HITLER’S STEALTH FIGHTER

Sunday, June 28 at 9PM ET/PT

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/hitler-s-stealth-fighter-3942/Overview

For more than half a century, little was known about this mysterious aircraft, called the Horten 229. Now, with an elite team of Northrop Grumman aeronautical engineers, National Geographic Channel (NGC) works from the original plans and prototype to reconstruct a full-scale replica of the jet to determine if it had stealth capabilities. If proven, it would confirm that Hitler was on the verge of introducing a stealth jet fighter into the battle with Allies, long before the United States began developing stealth technology in the 1970s. The implications could have been monumental, especially in light of the Nazis’ parallel progress in developing atomic capabilities.

On NGCs program website for Hitler’s Stealth Fighter, you will find:

* A complete Photo Gallery with downloadable wallpapers
* A timeline with History of Stealth Planes
* A Fact Sheet about the Horten 229

Video: Archival scenes of Adolf Hitler and stealth fighter airplanes from World War II

Video: See rare archival footage of Northrop Grumman's test flights of their early flying wing prototype:

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NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL’S HITLER’S STEALTH FIGHTER REVEALS NAZI GERMANY’S TOP-SECRET DEVELOPMENT OF RADAR-EVADING TECHNOLOGY

Top-Secret Nazi Aircraft Reconstructed to Determine if Hitler’s Military Had Stealth Capabilities Three Decades Before the United States

“I think if they [Germany] would have had two or three more years, we’d all be speaking German right now.” — Marv Maruska, Northrop Grumman


Hitler’s Stealth Fighter premieres Sunday, June 28, 2009, at 9 p.m. ET/PT

(WASHINGTON, D.C. — JUNE 1, 2009) In the final months of World War II, American troops discovered a top-secret facility in Germany with an advanced, jet-propelled aircraft like none seen before. Shaped like a massive bat wing with smooth contours and made almost entirely from wood, the flying machine looked as if it were from another world. Decades ahead of its time, the futuristic fighter jet was brought back to the United States to be studied. Was the plane’s strange shape designed to deflect Allied radar? If Nazi engineers had more time, would this jet have ultimately changed the outcome of the war? These questions remained a mystery for more than 60 years while a German prototype was hidden in a U.S. government warehouse … until now.

Premiering June 28, 2009, at 9 p.m. ET/PT, Hitler’s Stealth Fighter reveals one of the Third Reich’s best-kept secrets. For more than half a century, little was known about this mysterious aircraft, called the Horten 2-29. Now, with an elite team of Northrop Grumman aeronautical engineers, National Geographic Channel (NGC) works from the original plans and prototype to reconstruct a full-scale replica of the jet to determine if it had stealth capabilities. If proven, it would confirm that Hitler was on the verge of introducing a stealth jet fighter into the battle with Allies, long before the United States began developing stealth technology in the 1970s. The implications could have been monumental, especially in light of the Nazis’ parallel progress in developing atomic capabilities.

Woven together with archival footage, dramatic re-enactments and interviews from experts like David Myhra — who extensively interviewed the plane’s creators, Walter and Reimar Horten — the special travels between Nazi Germany and today’s space-age testing and reconstruction efforts. It was the Allies’ development of early warning radar that helped blunt Hitler’s attempts to subdue England from the air and weaken his stranglehold on mainland Europe. The Horten brothers’ design offered promise and a potential opportunity to turn the tides. Before the 2-29’s first test flight, Hitler doubled the order and commissioned an even more advanced long-range version of the plane, capable of reaching U.S. soil. Myhra’s detailed accounts illustrate the significance of the design. He says, “The Horten 2-29 was generations ahead of any other aircraft developed in the world at the time and had to be the most exotic piece of machinery in Germany at that time.”

In Hitler’s Stealth Fighter, we’ll get a rare glimpse of the only remaining Horten 2-29, housed outside of Washington, D.C. There our team of experts used modern technology to study what could be stealth characteristics, testing its electromagnetic properties and physical features. Then, back at a Northrop Grumman facility near Los Angeles, they’ll put this research to work, using a combination of WWII-era materials and modern technology to construct the full-scale model using historical specifications. While it won’t be designed to fly like the original, Northrop Grumman engineers will be able to test its radar-evading capabilities and ultimately determine if Nazi Germany succeeded in creating the world’s first stealth aircraft.

For three months, NGC cameras follow the Northrop Grumman team, documenting the meticulous construction of the 2-29 replica. To stay faithful to the original aircraft, they will use time-tested materials and techniques to form it, but its complex shape presents challenges, even with today’s technical advances. Once the model is complete, we head to a restricted area in the Mojave Desert where cameras have never before been allowed. At the Northrop Grumman test range, the replica is mounted five stories off the ground so radar can be aimed at it from every angle. Using radar detection technology and simulated aerial attacks, we finally unlock the mystery of Hitler’s Stealth Fighter after decades of debate.

Northrop Grumman is donating the full-scale replica to the San Diego Air & Space Museum, where it will be unveiled as part of the World War II Gallery in late June, 2009.

For more information on Hitler’s Stealth Fighter, visit http://www.blogger.com/www.natgeotv.com/stealth.

Hitler’s Stealth Fighter is produced for the National Geographic Channel by Flying Wing Films. For Flying Wing Films, executive producers are Michael Jorgensen and Carrie Gour. Writer/director is Michael Jorgensen. For the National Geographic Channel, executive producer is Michael Welsh, senior vice president of production is Michael Cascio and executive vice president of content is Steve Burns.

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About the San Diego Air & Space Museum

The San Diego Air & Space Museum is California’s official air and space museum and education center. The museum is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, and it was the first aero-themed museum to be accredited by the American Association of Museums. Currently on display: THE DA VINCI EXPERIENCE, a special exhibition featuring remarkable reproductions of Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous artwork and interactive replicas of his mechanical devices created more than 500 years ago. Visit http://www.blogger.com/www.sandiegoairandspace.org for more information. The museum is located at 2001 Pan American Plaza, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA 92101. The museum and gift store are open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with admissions until 5:00 p.m. Closed Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

About Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a leading global security company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems, shipbuilding and technical services to government and commercial customers worldwide.

National Geographic Channel

Based at the National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C., the National Geographic Channel (NGC) is a joint venture between National Geographic Ventures (NGV) and Fox Cable Networks (FCN). Since launching in January 2001, NGC initially earned some of the fastest distribution growth in the history of cable and more recently the fastest ratings growth in television. The network celebrated its fifth anniversary January 2006 with the launch of NGC HD which provides the spectacular imagery that National Geographic is known for in stunning high-definition. NGC has carriage with all of the nation's major cable and satellite television providers, making it currently available in nearly 70 million homes. For more information, please visit http://www.blogger.com/www.natgeotv.com.

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Updated 0200z 24-JUN-09 - Related posts from other blogs :

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