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Horten Parabola Type Experimental glider Accommodation One Propulsion None Max speed O1mph (163km/h) Landing speed 8mph (29km/h) Stall speed 8mph (29km/h) Wingspan 39ft (1.9m) Empty weight 98 Ib (90kg) Max weight 374 lb (170kg) Construction Steel tubing and wood Notes Built at Aegidienberg near Koblenz in 1938, this very light sailplane was never flown, having been badly damaged during storage. It was not considered repairable and the Parabola was finally set on fire and completely destroyed. Horten Parabola Experimental glider One Propulsion None 101mph (163krm/h) Max speed 18mph (29kmm/h) Landing speed 18mph (29km/h) Stall speed 39ft (11.9m) 198Ib (90kg) Empty weight 374 |b (170kg) Max weight Construction Steel tubing and wood Notes Built at Aegidienberg near Koblenz in 1938, this very light sailplane was never flown, having been badly damaged during storage. It was not considered repairable and the Parabola was finally set on fire and completely destroyed. The wing shape is particularly unusual, At the close of hostilities both brothers with a very thin leading edge increasing in were recruited by the British and trans- width to a thicker section towards the trailing — ported to London on 9th May 1945, where edge that contained boundary layer extrac- _ they were extensively debriefed. The Horten tion vents. This might be an attempt to brothers were considered by the British to improve stability at lower speeds, as this be argumentative, slightly eccentric and dif- unusual wing design would present many _ ficult to get along with. Reimar was sent to aerodynamic problems. Nothing more is work at Fairey Aviation in England but, known about this alleged Horten design and according to one report, the company’s it could be a post-war concept, perhaps even design staff would not associate with any an attempt by Reimar Horten to show the type Germans and the situation became very of experimental aircraft that might have been __ tense. Official records show that the Horten responsible for the Kenneth Amold UFO _ brothers were then returned to Gottingen sighting on 24th June 1947. Coincidentally, and, while Walter looked for employment, the Soviet aircraft designer Boris Ivanovich Reimar gained a doctorate in mathematics Chyeranovskii designed and built a series of at the University of Bonn. (Walter appar- small parabola-shaped aircraft between the ently, continued to receive money from wars (see Chapter Five) and, conceivably, the __ British Intelligence, a situation that has never Hortens were aware of his work and this been acceptably explained.) inspired their Parabola design. In early 1947 Walter married Fraulein von der Groeben, who had been secretary to Gen- eral Udet. Walter Horten then approached American flying wing guru Jack Northrop seeking employment with his company. Northrop was very keen to have both brothers on his staff and suggested to Walter that he should contact the USAFE in Wiesbaden to make arrangements for service in America under Operation Paperclip. But nothing came of this and it seems that the Americans were not interested in securing the services of these two brilliant aeronautical designers, despite the fact that large USAAF teams and many contractors were engaged in analysing the Hortens’ research work. Paradoxically there is a declassified USAF document, dated 30th October 1947, from General George Schulgen (who headed the Intelligence Requirements Office) that dis- 52 Secret Projects: Flying Saucer Aircraft