gambit
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The record is wrong, or at best debatable.just for the record the first stealth fighter was the Horten H IX first flown in March 1944...
The Horten brothers used the flying wing design because of its already well known long distance capability. The flying wing was not new in WW II.
http://www.century-of-flight.net/Aviation history/flying wings/northrop.htm
In fact, the flying wing design was known as early as the 1920s. The problem have always been control and stability in the yaw axis.
It is true that the Horten brothers wanted to reduce the radar observability of the 229, but the techniques they used were nothing new as those techniques were already applied to periscopes and snorkels.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radar_in_World_War_II
In order for a design to be consider as a true low radar observable design, that capability must be from conception. The Horten 229 was not. Long distance was the 229's main objective. Low radar observability was a secondary consideration.The combination of magnetron, transmit-receive (T-R) switch, small antenna and high resolution allowed small, powerful radars to be installed in aircraft. Maritime patrol aircraft could detect objects as small as submarine periscopes, allowing aircraft to track and attack submerged submarines...
So from that perspective, the first true 'stealth' design was the F-117 where every physical features, even those crucial for aerodynamics and flight controls, were subjected to RCS reduction measures.