Most secret Nazis aren’t that secret anymore these days.
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I think I am beginning to understand where the ‘vapourware’ idea came from. The original quote came from a Smithsonian Air Museum. But as the Axis position became more and more hopeless, the high command were willing to try more extreme bets. I can imagine the phone conversation going something like this…
Quick. Can you make us a bomber that can cross the Atlantic twice?
We had our flying wing proposal. We were gong to make a half-scale prototype. But it got refused funding, remember?
Well, we want it now. And no half-sized prototype - it’s got to be a working bomber that carries a real payload.
We did have a series of plans of what would come after the prototype. We can have a go, I guess. But it’s risky.
Sod the risk. Make it. You have four months, or it’s too late and you might as well not bother. Out. (click)
What does the guy do? He gets one go to make his dream aircraft but with a ridiculous deadline. I think the Hortons believed they could make something. They did make a full-sized wood plane that could fly, but was unstable and crashed. What about the paint? Some other guy has a theory about paint that doesn’t reflect radar. Fine - as long as he doesn’t hold the project up, let him stick what he wants in the paint. I think if you believe there is a reasonable possibility, then it’s not vapourware by my book.
I believe U-Boats had an experimental anti-IR Christiansen filter paint in the mistaken belief that the Allies were using deep IR to spot U-Boats. It is entirely likely that even the anti-radar paint was real, even if it didn’t get on this particular aircraft.
PS: If there is a kickstarter to build a Lippisch P.13b, count me in.
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They actually dropped a real Ford Pinto from a helicopter for this.
The drop zone was an dockside area that the city used during the winter to store salt for de-icing streets.
A clear area, but practically in the middle of the city, which made for a nice view of the Chicago skyline during the drop.
In order to get permission for the drop, the production company had to prove the un-airworthyness of a Ford Pinto; to make sure it would really drop straight down, and not develop lift1) and veer off to crash somewhere in the city.
1) QV: Lifting Body concept
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Yeah, it’s not like it was a Corvette.
Zora Arkus-Duntov (Chevrolet engineer) was quoted as saying the 1963-1967 Sting Ray had “just enough lift to be a bad airplane.”
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Then the opening sequence of Heavy Metal wasn’t that far off after all?
Edited to add:
Let’s crowdfound to drop a Corvette from a B-52 from 50,000 feet over Edwards AFB.
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Not over Roswell?
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