Walter Horten and Reimar Horten, sometimes credited as the Horten Brothers, were German aircraft pilots. Walter was a fighter pilot on the Western Front, flying a Bf 109 for Jagdgeschwader 26 in the first six months of World War II; he eventually became the unit's technical officer. Reimar was also trained as a Messerschmitt Bf 109 pilot; however, later in August 1940, he was transferred to the glider pilot school in Braunschweig. He earned his PhD in mathematics from the University of Göttingen, having resumed his studies in 1946 with help from Ludwig Prandtl. The Hortens designed the world's first jet-powered flying wing, the Horten Ho 229.
The Horten brothers: Walter (left) and Reimar (right)
Horten Ho IV flying wing sailplane recumbent glider at the Deutsches Museum
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, blisters, booms, or vertical stabilizers.
The Northrop B-2 Spirit stealth bomber
A Northrop N-1M on display at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
The Northrop YB-35 bomber prototype began its development during World War II.
The Northrop YB-49 was the YB-35 bomber converted to jet power.
