Really showed you why the Nazis were screwed in the long run, they had immediate concerns and Hitler's bright idea was building a Ultra long-range aircraft, not for trade interference or anything, but to try and bomb American soil.
Fascinating video. I have always wanted to know more about the JU-390. The Germans really did have some interesting prototype aircraft in WW2. Thanks for the awesome videos. You’re seriously a hidden gem on RUclips
You really do find hidden gems of history, & I'd love to share them, BUT... I've been telling my friends and family on Facebook to *never* like and share anything that says to like and share it because, quite often, it is clickbait and/or like farming (with dangerous viruses or scams attached). These videos aren't either of those, but to keep my policy clear on my page I cannot share this since you tag the end of the video with "please share." If you just did not say that I'd gladly share these!
Dear Dr Mark Felton. I doubt we will ever have the answer to this. The chief test pilot (Versuchflieger) of the Ju 390, Hans Pancherz, worked for my father in Sweden after the war. I recall that he made test flights from Germany with the Ju 390 to central Africa and back, non stop. Flugkapitän Pancherz was at towards the end of 1944 transferred to be in charge of the development off all jet and rocket aircrafts. He sorted out the He 162. I grew up with him. I have some recollection of that the Ju 390 (or maybe the Ju 290, I have not done a range check on that) was used to fly in precious metals for alloys from South America. Hans Pancherz is unfortunately gone since many years. I did however pursuade him to make a presentation of the Ju 248 (that could have made Chuck Yeager not to be in record books, but that is another story) when I was chairman of the Malmö section of the Swedish Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Hans Pancherz was the only one that flew the Ju 248.
Yes. My father was the founder of Malmö Flygindustri, MFI. I had a fantastic growing up in this environment with, to mention a few, Björn Andréasson, Hans Pancherz, Ernst-August Wohlberg, Ove Dahlén and Count Carl Gustaf von Rosen. The latter with operations using MFI aircrafts in Biafra and Ethiopia.
even if the built these it's doubtful they would have returned for a simple reason, the huge distance for the trip back would give vengeful allied fighters plenty of time to intercept them. it would have been a suicide mission.
I regard the first claim about swanning around over New York in broad daylight for an hour as ridiculous. If surely spotted, all that would do is alert the Americans that the Germans have a long-range bomber capable of reaching New York. The second account of approaching within 12 miles and taking happy snaps of Long Island sounds like the real deal. This account is backed up by multiple sources and Speer was very notable for giving accurate info to the Allies post war.
The Ju 290 and Ju 390 lacked bomb bays. The bomber versions were to get ventral packs like the Fw 200 Condor. They did have rear "Hercules" style ramps and I suppose you could have rolled munitions out of the back. Maybe sea mines.
Thanks, RUclips, for providing an irrelevant piece from Encyclopedia Britannica about 9/11 right under the video. Apparently its a US-only feature right now, but I can tell it needs some work...
One of the most incredibly fascinating videos you made, so far! Note the accompanying, great havoc music! (I've read about monster A4-V2, ICBM, type missiles, the Nazis were working on, to target New York, and Pittsburgh). Your in depth WW2 studies, are great! Thanks for Sharing!
With the rewriting of history the NAZI's now did 9/11, JFK assassination and the Sinking of the USS Maine. Rumor has it NAZI's also fired on Ft Sumter.
The Germans knew that aircraft carrying perhaps 4,000 to 6,000 pounds of conventional bombs could never mount more than nuisance raids against the US. The real plan was that atomic bombs would have been ready at the same time the Amerika bombers were proven and flying. As we saw with Japan, even a couple atomic bombs dropped on major American cities would have had a devastating effect. The bravery of several small teams of Norwegian commandos and resistance fighters, conducting enough sabotage attacks on the Vemork hydro/heavy water plant, made production grind to a halt by mid-1943. Attempts to transport the surviving heavy water supplies to Germany ended when another team of Norwegian commandos and fighters sank the ferry being used to transport the barrels of heavy water in February, 1944 in the deepest part of Lake Tinn. This put paid to German plans of constructing an atomic bomb, and removed any strategic reason for an Amerika bomber.
That sounds plausible, except for the fact the Nazi’s never really took the idea of nuclear weapons very seriously. They never really thought atomic bombs were viable, and they therefore never put much real effort into creating them. Plus many of their top nuclear physicists were Jewish and they either fled from Germany or were purged by the Nazis early on. Germany never even came close to creating an atomic bomb during the war.
The German uranium project was halted in February 1942, the ~58 people working on the project were assigned to other duties. The German decision to end the program was largely based on the long-time needed before there were any results, the war had more immediate concerns, the Allies didn't learn of this decision until long after the war ended.
The Nazis never pursued atomic bomb technology. Atomic science was "Jewish Science" (many nuclear physicists were Jewish, such as Einstein) and the Nazis weren't having any of it.
@@davidnull5590 Thanks for pointing me towards an inconsistency in my knowledge. I learned what the OP said. But I also know the fact you mention. That again counteracts with what one of the Horten brothers told after the war that Göring wanted them to develop a long range bomber, for an atomic bomb to be ready in 1946.
It’s amazing what they were building. But such a project would be ultimately self-defeating without an atomic bomb due to cost v the minimal damage done at that extreme range.
Mark Felton Your channel is superb. Once again you produce a very interesting and educational video in a professional way. Thanks very much and PLEASE keep them coming !!
One of the best RUclips channels for World War Two history and odd facts. Always interesting, sometimes with detail even long time students of the era find new. Thanks!
Great channel, great content. One small correction: the Portuguese dictator Salazar was not a General. He graduated in law with distinction, specializing in finance and economic policy.
The idea was futile. Yes,like the Doolittle Raid, the US would have been forced to increase anti-aircraft defenses along the east coast and hold fighter reserves for combat air patrols but by 1944 we had more than enough Fighters and older types such as the P-40 and the Grumman F4F no longer in front line combat would have been more than sufficient to take down one unescorted slow bomber. I also have to doubt the claims of several flights to New York, finding it impossible that no land or ship based radar would have failed to detect such a huge aircraft in 1944.
Its entirely possible that even a large aircraft could have gone unnoticed. The radar at the time was far more primative, there was no computer filtering and interpretation and there was no transponder system, someone would have to be actively looking and expecting to see a return and there were lots of AC flying around the Eastern seaboard. But yeah, I doubt the ever did. For one thing I don't think they would have passed up the opportunity to conduct an actual airstrike and bomb something, anything, just to kick over the anthill, like the Japanese Pearl Harbor attack freaked the West Coast US out and led to a lot of wasted effort and even some self-inflicted casualties.
If a single large plane was detected off New York in 1944 and didn't attack anything that the plane would most likely be thought to be American, after all who would have thought that anything else was possible?
Another great Video! Just one small note: Salazar was not a general (he never served on the military). He was a civilian, studied at a catholic seminary, considered becoming a priest but ended up with a law degree (19 out of 20) and later on a doctorate also on law.
Finally a video talking about this amazing airplane thank you good sir from my understanding I thought there was three although my information probably is flawed however what can be said about this plane is that it most definitely did exist and it definitely did have the capacity to fly to New York and back although I wish I could see it more in games like il2 1946
In the area in Los Angeles known as Griffith Park, on the side closest to the city of Burbank, there is a place called Travel Town. Travel Town is a mostly open air transportation museum. They have quite a few old trains, both locomotives and passenger cars. There is a warehouse that is part of the museum, and within it there is an airplane engine on display. It's huge, and has a description on it that it is one of the engines for the plane that Hitler had designed to bomb New York City...
Before I even start watching this doc, I tell you all just one thing: there was a series of books published in Poland under a "Tiger" logo, and one of them, titled "Bombs on New York" was published in early 60's...
Thank you for your awesome channel! I enjoy the videos. I love in Massachusetts and didn’t know the Germans shelled Orleans on the Cape during the First World War. Mark, any more content about the US being attacked on our soil by a foreign enemy? Thank you!
WWII Germany, the Wile. E. Coyote of (failed) wild and creative inventions. Excepting of course those ones that allowed them to resist a World War on their own for five years straight, that is.
Very interesting. Some years back my brother bought me a book titled "Luftwaffe over America" which dealt with this but I don't remember reading that they actually made it over there.Great video,keep up the good work 👍
Yet another great "what if" aircraft of the war. But even if it had the legs to cross the Atlantic and fly back to France, I cannot see how it would not get shot to pieces somewhere over the sea. Think of the mighty Mosquitos of the RAF Coastal Command for example, they would so easily intercept this thing, especially as late in the war as late 1943/early 1944.
Did the US have fighters flying standing patrols, or radar operators looking out for incoming aircraft around the mainland? (Not an aspect of the war related to the US that I'm familiar with.) If not, it's entirely possible that one of these bombers could have mounted a raid, but only once. Any raids after that wouldn't have gotten close, as you say. It would have been a very short-lived propaganda coup for Germany, would have rattled and angered US citizens, but have been of no material consequence to the war. Somewhat like a reverse Doolittle Raid. A super-long range V2 would be the only feasible way for Germany to attack the US. If the war had dragged on for a year or two more, who knows?
So they called it the V1 & V2 planes? My dad remembered the V1 rockets buzzing sound in 1944-45 England and he always said the scary part was when it stopped because then you knew it was heading to the ground to blow up.
Thank you for another interesting video. Just one small detail: Salazar was an University Economics Professor, not a General. In fact, he was a civilian his whole life and never wore an uniform.
Another excellent video. Thank you. I had thought the bombing of NYC was to have been carried out by Horton gas turbine (jet) powered flying wings. Am I misinformed? Also, I have somewhere in the back of my mind that Germany had developed a fleet of strategic bombers. The centerpiece of that fleet was a bomber known as the "Ural Bomber." At some point in time, Corporal Hitler scrapped strategic bombers and directed German industry to focus on tactical bomber to accompany ground troops. I apologize for being vague on this topic. I would very much like you to do a video on the topic of Hitler's strategic bombers and why he decided not to employ them.
Yes you are correct. The Hortons had an order (or intent to order from Goering) and started construction of the Ho XVIIIB. Jet engines do not loose efficiency at high altitude unlike piston engines which loose efficiency due to the effort of compression of the air. By flying high enough in thin air all the parasitic drag disappears and there is only the induced drag that comes from producing useful lift. Hence by flying high you can get excellent range in a jet even with the inefficient engines of the day. The Ho XVIIIB had a very large wing area to fly high and was to have in flight refuelling. In 1942 the Germans had conducted successful in flight refuelling between Ju 252 a Ju 290 using a drogue type method. They had Schwann See and Schwann Luft buoys to organise the rendezvous.
It would have been good if more information could have been added as to what kind of ordnance the Germans planned to use. I read somewhere that they were planning to use mostly incendiary rather than or alongside HE as the latter alone would only have caused mainly 'nuisance' (i.e. small scale) damage. HE + Incendiary could have been catastrophic, if dropped in the right (or wrong) place in NYC as this combination was highly effective when employed by the Luftwaffe on the East End of London, etc. The Allies also used this same exact mix on most of the major German cities, with devastating consequences (you reap what you sow...).
I have watched before I reckon, but the moment the starting music came on you earned a like: I was about to receive a short, sharp smwack of history, and I approve.
Interesting video. Not sure why the Germans didn't consider aerial refueling. As far back as the 1920s, an aircraft flew non-stop from Britain to India using aerial refueling. It's a good thing they didn't.
Aerial refueling would have been a dicey venture back then, given the crudeness of navigation to meet up with the refueling aircraft; where a slight weather disturbance could send the aircrafts off-course and miss each other . . . where out in the expanse of the Atlantic ocean, there are no reference points for navigation. In addition, the weather over the North Atlantic is not exactly what I'd call "friendly skies" which lacks for clear and unobstructed views at heights lower than 20 thousand feet.
Correct me if I'm wrong but there was also a rocket/jet. Bomber in the works also called the amerika bomber however it was to fly at even higher altitudes made by sanger
This was a great video. The fact that so many various, and at least potentially, reliable sources for the flights all agree there was something... though details differ... makes me lean towards the idea there was indeed some long range cross Atlantic flights conducted in secrecy. This just highlights just how bad things were though, that they were essentially still in 'Testing' for their first real multi engine heavy bomber that they seemed to be taking seriously in 1944. I think it was politics from some of the things I have read, that lead to this scenario... that is... that kind of plane, coming so late. The only true heavy bomber the Nazi regime had was, if I recall correctly, the Ju 144... and it's own pilots called it a Germanlighter... or just a Zippo or Ronson, after the cigarette lighters, because it's twin engine configuration meant it they needed to be 2000+ HP MB engines to power the thing, and a lot of engine in a tight housing meant a lot of heat... which in this engine meant they caught on fire with regularity. I think it was the whole dismissal of the idea of large multi engine strategic bombers in favour of more combat versatile dive/glide bombing which that created the political ease with which strategic bombers were dismissed, but I think them ultimately being so highlights a flaw with the Regime and it's system, that's core to their losing, even before material and men and bad strategy...simply put, it needed to protect itself, it's singular dominance as the sole rule of a nation, in way that meant they at times essentially shot their own foot, in suppressing smaller ones stepping by. I think ... Ernst Hienkel? ...was taken with talk from some sectors on the idea of a German plane which was of a design like the Sterling or some such... even before the War... and began early research in to such....well.... just like his coming to lead the Jet Fighter race, and having a prototype ready by the earliest phase of the War.... when he became marginalised and kept on both a short leash and long arm... it meant that the Regime had to also cast a shadow on, and turn away from anything associated with he and his people. I wonder if this also then meant that other designers and other planners in the party, were less vocal about the idea. I have to assume it did. This seems to be a reoccurring theme in many instances in the history of the Nazi regime, in this instance, it comes back to the topic of this video, because one does have to wonder if the Nazi's might not have actually managed to get this project running, and a significant number of planes built... had they embraced a different philosophy earlier, and not allowed, at least in part, paranoia, and politics, the securing of the regime from anything or anyone that seemed a threat...to get in the way. I mean I know they had limited capabilities, and it was always going to be a choice of what to pursue, but I think something beyond this is needed to explain why they never tried to match the B17 of Lancaster et al even really AT ALL until they decided on the Amerika Bomber programe... well in to the War. Seems kinda crazy when I look it that way. So little so late.
Its worth noting that there was no German "Amerika Bomber" project until US hostilities started. What work had been done was by Willy Messerschmitt privately and it was as a maritime patrol aircraft, transport and mail aircraft with a very minor potential for bombing and minimal armament. It was more a blockade runner. The US however did initiate hostile development of the B-36 before the commencement of hostilities.
I think NY, NY is just lucky the Germans were worried about "round trip" range. If they had sent masses of bombers already in production with no intention of returning home, (not necessarily kamikaze, possibly the flight crew could bail out and carry mp40s to try & create as much havoc & chaos as possible before taking their cyanide pill) they could have carried extra fuel and fewer bombs and made it...the death toll would have been devastating.
a interesting story to be sure, I wonder if they ever considered a more or less one way mission where New York would be bombed in the same way the 1942 Doolittle mission to Japan had worked but in this case the bomber or bombers would turn back but plan to ditch in the Atlantic and be picked up by a U-Boat and returned to base, if the ditching location had been planned far outside of the shipping lanes where there was no allied patrols this could have worked and used in service Luftwaffe planes such as the HE-177 with drop tanks. The concept of the planes not being required to return but the flight crew could would give you more options to fly this mission .
Great vid as always Mr Felton. Even if Nazi Germany had managed to build all the requested bombers their mission(s) would have been nearly impossible to achieve because of the lack of escort fighters. I believe they would have been shot down by aircraft from La Guardia which at the time was a joint civil/military airport or Suffolk and Stuart AAF bases. Also by 1944 the Navy would have had escort carriers close to possible flight paths taking into account that the existence of such aircraft would have been known to the allies through their extensive intelligence gathering networks in Europe.
What I find fascinating in these videos is that the Germans persevered with their experiments and technology development well into the late 1944 and early 1945. They must've known all was lost by then, with the Soviets and the Allies advancing through Germany, but they still carried on.
Although yes, that is funny, if true, the crew were testing their plane and scouting. It's a normal mission. Even trips to the Moon began with a mission that orbited but did not land...
There was also a "plywood flying jet engine stealth bomber" under construction in northern Germany the HO 229 at the end of the war. The prototype was sent to America and a reconstruction was built and flown recently. It worked but to little to late!
This is an awful lot of effort to make what would have amounted to a Doolittle type raid. Yes it would have caused the US to mount defenses up and down the coast but we had more than enough resources to do that, it could even have been linked with U boat patrols etc and used as training flights for new fighter pilots. A much better use would have been developing it into the Ural bomber needed to attack the Soviet Union or attack London at night with a larger bomb load.
What to do as an aircraft builder in Germany circa 1943? It is already clear to you that you lack the resources to build the planes you need. But you have to keep busy or you will find yourself on the Eastern front. So you dream up all kinds of sandcastles in the sky, build a few prototypes and pretend everything is going according to plan.
![OhGeesy x Lefty Gunplay - What It Iz [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/L0yzW9t2ixk/mqdefault.jpg)
I like how he casually mentioned that germans *shelled* an American town like it was common knowledge 😂
“Sir the soviets are advancing in the east and the allies up Italy, we need orders”
“NeW yOrK mUsT dIe”
Really showed you why the Nazis were screwed in the long run, they had immediate concerns and Hitler's bright idea was building a Ultra long-range aircraft, not for trade interference or anything, but to try and bomb American soil.
Fascinating video. I have always wanted to know more about the JU-390. The Germans really did have some interesting prototype aircraft in WW2.
Thanks for the awesome videos. You’re seriously a hidden gem on RUclips
Lets hope not hidden too much longer! Thanks for watching
Yes an outstanding ww II film maker!!
They probably could have and should have diverted resources to other projects.
You really do find hidden gems of history, & I'd love to share them, BUT... I've been telling my friends and family on Facebook to *never* like and share anything that says to like and share it because, quite often, it is clickbait and/or like farming (with dangerous viruses or scams attached). These videos aren't either of those, but to keep my policy clear on my page I cannot share this since you tag the end of the video with "please share." If you just did not say that I'd gladly share these!
Dear Dr Mark Felton. I doubt we will ever have the answer to this. The chief test pilot (Versuchflieger) of the Ju 390, Hans Pancherz, worked for my father in Sweden after the war. I recall that he made test flights from Germany with the Ju 390 to central Africa and back, non stop. Flugkapitän Pancherz was at towards the end of 1944 transferred to be in charge of the development off all jet and rocket aircrafts. He sorted out the He 162. I grew up with him. I have some recollection of that the Ju 390 (or maybe the Ju 290, I have not done a range check on that) was used to fly in precious metals for alloys from South America. Hans Pancherz is unfortunately gone since many years. I did however pursuade him to make a presentation of the Ju 248 (that could have made Chuck Yeager not to be in record books, but that is another story) when I was chairman of the Malmö section of the Swedish Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Hans Pancherz was the only one that flew the Ju 248.
Very interesting!
Yes. My father was the founder of Malmö Flygindustri, MFI. I had a fantastic growing up in this environment with, to mention a few, Björn Andréasson, Hans Pancherz, Ernst-August Wohlberg, Ove Dahlén and Count Carl Gustaf von Rosen. The latter with operations using MFI aircrafts in Biafra and Ethiopia.
Thank you for the story
even if the built these it's doubtful they would have returned for a simple reason, the huge distance for the trip back would give vengeful allied fighters plenty of time to intercept them. it would have been a suicide mission.
@@JeanLucCaptain Because Allied fighters had incredible range.....haha
German plan to attack New York
Wikipedia: Did you say attack and New York in the same sentence? (͠≖ ͜ʖ͠≖)
Anyone else having the 9/11 wiki page linked at the bottom of the video?
Yeah I was confused about that too. Maybe youtube algo's associated anything stating 'attack on nyc' with 9-11
codmohgwbf yep haha
Yes, irritating as it has nothing to do with the specific topic and content of the video.
Yes it's irritating I'm getting tired of RUclips's ads
Yeah, what the hell? Did the Nazis plan 9/11?
I regard the first claim about swanning around over New York in broad daylight for an hour as ridiculous. If surely spotted, all that would do is alert the Americans that the Germans have a long-range bomber capable of reaching New York. The second account of approaching within 12 miles and taking happy snaps of Long Island sounds like the real deal. This account is backed up by multiple sources and Speer was very notable for giving accurate info to the Allies post war.
Plus Speer was in a position to know about the program and any test flights.
At 12,000' I doubt if anyone would have noticed it. Groundlings notoriously keep their eyes on the ground five yards ahead.
The Ju 290 and Ju 390 lacked bomb bays. The bomber versions were to get ventral packs like the Fw 200 Condor. They did have rear "Hercules" style ramps and I suppose you could have rolled munitions out of the back. Maybe sea mines.
Thanks, RUclips, for providing an irrelevant piece from Encyclopedia Britannica about 9/11 right under the video.
Apparently its a US-only feature right now, but I can tell it needs some work...
Pumba70
German plan to attack New York
Wikipedia: Did you say attack and New York in the same sentence? (͠≖ ͜ʖ͠≖)
I, for one, celebrate the fact that they are trying to educated people about controversial issues (just in case)
so, as panzers are running out of fuel,,
the germans want to try this?
makes a strategist wonder.
This plane really could've hurt the Soviets.
All of the time, money and energy the Germans wasted during the war, is amazing.
damn..that opening theme song is stuck in my head
These were badly needed over russia,who moved factories and troops back 100s of miles..Well out of range of medium range bombers!
Please tell us more about the shelling of Orleans MA, that seems like something right up your alley!
One of the most incredibly fascinating videos you made, so far!
Note the accompanying, great havoc music!
(I've read about monster A4-V2, ICBM, type missiles, the Nazis were working on, to target New York, and Pittsburgh).
Your in depth WW2 studies, are great!
Thanks for Sharing!
Why is RUclips saying this video is connected to 911?
With the rewriting of history the NAZI's now did 9/11, JFK assassination and the Sinking of the USS Maine. Rumor has it NAZI's also fired on Ft Sumter.
Cause they were gonna fly them into the world trade 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
@@jamessills5802 That was israHELL.
The Germans knew that aircraft carrying perhaps 4,000 to 6,000 pounds of conventional bombs could never mount more than nuisance raids against the US. The real plan was that atomic bombs would have been ready at the same time the Amerika bombers were proven and flying. As we saw with Japan, even a couple atomic bombs dropped on major American cities would have had a devastating effect. The bravery of several small teams of Norwegian commandos and resistance fighters, conducting enough sabotage attacks on the Vemork hydro/heavy water plant, made production grind to a halt by mid-1943. Attempts to transport the surviving heavy water supplies to Germany ended when another team of Norwegian commandos and fighters sank the ferry being used to transport the barrels of heavy water in February, 1944 in the deepest part of Lake Tinn. This put paid to German plans of constructing an atomic bomb, and removed any strategic reason for an Amerika bomber.
That sounds plausible, except for the fact the Nazi’s never really took the idea of nuclear weapons very seriously. They never really thought atomic bombs were viable, and they therefore never put much real effort into creating them. Plus many of their top nuclear physicists were Jewish and they either fled from Germany or were purged by the Nazis early on. Germany never even came close to creating an atomic bomb during the war.
The German uranium project was halted in February 1942, the ~58 people working on the project were assigned to other duties. The German decision to end the program was largely based on the long-time needed before there were any results, the war had more immediate concerns, the Allies didn't learn of this decision until long after the war ended.
The Nazis never pursued atomic bomb technology. Atomic science was "Jewish Science" (many nuclear physicists were Jewish, such as Einstein) and the Nazis weren't having any of it.
That is what I learned too.
@@davidnull5590 Thanks for pointing me towards an inconsistency in my knowledge. I learned what the OP said. But I also know the fact you mention. That again counteracts with what one of the Horten brothers told after the war that Göring wanted them to develop a long range bomber, for an atomic bomb to be ready in 1946.
Never heard of this before - thank you Mark Felton Productions !
It’s amazing what they were building. But such a project would be ultimately self-defeating without an atomic bomb due to cost v the minimal damage done at that extreme range.
Great video Mark as always, just a suggestion for future videos, maybe one on the Italian transcontinental Rome-Tokyo flight in 1942?
António Salazar, was not a general, not even was in the military
He was a dictator, he could've given himself whatever rank he wanted.
Mark Felton
Your channel is superb. Once again you produce a very interesting and educational video in a professional way. Thanks very much and PLEASE keep them coming !!
A great many thanks - I shall certainly keep pumping out the videos!
Yet another amazing story! Thanks.
Yes of course
amazing work Mr Felton! thank you for all your hard work.
Thank you for watching and supporting my channel
One of the best RUclips channels for World War Two history and odd facts. Always interesting, sometimes with detail even long time students of the era find new. Thanks!
Very interesting. The Amerika Bomber concept has fascinated me for some time - not sure why. Thank you for this.
Great work man! Just started watching your content and love it already!
Glad to welcome you aboard!
At 30000 feet.
HANS THE TRANSMISSION IS BROKEN
The plane goes down
I swear I had it under control!
Great channel, great content. One small correction: the Portuguese dictator Salazar was not a General. He graduated in law with distinction, specializing in finance and economic policy.
“We are losing objective New York”
The idea was futile. Yes,like the Doolittle Raid, the US would have been forced to increase anti-aircraft defenses along the east coast and hold fighter reserves for combat air patrols but by 1944 we had more than enough Fighters and older types such as the P-40 and the Grumman F4F no longer in front line combat would have been more than sufficient to take down one unescorted slow bomber. I also have to doubt the claims of several flights to New York, finding it impossible that no land or ship based radar would have failed to detect such a huge aircraft in 1944.
I'd guess the original plan for these aircraft was not to drop conventional bombs...
@@carlalm6100 The damage caused by conventional bombs wouldn't be enough anyway, apart from a pure symbolical value.
Its entirely possible that even a large aircraft could have gone unnoticed. The radar at the time was far more primative, there was no computer filtering and interpretation and there was no transponder system, someone would have to be actively looking and expecting to see a return and there were lots of AC flying around the Eastern seaboard.
But yeah, I doubt the ever did. For one thing I don't think they would have passed up the opportunity to conduct an actual airstrike and bomb something, anything, just to kick over the anthill, like the Japanese Pearl Harbor attack freaked the West Coast US out and led to a lot of wasted effort and even some self-inflicted casualties.
A lack of ambitious ideas was NOT one of the Jerries problems!
If a single large plane was detected off New York in 1944 and didn't attack anything that the plane would most likely be thought to be American, after all who would have thought that anything else was possible?
RUclips: Are you saying the Germans did 911?
*Links to Wiki page to debunk this conspiracy theory.
As always, another great video
k where does this guy get all this footage? this uboat footage is amazing and stuff ive never seen.
Your accounts are so well put together. They are wonderful.
Thanks - the effort is worth it I think
Another great Video! Just one small note: Salazar was not a general (he never served on the military). He was a civilian, studied at a catholic seminary, considered becoming a priest but ended up with a law degree (19 out of 20) and later on a doctorate also on law.
Thanks - usually every tin pot dictator is a colonel or general!
@@MarkFeltonProductions- We (USA) have honorary Kentucky Colonels which has nothing to do with the US military.
Great Video MArk Brilliant content by the way
Thanks
nw8000 he’s good I tell ya!!
Excellent, informative video-as usual. Thanks!
Finally a video talking about this amazing airplane thank you good sir from my understanding I thought there was three although my information probably is flawed however what can be said about this plane is that it most definitely did exist and it definitely did have the capacity to fly to New York and back although I wish I could see it more in games like il2 1946
In the area in Los Angeles known as Griffith Park, on the side closest to the city of Burbank, there is a place called Travel Town. Travel Town is a mostly open air transportation museum. They have quite a few old trains, both locomotives and passenger cars. There is a warehouse that is part of the museum, and within it there is an airplane engine on display. It's huge, and has a description on it that it is one of the engines for the plane that Hitler had designed to bomb New York City...
1942; New York in flames. Today; BR 3.7 in flames
I’ll bet both the flight to Japan and the US are true. Wow Incredible, Thanks Mark!
I love the mood music to these videos. It should sound like that to people as I am arriving at their location.
Mark Felton video = immediate thumbs up
Certainly intriguing. Had not heard of this one.
You just earned yourself a subscriber!
I am delighted to welcome you aboard - happy watching
It would have been more effective to attach v2's to subs.
Before I even start watching this doc, I tell you all just one thing: there was a series of books published in Poland under a "Tiger" logo, and one of them, titled "Bombs on New York" was published in early 60's...
Nice job sir! Way better than my video on the topic.
Thank you for your awesome channel! I enjoy the videos. I love in Massachusetts and didn’t know the Germans shelled Orleans on the Cape during the First World War. Mark, any more content about the US being attacked on our soil by a foreign enemy? Thank you!
Very interesting!
Thanks for sharing!
A pleasure
WWII Germany, the Wile. E. Coyote of (failed) wild and creative inventions.
Excepting of course those ones that allowed them to resist a World War on their own for five years straight, that is.
Very interesting. Some years back my brother bought me a book titled "Luftwaffe over America" which dealt with this but I don't remember reading that they actually made it over there.Great video,keep up the good work 👍
Cool plane, looked really state of the art, but just send an interceptor squadron and bam there goes all that money.
In war money is irrelevant. What matters is resources.
Yet another great "what if" aircraft of the war. But even if it had the legs to cross the Atlantic and fly back to France, I cannot see how it would not get shot to pieces somewhere over the sea. Think of the mighty Mosquitos of the RAF Coastal Command for example, they would so easily intercept this thing, especially as late in the war as late 1943/early 1944.
Did the US have fighters flying standing patrols, or radar operators looking out for incoming aircraft around the mainland? (Not an aspect of the war related to the US that I'm familiar with.) If not, it's entirely possible that one of these bombers could have mounted a raid, but only once. Any raids after that wouldn't have gotten close, as you say. It would have been a very short-lived propaganda coup for Germany, would have rattled and angered US citizens, but have been of no material consequence to the war. Somewhat like a reverse Doolittle Raid. A super-long range V2 would be the only feasible way for Germany to attack the US. If the war had dragged on for a year or two more, who knows?
1:02 Salazar wasn't a general. He was an economist that rose into power.
As supreme leader he can be a General if he so wishes.
So they called it the V1 & V2 planes? My dad remembered the V1 rockets buzzing sound in 1944-45 England and he always said the scary part was when it stopped because then you knew it was heading to the ground to blow up.
Thank you for another interesting video. Just one small detail: Salazar was an University Economics Professor, not a General. In fact, he was a civilian his whole life and never wore an uniform.
Thanks
The front side of Amerika Bomber just like Boeing 737 or Airbus 320
i like your video,love the fw200,didn't know why they didn't build more.thank u!i know its not the 200,but i love the plane!
More great content Mark, keep up the good work..!!
I am sitting here watching this and thinking just how different things might have been if Germany had some carriers to launch attacks from.
I wonder if the Nazis also had similar plans to attack Washington DC as well as New York City.
Another excellent video. Thank you.
I had thought the bombing of NYC was to have been carried out by Horton gas turbine (jet) powered flying wings. Am I misinformed?
Also, I have somewhere in the back of my mind that Germany had developed a fleet of strategic bombers. The centerpiece of that fleet was a bomber known as the "Ural Bomber." At some point in time, Corporal Hitler scrapped strategic bombers and directed German industry to focus on tactical bomber to accompany ground troops. I apologize for being vague on this topic. I would very much like you to do a video on the topic of Hitler's strategic bombers and why he decided not to employ them.
Yes you are correct. The Hortons had an order (or intent to order from Goering) and started construction of the Ho XVIIIB. Jet engines do not loose efficiency at high altitude unlike piston engines which loose efficiency due to the effort of compression of the air. By flying high enough in thin air all the parasitic drag disappears and there is only the induced drag that comes from producing useful lift. Hence by flying high you can get excellent range in a jet even with the inefficient engines of the day. The Ho XVIIIB had a very large wing area to fly high and was to have in flight refuelling. In 1942 the Germans had conducted successful in flight refuelling between Ju 252 a Ju 290 using a drogue type method. They had Schwann See and Schwann Luft buoys to organise the rendezvous.
Had that of happened Berlin would have seen nuclear devastation.
Another blinder Mark - many thanks 👍🏻
It would have been good if more information could have been added as to what kind of ordnance the Germans planned to use. I read somewhere that they were planning to use mostly incendiary rather than or alongside HE as the latter alone would only have caused mainly 'nuisance' (i.e. small scale) damage. HE + Incendiary could have been catastrophic, if dropped in the right (or wrong) place in NYC as this combination was highly effective when employed by the Luftwaffe on the East End of London, etc. The Allies also used this same exact mix on most of the major German cities, with devastating consequences (you reap what you sow...).
I have watched before I reckon, but the moment the starting music came on you earned a like: I was about to receive a short, sharp smwack of history, and I approve.
Interesting video. Not sure why the Germans didn't consider aerial refueling. As far back as the 1920s, an aircraft flew non-stop from Britain to India using aerial refueling. It's a good thing they didn't.
Aerial refueling would have been a dicey venture back then, given the crudeness of navigation to meet up with the refueling aircraft; where a slight weather disturbance could send the aircrafts off-course and miss each other . . . where out in the expanse of the Atlantic ocean, there are no reference points for navigation.
In addition, the weather over the North Atlantic is not exactly what I'd call "friendly skies" which lacks for clear and unobstructed views at heights lower than 20 thousand feet.
Correct me if I'm wrong but there was also a rocket/jet. Bomber in the works also called the amerika bomber however it was to fly at even higher altitudes made by sanger
Another great video mate 😉👍
Glad you enjoyed it
I want to see a movie of the Amerika bomber where two people will be saying
"Well, John, at least we can't be hit!"
**bomb falls**
"Dang. Jinxed."
Yet another fine upload.
Very good, again I ask, how can we help the channel? Thank you
why do every ww2 video/documentary have the same music??
Wow, did not know that an American city was shelled in WWI. Great video.
Unique prototypes about their existance I never knew nor have seen them...Very Interesting!
This was a great video. The fact that so many various, and at least potentially, reliable sources for the flights all agree there was something... though details differ... makes me lean towards the idea there was indeed some long range cross Atlantic flights conducted in secrecy. This just highlights just how bad things were though, that they were essentially still in 'Testing' for their first real multi engine heavy bomber that they seemed to be taking seriously in 1944.
I think it was politics from some of the things I have read, that lead to this scenario... that is... that kind of plane, coming so late. The only true heavy bomber the Nazi regime had was, if I recall correctly, the Ju 144... and it's own pilots called it a Germanlighter... or just a Zippo or Ronson, after the cigarette lighters, because it's twin engine configuration meant it they needed to be 2000+ HP MB engines to power the thing, and a lot of engine in a tight housing meant a lot of heat... which in this engine meant they caught on fire with regularity.
I think it was the whole dismissal of the idea of large multi engine strategic bombers in favour of more combat versatile dive/glide bombing which that created the political ease with which strategic bombers were dismissed, but I think them ultimately being so highlights a flaw with the Regime and it's system, that's core to their losing, even before material and men and bad strategy...simply put, it needed to protect itself, it's singular dominance as the sole rule of a nation, in way that meant they at times essentially shot their own foot, in suppressing smaller ones stepping by.
I think ... Ernst Hienkel? ...was taken with talk from some sectors on the idea of a German plane which was of a design like the Sterling or some such... even before the War... and began early research in to such....well.... just like his coming to lead the Jet Fighter race, and having a prototype ready by the earliest phase of the War.... when he became marginalised and kept on both a short leash and long arm... it meant that the Regime had to also cast a shadow on, and turn away from anything associated with he and his people. I wonder if this also then meant that other designers and other planners in the party, were less vocal about the idea.
I have to assume it did. This seems to be a reoccurring theme in many instances in the history of the Nazi regime, in this instance, it comes back to the topic of this video, because one does have to wonder if the Nazi's might not have actually managed to get this project running, and a significant number of planes built... had they embraced a different philosophy earlier, and not allowed, at least in part, paranoia, and politics, the securing of the regime from anything or anyone that seemed a threat...to get in the way.
I mean I know they had limited capabilities, and it was always going to be a choice of what to pursue, but I think something beyond this is needed to explain why they never tried to match the B17 of Lancaster et al even really AT ALL until they decided on the Amerika Bomber programe... well in to the War. Seems kinda crazy when I look it that way. So little so late.
RUclips fix your encyclopedia algorithm.
Excellent video
just an awesome vid... thanks so much !!!
Love your WW2 Videos!
The what ifs are always interesting....
Love these, doc. Cheers from Texas!
Thanks from Norfolk
What is also interresting is that you can call the ju390 and 290 a modern aircraft family where just a few things are modified/ stretched.
Its worth noting that there was no German "Amerika Bomber" project until US hostilities started. What work had been done was by Willy Messerschmitt privately and it was as a maritime patrol aircraft, transport and mail aircraft with a very minor potential for bombing and minimal armament. It was more a blockade runner. The US however did initiate hostile development of the B-36 before the commencement of hostilities.
"Arsenal of Democracy" was a WWI slogan!
I think NY, NY is just lucky the Germans were worried about "round trip" range. If they had sent masses of bombers already in production with no intention of returning home, (not necessarily kamikaze, possibly the flight crew could bail out and carry mp40s to try & create as much havoc & chaos as possible before taking their cyanide pill) they could have carried extra fuel and fewer bombs and made it...the death toll would have been devastating.
a interesting story to be sure, I wonder if they ever considered a more or less one way mission where New York would be bombed in the same way the 1942 Doolittle mission to Japan had worked but in this case the bomber or bombers would turn back but plan to ditch in the Atlantic and be picked up by a U-Boat and returned to base, if the ditching location had been planned far outside of the shipping lanes where there was no allied patrols this could have worked and used in service Luftwaffe planes such as the HE-177 with drop tanks. The concept of the planes not being required to return but the flight crew could would give you more options to fly this mission .
I enjoy your channel. Thanks.
I'm pleased
Great vid as always Mr Felton. Even if Nazi Germany had managed to build all the requested bombers their mission(s) would have been nearly impossible to achieve because of the lack of escort fighters. I believe they would have been shot down by aircraft from La Guardia which at the time was a joint civil/military airport or Suffolk and Stuart AAF bases. Also by 1944 the Navy would have had escort carriers close to possible flight paths taking into account that the existence of such aircraft would have been known to the allies through their extensive intelligence gathering networks in Europe.
What I find fascinating in these videos is that the Germans persevered with their experiments and technology development well into the late 1944 and early 1945. They must've known all was lost by then, with the Soviets and the Allies advancing through Germany, but they still carried on.
It's front section looks suspiciously like the front of the 747.
They had some forward thinking paper projects. The Sanger Orbital Amerika bomber was a pretty ambitious idea.
They could just ram them into skyscrapers…
Let's fly 32 hours and not bomb anything.
Not even drop a grenade or a rock out the window. 🤦♂️
Although yes, that is funny, if true, the crew were testing their plane and scouting.
It's a normal mission.
Even trips to the Moon began with a mission that orbited but did not land...
There was also a "plywood flying jet engine stealth bomber" under construction in northern Germany the HO 229 at the end of the war. The prototype was sent to America and a reconstruction was built and flown recently. It worked but to little to late!
This is an awful lot of effort to make what would have amounted to a Doolittle type raid. Yes it would have caused the US to mount defenses up and down the coast but we had more than enough resources to do that, it could even have been linked with U boat patrols etc and used as training flights for new fighter pilots.
A much better use would have been developing it into the Ural bomber needed to attack the Soviet Union or attack London at night with a larger bomb load.
Hey, love this channel ,but what model is the sub 33 sec in the video ???
Best regards from Denmark
Pleased to welcome you aboard. Regarding the U-boat, its just a piece of stock footage I used, so I couldn't tell you.
What to do as an aircraft builder in Germany circa 1943? It is already clear to you that you lack the resources to build the planes you need. But you have to keep busy or you will find yourself on the Eastern front. So you dream up all kinds of sandcastles in the sky, build a few prototypes and pretend everything is going according to plan.
Mark S. - That's funny--building Sandcastles in the sky.