[Csocso]

Stealth and the Ho IX

The charcoal and sawdust mixture is of special note here for it essentially became the first true attempt to make an aircraft take on "stealth" like qualities intended to absorb incoming radar signals and deflate the outgoing signature. The mixture balance was purposely engineered to absorb the electromagnetic waves put out by British early warning ground-based radar systems defending the British mainland - the system responsible for the British victory over Germany in the Battle of Britain. Britain utilized a series of inter-connected radar and radio stations to detect and react to incoming flights of German bombers and fighters in a network that would become collectively known as "Chain Home". Though this attempt at stealth technology was rather infant at the time and thusly never truly tested before, the mixture was found to be quite effective in 2008 under experimentation accomplished in a documentary by Northrop Grumman and the National Geographic Channel - an amazing fact considering the age that the Ho IX was developed in. The test proved the mixture to work as advertised and the result created a reduced radar signature for a new-build Ho 229. The signature was less than that of a standard (and rather smallish) Messerschmitt BF 109 fighter. The Ho 229 was further helped by the small forward and shallow side profiles made up only by the cockpit and engine bulges, the rest being nothing more than wing surface area.