exciting diorama opportunities.
The Horten Ho 229 V3 is the only extant example of the world's first all-wing jet aircraft. Built in Germany during World War II, the Horten Ho 229 promised spectacular performance. The German air force (Luftwaffe) chief, Hermann Göring, allocated half-a-million Reich Marks to the brothers Reimar and Walter Horten to build and fly several prototypes. Numerous technical problems beset this unique design and the only powered example crashed after several test flights. Despite this, the airplane remains one of the most unusual combat aircraft tested during World War II. (Source: Smithsonian, 2020)
The U. S. Army found the Ho 229 prototypes V3 through V6 at Friedrichroda, Germany, in April 1945. The V3 (also referred to as Horten IX V3) was approximately half finished and nearest to completion of the four airframes. Army personnel removed it three days later and shipped it from Germany to the U.S. The aircraft arrived at what is now the Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration, and Storage Facility in Suitland, Maryland, around 1950. (Source: Smithsonian, 2020)
The Horten Ho 229 V3 is currently visible to the public inside the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, while staff work to document the aircraft's condition and stabilize its delicate structure. Learn more about the ongoing conservation work and fascinating history behind this unique aircraft. (Source: Smithsonian, 2020)
