War buffs - Here is an interesting article that seems to imply stealth was created by Hitler's scientists. It is unreal how close this plane looks like our stealth plane. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,529548,00.html
Nat Geo aired a documentary on it just the other night. They built a full scale mock up and tested it's radar reflectivity. It wasn't stealthy by today's standards but it reflected about 20% less radar energy than other aircraft of the era. Enough to make a difference in warning times. I'm no fan of the Nazis, but the Germans had/have some incredible engineers. And it was the Horton brothers idea, not Hitler's.
It wasn't really stealth but a first effort. It reduced the radar print by about 20% if memory serves . The big thing was that it was moving 600 mph so by the time the Brits figured out what it was it would have been too late. They only had one and it crashed because of an engine flame out, not faulty flight characteristics. They were building a larger transcontinental bomber version to hit the US with. They wanted it because they were certain of having an operational A bomb in 1946. The Russians also had incredible aircraft designers but Stalin hated flying and always put aircraft on the back burner, sent them to Siberia in fact until he decided he needed them and brought them back. The Allies were very lucky to win WW2, if Hitler wasn't such a fruitcake he could have pulled it off. All the German tech was far ahead of anything we ever dreamed possible.
I found it amazing because I always thought stealth was a good 'ole American invention. I'm beginning to wonder if the reason our space program stalled and has just been repeating itself since the mid '70s is because all the German scientists we had retired.
Another interesting point about the wing design , Jack Northrop had been designing and flying the wing since before the war. He had various problems with prop engines and always was short changed by the govt funding. The big aircraft mfgs wanted no part of him and had many powerful friends in Washington. When the war started he was completely abandoned. After the war the powerful forces of aircraft mfgs crushed him by forcing him out. The world view of air travel was changed by observing airplane reliability during the war. They saw what was coming in travel and wanted to cash in their mfg ability chips. It was a very small, very powerful in Washington club.