Editing Horten Ho 229 (section)

===Radar cross section and shape===
[[File:Horton 229 V3 - Radar-testing Ho IX V3 reproduction at the San Diego Air and Space Museum (9668114493).jpg|thumb|Radar-testing H.IX V3 reproduction at the San Diego Air and Space Museum]]

A jet-powered flying wing such as the Horten Ho 229 might have a smaller [[radar cross-section]] (RCS) than conventional contemporary twin-engine aircraft because the wings are blended into the fuselage and there are no large propeller disks or vertical and horizontal tail surfaces to provide a typical identifiable radar signature,<ref name="Myhra p. 11">Myhra 2009, p. 11.</ref><ref name = "ng"/> however the front and rear faces of the exposed jet engines do provide a similar degree of reflectivity to propellers.

In early 2008, Northrop Grumman paired television documentary producer [[Michael Jorgensen]] and the [[National Geographic Channel]] to make a documentary to determine whether the Ho 229 was the first "[[Stealth aircraft|stealth]]" aircraft.<ref name="Myhra p. 11"/> Northrop Grumman built a full-size non-flying reproduction of the V3, primarily made of wood, unlike the original aircraft, which had an extensive steel [[Space frame#Aircraft|space-frame]] to which the wooden skin was bolted. After an expenditure of about US$250,000 and 2,500 man-hours, Northrop's Ho 229 reproduction was tested at the company's Radar Cross Section test range at [[Tejon, California]], US where it was placed on a {{cvt|15|m}} pole and exposed to electromagnetic energy sources from various angles from {{cvt|100|m}}, using three [[High frequency|HF]]/[[Very high frequency|VHF]] frequencies in the 20–50&nbsp;MHz range.<ref name="Myhra p. 11"/>

Radar simulations showed a hypothetical Ho 229, with the radar characteristics of the mockup, which had neither metal frame nor the highly reflective engines, approaching the English coast from France flying at {{cvt|885|km/h}} at {{cvt|15|–|30|m}} above the water would still have been visible to an old and by then already retired model of the [[Chain Home]] radar at a distance of 80% that of a [[Messerschmitt Bf 109|Bf 109]], while all other systems showed no significant change.<ref>National Geographic HD : Stealth Fighter - Hitler's Secret Weapons Recreated| Around 40 minutes in</ref>