The Horten H.I was a German

flying wing A flying wing is a tailless fixed-wing aircraft that has no definite fuselage, with its crew, payload, fuel, and equipment housed inside the main wing structure. A flying wing may have various small protuberances such as pods, nacelles, blis ...

research

glider Glider may refer to: Aircraft and transport Aircraft * Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight ** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of glidin ...

built by

Walter and Reimar Horten Walter Horten (born 13 November 1913 in Bonn; died 9 December 1998 in Baden-Baden, Germany) and Reimar Horten (born 12 March 1915 in Bonn; died 14 March 1994 in Villa General Belgrano, Argentina), sometimes credited as the Horten Brothers, were ...

in 1933.

Design and development

The first aircraft of the Horten brothers was created with considerable effort in 1933 in their parents' apartment in Bonn. Reimar Horten designed and built the machine and learned to fly it. Flight testing started in July 1933 at the Bonn-Hangelar airport, and Walter Horten, only 20 years old, made the first cautious hops in the aircraft on the end of a bungee cord, resulting in glides of 150 to 300 feet at altitudes of six feet or less. After a few small changes, the H.I had overcome the biggest teething troubles, and the brothers took it to the Wasserkuppe competition the following year.

H.Ib

In 1951, members of the Club de Planeadores Otto Ballod and Reimar Horten built a new version, called the H.Ib, using a more modern section and the control accomplished by elevons located on the outer wings, omitting the inner elevators/flaps. For use as rudders,

Schempp-Hirth Schempp-Hirth Flugzeugbau GmbH is a glider manufacturer based in Kirchheim unter Teck, Germany. History Martin Schempp founded his own company in Göppingen in 1935, with the assistance of Wolf Hirth. The company was initially called "Sportfl ...

flaps were installed on the wingtips, also serving as a landing aid when both flaps were activated together.

Operational history

Horten H.I

The H.I was first flown in July 1933 at Bonn-Hangelar airport, initially using bungee cord, then auto-tow, leading to winch launches to . Aero-tow launches were then carried out using a

BFW M.23 The BFW M.23, sometimes known as the Messerschmitt M 23, was a 1920s two-seat sporting aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt, and produced by ''Bayerische Flugzeugwerke'' (BFW). Examples won several prestigious races in 1929 and 1930. Develo ...

as tug, to . Problems with control and stability were discovered, due to the operation of the elevators and ailerons and centre of gravity too far aft. With the flying qualities of the aircraft satisfactory, Walter Horten set off under aero-tow to the 1934 Rhön meeting at the

Wasserkuppe The is a mountain within the German state of Hesse. It is a large plateau formation at an elevation of and is the highest peak in the Rhön Mountains. Great advances in sailplane development took place on the mountain during the interwar peri ...

, towed by a

Klemm L.25 Klemm L 25, later Klemm Kl 25 was a successful German light leisure, sports and training monoplane aircraft, developed in 1928. More than 600 aircraft were built, and manufacturing licenses were sold to the United Kingdom and the United States ...

. Delayed en route by bad weather, Walter arrived late and also damaged the aircraft on landing. Although unable to participate in the flying contest the H.I was awarded a "Construction" prize of DM600. Walter remained at the Wasserkuppe with the H.I until the Gliding school Director ordered him to leave and take the H.I with him. A telephone request to

Alexander Lippisch Alexander Martin Lippisch (November 2, 1894 – February 11, 1976) was a German aeronautical engineer, a pioneer of aerodynamics who made important contributions to the understanding of tailless aircraft, delta wings and the ground effect, and a ...

for a tug to fly the H.I back to Bonn was unsuccessful, so Walter flew the H.I for one more time, landed successfully, broke up the aircraft and burned the remains.

Horten H.Ib

The H.Ib had good handling characteristics and was flown far into the 1970s by the Club de Planeadores Otto Ballod. At the turn of the millennium, the members of the club restored their long-serving flying-wing to "better than new" condition. The H.Ib was the only Horten flying wing still airworthy, until the first flight in Germany in 2016 of the newly built H.IV.

Variants

;H.I:Single-seat tail-less research glider first flown in 1933; one built. ;H.Ib: A post-

WWII World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

low-performance derivative designed and built in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and flown, for the first time, on 2 May 1954.

Specifications (H.I)

References

External links

Another image of the H.I
{{Horten aircraft H.I Glider aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1933 1930s German sailplanes