Messerschmitt Me 264 Amerika Bomber -The Luftwaffe's Lost Transatlantic Bomber

January 8, 2010, 9:29 pm

≫ Next: Focke Wulf Fw 190 A/F/G, Part 1 (A Quick Reference Guide To The Colors & Markings)

$

0

0

Robert Forsyth & Eddie J. Creek, Classic Publications/Ian Allan Publishing Ltd., Hersham, England, 2006, ISBN 978-1-903223-65-9. Illustrated, hardcover, published in English.

Cover image © by Classic Publications/Ian Allan Publishing Ltd., 2006.

Much more than just a book about the aircraft mentioned in its title, Robert Forsyth and Eddie J. Creek's Messerschmitt Me 264 Amerika Bomber is a chronicle of the drama that was the Luftwaffe's development effort for a long-range bomber. The existence of the Me 264 is of course utterly inseparable from such context, and the authors have succeeded in producing a book comprehensive enough to meld a detailed background story with a thorough analysis of the actual aircraft.

Beginning their account even before the German airship bombing raids against England in World War I, Forsyth and Creek subsequently describe the rise of the Luftwaffe in the Third Reich, including erstwhile efforts to add a strategic bomber to the new air force's inventory. After a brief look at other German long-range aircraft of the period, the focus shifts to the actual Amerikabomber project. Supported by uncounted rare and often astonishingly clear photos as well as numerous original drawings, the Me 264's development, flight trials, and fate are presented in unprecedented depth.

Whereas one previously had to make do with brief and entirely incomplete glimpses at the story of the Me 264 in books dedicated to other topics or rely on Manfred Griehl's inevitably incomplete development history as published in Germany's Flugzeug magazine in 1996 (issues 2, 3, and 4, 1996), Messerschmitt Me 264 Amerika Bomber merges the many scraps of information in a coherent and skilled manner to yield an amazingly riveting and visually delightful book. Every aspect of the aircraft is covered, from technical details to the armament to the construction of the prototype to the various evolved versions of the bomber as projected by its designers. Equally revealed are the political and industrial machinations without which the gestation and demise of this aesthetically pleasing aircraft cannot be properly understood. A number of sidebars provide additional information, such as on technical minutiae or people involved. Also included are beautiful color drawings of the Me 264 and some of the projects derived from its design.

There are only very few minor amendments one could offer. The caption regarding the jettisonable additional main wheel on page 46 could be slightly clearer, for example. The description of "the ... single main wheel" is a bit confusing; the actual installation as auxiliary main gear in case of a higher take-off weight can be seen on the next page. Also on said next page, the lower drawing has been erroneously captioned as showing additional flaps, when the wartime German caption clearly refers to additional ailerons. But such corrections really amount to being finicky in the face of what is actually a magnificent publication (as is fortunately so often the case with Classic Publications' output).

This is a truly remarkable book, and its absolutely stunning photo content renders it even more indispensable for both the serious Luftwaffe enthusiast and the modeler.

---

Focke Wulf Fw 190 A/F/G, Part 1 (A Quick Reference Guide To The Colors & Markings)

January 11, 2010, 9:00 am

≫ Next: Junkers Ju 160

≪ Previous: Messerschmitt Me 264 Amerika Bomber -The Luftwaffe's Lost Transatlantic Bomber

$

0

0

Thomas A. Tullis, Meteor Productions, Merrifield/VA, USA, 1998, Colortech #1, ISBN 0-9629146-2-2. Illustrated, softcover, published in English.

Cover image © by Meteor Productions, 1998.

This small booklet is a true gem. Irrespective of its size (14 x 22 cm/5.5 x 8.5") and page-count (24 pages), it is a comprehensive, beautifully-made, and very useful work of reference. As well-known author Thomas A. Tullis states in the booklet's introduction, it was created to provide the reader with a quick reference guide to color schemes and markings of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A/F/G, utilizing the (then) latest information available.

Given the condensed nature of space available in such a small format, Focke Wulf Fw 190 A/F/G, Part 1 (note that Focke-Wulf is spelled without the hyphen in the book) begins without further ado with a surprisingly thorough discussion of the camouflage colors used on the Fw 190. Also included is a brief section on interior colors. Tullis' beautiful color illustrations, along with plentiful text, then show the Fw 190's standard factory camouflage pattern, the colors of propeller and spinners, the color schemes found on the cowl (including some of the more fanciful examples), the various black schemes applied to the exhaust area, the recognition markings on the tail section, the fuselage bands and the defense of the Reich bands, the colors and/or unpainted sections of the wings, and even the frequently seen whitewall tail wheel.

This is followed by seven immaculate color profiles of Fw 190 As and Fs, each printed across a full page and featuring a detailed caption with reference section. The astonishing booklet concludes with lists of common Fw 190 colors, Luftwaffe color cross references, and related third party reference works.

All in all, quite fantastic. One might be tempted to say that even at its diminutive size, Focke Wulf Fw 190 A/F/G, Part 1 is in some ways superior to a number of much more substantial Luftwaffe publications.

To the best of my knowledge, no further Colortechs were ever published, in spite of an announcement on the inside of the front cover, listing planned future titles on the Fw 190 D, Me 262 A/B, Bf 109 G/K, and Fw 190 A/F/G (the proposed continuation of Part 1). What a shame!

Junkers Ju 160

July 18, 2010, 9:55 am

≫ Next: Flugzeugbau Magazine, October 1941

≪ Previous: Focke Wulf Fw 190 A/F/G, Part 1 (A Quick Reference Guide To The Colors & Markings)

$

0

0

Top: Luftwaffe-operated Junkers Ju 160, WL+UJAF, date and location unknown. (Fischer collection)

Bottom: Junkers Ju 160, D-UGAZ, "Iltis", Werknummer 4214, of the Deutsche Lufthansa, date and location unknown. This aircraft was built in 1935 and withdrawn from airline service in 1941. (Fischer collection)

Flugzeugbau Magazine, October 1941

July 26, 2010, 5:51 pm

≫ Next: Phoenix aus der Asche - Die Deutsche Luftfahrt Sammlung In Berlin

≪ Previous: Junkers Ju 160

$

0

0

Flugzeugbau periodical, volume 1, issue 10, October 15, 1941. Flugzeugbau was a monthly magazine, published by the German air ministry (RLM) and intended to support the vocational education of professionals in the German aviation industry. The magazine was printed by the Verlag der Deutschen Arbeitsfront publishing house in Berlin.

The front cover of the above pictured issue 10 of October 15, 1941, shows a landing gear test rig for the Junkers Ju 88. (Fischer collection)

Phoenix aus der Asche - Die Deutsche Luftfahrt Sammlung In Berlin

November 24, 2010, 1:57 am

≫ Next: LO+ST - Snapshots Of The Wrecked/Captured Luftwaffe Aircraft Taken By GIs From 1944 To The Defeat Of Germany

≪ Previous: Flugzeugbau Magazine, October 1941

$

0

0

Michael Hundertmark & Holger Steinle, Silberstreif Verlag GmbH, Berlin, Germany, 1985, ISBN 3-924091-02-1. Illustrated, hardcover, published in German.

Cover image © by Silberstreif Verlag GmbH, 1985.

The Deutsche Luftfahrt Sammlung (German aviation collection) in Berlin has attained a near-mythical status within the field of German aviation history, not least due to the fact that this exceptionally unique and utterly irreplaceable collection of aircraft and aviation artifacts was scattered and/or destroyed during ravages of World War II. Only fragments of the formerly vast collection remain today, most of them stored in Poland. An equally important contributor to the myth is that not only the hardware has largely vanished but that relatively little information about the Deutsche Luftfahrt Sammlung has been published post-war.

While significant efforts have been made in Berlin in recent decades to at long last establish something akin to a successor collection (i.e., the outstanding permanent aviation exhibit of the Deutsches Technikmuseum in Berlin-Kreuzberg) to preserve and display Germany's aviation heritage, the loss of the original Deutsche Luftfahrt Sammlung has irretrievably deprived Germany of some of its most precious and significant exponents of the country's aviation history.

Phoenix aus der Asche (Phoenix Arisen From The Ashes) grants us an at least fleeting look at the abundance of remarkable exhibits once hosted by the Deutsche Luftfahrt Sammlung. Moreover, the book provides an exhaustive history of the institution itself as well as of the site in Berlin where the museum once stood. The authors, Michael Hundertmark (an aviation historian) and Holger Steinle (who would be crucially instrumental in establishing the new aviation exhibit of the Deutsches Technikmuseum) spent years researching the former Deutsche Luftfahrt Sammlung. The resulting book is thus still the definitive (if inevitably vastly incomplete) landmark study on this topic, even 25 years after its publication.

Phoenix aus der Asche begins with a look at the so-called Pulvermühle-site in Berlin's Tiergarten district in the 19th century. The detailed text, along with numerous photos and drawings, depicts the construction of the building that would much later become the main exhibition hall of the Deutsche Luftfahrt Sammlung. Hundertmark and Steinle subsequently describe the establishment of an official German aviation collection as well as the formal opening of the associated new museum on June 20, 1936. The gloomy end of the narrative depicts the destruction of the building and some of its exhibits during the war as well as the scattering of those exhibits that had already been removed from the museum in anticipation of the impending obliteration.

The second half of Phoenix aus der Asche is dedicated to a closer portrayal of some of the noteworthy German and foreign exhibits of the Deutsche Luftfahrt Sammlung, such as Ernst Udet's Curtiss Hawk, Horten Ho II, Levavasseur Antoinette, Heinkel He 5 e, an engine nacelle of the Zeppelin-Staaken R IV, the Messerschmitt Me 209 V1, and many more. The book concludes with an attempt to provide what was probably the most comprehensive - but openly tentative - list of the exhibits at the time of the publication of this book.

Since this book saw the light of the day in 1985, a small number of complementary articles on the Deutsche Luftfahrt Sammlung have been published, such as

- Auf der Spur der Veteranen (Die frühere Deutsche Luftfahrtsammlung Berlin - viele Fragen und noch wenige Antworten), by Marian Krzyzan & Holger Steinle, in Flugzeug 5/1988,

- Wie die Do X ins Museum kam, by Prof. Dr. Dr. Holger Steinle, in Jet & Prop 3/1997,

- Die untergegangene Luftfahrtsammlung (Teil 1), by Heiko Müller, in Klassiker der Luftfahrt 1/2007, and

- Juwelen in Berlin (Teil 2), by Heiko Müller, in Klassiker der Luftfahrt 2/2007.

Phoenix aus der Asche, however, easily remains the definitive work on this fascinating and long-perished German collection of aircraft, in spite of what must be a wealth of additional information that has since been uncovered.

Article updated November 15, 2011.

LO+ST - Snapshots Of The Wrecked/Captured Luftwaffe Aircraft Taken By GIs From 1944 To The Defeat Of Germany

November 25, 2010, 3:13 am

≫ Next: Focke-Wulf Fw 200

≪ Previous: Phoenix aus der Asche - Die Deutsche Luftfahrt Sammlung In Berlin

$

0

0

Hideki Noro, Dai Nippon Kaiga Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, 2009, ISBN 978-4-499-22992-0. Illustrated, softcover (with dust jacket), published in Japanese, photo captions in Japanese and English.

Cover image © by Dai Nippon Kaiga Co., 2009.

This truly astonishing softcover book is among the most recent exponents of what is by now a well-established and highly engaging category of Luftwaffe-related releases: the photo album-type publication. The pioneer of this concept was probably Karl Ries, whose legendary Dora Kurfürst und die rote 13 photo books (published by Verlag Dieter Hoffmann, Germany) revolutionized the presentation of the results of Luftwaffe research in the 1960s. Although obviously primitive and utterly imperfect by today's standards, the photo captions contained in Ries' books provided the reader perhaps for the first time with unprecedented photo interpretation detail.

Uwe Feist's Luftwaffe in Action series of landscape-format softcovers (published by Squadron/Signal Publications in the US), continued the concept, beginning in 1971. But it was really the distinguished Heinz Birkholz who took it to the next level. In 1974, he launched PM-Foto Revue as an offspring to Germany's Plastik Modell magazine, of which he was the editor. PM-Foto Revue featured photos submitted from the private collections of the writers and readers of Plastik Modell. Unfortunately, the publisher, G. Schmidt-Verlag, ceased operations just as PM-Foto Revue was released.

But Birkholz and his editorial team went on to found the new periodical Modell Magazin, which, starting in 1975, covered both scale models and aviation history, and subsequently became one of the most important and influential publications within the growing Luftwaffe research community. In 1976, following the example set by Plastik Modell, Modell Magazin introduced Modell Magazin Foto Archiv, its own offspring softcover photo album. Published sporadically until the early 1980s, Modell Magazin Foto Archiv again featured photos submitted by the writers and readers of the magazine and thus exposed uncounted previously unseen photographic treasures to a wider audience.

When Modell Magazin changed direction and content in the mid-1980s, Birkholz left and established a new magazine, Flugzeug, dedicated entirely to aviation, both in scale and history. In 1988, Flugzeug continued the tradition of its predecessors by launching an infrequently published offspring softcover photo album, Flugzeug Archiv. One final time, history repeated itself when Birkholz left Flugzeug to establish Jet & Prop in 1991. The by now inevitable offspring periodical, Jet & Prop Foto Archiv, was first published in 1992 and continues, sporadically, up to today.

Recent decades have seen an outright proliferation of Luftwaffe-related photo album-type publications. From Alfred Price's The Luftwaffe 1939-1945 volumes (in the Warbirds Illustrated series by Arms and Armour Press, England, 1981), for example, or the various Luftwaffe Warbirds Photo Albums (Tank Magazine special issues by Delta Publishing Co. Ltd., Japan, 1992 to 1994), to current releases such as Eagle Editions' outstanding Wings of the Black Cross or Axel Urbanke's exceptional Luftwaffe im Focus series (by Luftfahrtverlag-Start, Germany). There are many others, the concept thriving not least due to the existence of uncounted astounding photos once taken by victorious allied troops during their advance through late-war Germany.

Hideki Noro's LO+ST focuses on such late-war and post-war photos. Sized a modest 257 x 210mm, the book still feels substantial. Consisting of 192 pages, its 272 black & white photos are printed on semi-matt, high-quality paper, the book is clearly laid out and nicely designed and also features a glossy dust jacket. Its five chapters are divided by geographic location: Northern Germany, Central Germany, Southern Germany, neighboring nations, and unknown locations.

The photos presented are truly engrossing and of great interest to any student of the late-war German Luftwaffe; at times they are outright stunning due to the subject and detail contained therein. Even the very first photos of the book, one of a damaged Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-14/AS "Black 10", in Regensburg in 1945, and one of a light blue Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6/AS nightfighter with antennae, are absolutely striking. A great number of the photos have either never been published before or have only very rarely been seen.

LO+ST focuses almost exclusively on fighter aircraft. Among the aircraft covered are Fw 190 V65 CS+IA, numerous Fw 190 D-9s, JG 301 aircraft at Stendal (such as Ta 152 H-0, Werknummer 150007), Ar 234, Me 262, Ta 152 H, Ta 152 E, Bf 109 K-4, Ta 154, Fw 190 D-11 at Bad Wörishofen, He 111, and uncounted Bf 109 Gs and Fw 190 As and Fs. It will take many hours to seriously absorb and digest the wealth of photographic material presented here.

If there exists a drawback to LO+ST, it might be that the majority of the book is written in Japanese. This includes the (limited) text as well as all photo captions. Brief English translations are provided for all photo captions, but these are limited to the most crucial data (such as the aircraft type and location) and are nowhere near as detailed as the extensive Japanese captions seem to be. This is of course a pity, and it will undoubtedly keep many of those interested in the German Luftwaffe but unable to read Japanese from buying the book.

A decision to pass on LO+ST would be an utter shame, however, as is the case for many Luftwaffe-related specialist publications produced in Japan. It is my firm opinion that the professionalism and attention to detail which characterizes so many Luftwaffe books from Japan makes it readily possible to ignore the language barrier for any serious researcher or student of the Luftwaffe. In fact, the abundance of vital information available by means of the visual content of these publications is simply indispensable and easily offsets any inconvenience caused by an inability to understand the Japanese text.

Focke-Wulf Fw 200

November 25, 2010, 3:09 pm

≫ Next: Bilder aus Dora - Zwangsarbeit im Raketentunnel 1943-1945

≪ Previous: LO+ST - Snapshots Of The Wrecked/Captured Luftwaffe Aircraft Taken By GIs From 1944 To The Defeat Of Germany

$

0

0

Focke-Wulf Fw 200 C-1, F8+DK (formerly BS+AH), Werknummer 0003, of 2./KG 40, exact date and location unknown. Camouflage is 72/73/65. Operational tally inscription on tail fin reads "Narvik [10 bars]" and "England [18 bars]". This aircraft was damaged by anti-aircraft fire from HMS Deptford during a combat flight over the Atlantic on February 9, 1941. After an emergency landing in Portugal, it was destroyed by its crew. (Fischer collection)

Entry amended November 19, 2011.

Bilder aus Dora - Zwangsarbeit im Raketentunnel 1943-1945

November 28, 2010, 5:39 pm

≫ Next: A4/V2 Rocket

≪ Previous: Focke-Wulf Fw 200

$

0

0

Yves Le Maner & André Sellier, Westkreuz-Verlag GmbH, Berlin/Bonn, Germany, 2001, ISBN 3-929-592-59-2. Illustrated, softcover, published in German.

Cover image © by Westkreuz-Verlag GmbH, 2001.

As this blog is titled "German Aviation 1919-1945", this is probably not quite a typical publication to be reviewed here. And yet this is a truly exceptional and important book, both on a human as well as on a topical level. Bilder aus Dora is examined on this website because it covers a significant subject area of the aerospace industrial complex of the Third Reich - the manufacture of the Aggregat 4 rocket (or, more popularly, the V2 rocket) during the final stages of the war. What's more, it does so using rare and truly astonishing color photographs shot by Walter Frenz in 1944; photographs which reveal a previously unseen level of detail regarding the then top secret manufacturing process of the German war machine.

Frenz was a Luftwaffe photo correspondent whose work became widely known decades after the war, not least because he was able to shoot many of his photos in color, and because he had access to the top echelon of Germany' leadership. Frenz' son, Hanns-Peter Frenz (who also contributes the introduction to Bilder aus Dora), discovered these historically infinitely significant images in 1998, in a suitcase which had once belonged to his father and had stood unopened in a room in the basement for over 50 years. Immediately before the end of the war, the SS had confiscated all of Frenz's photos depicting secret weapons manufacturing, but Frenz somehow managed to preserve a number of color slides in a nondescript envelope. These slides now yield what are the only authentic photos depicting the underground mass production of the Aggregat 4.

It is the dreadful human aspect, however, which renders Bilder aus Dora even more significantly different from the customary aircraft type monographs or technical-historical studies usually featured here. Not only do Frenz' photos depict countless scenes in which slave laborers work on various parts of the rocket, but as the book's subtitle Forced Labor In The Rocket Tunnel implies, it also goes to great lengths to relentlessly analyze this facet of what is at the same time one of Germany's greatest technological achievements and one of its most painful legacies.

In addition to the obvious color photos depicting the actual production of the rocket, there are numerous drawings of the conditions within the affiliated Dora slave labor camp run by the SS. These drawings were made by the inmates of the camp, either secretly during their imprisonment or immediately after the war, and they thus represent rare visual glimpses into the daily camp routine of intense exploitation and dying. Along with these profound illustrations, Bilder aus Dora features a detailed narrative on the history of the camp as well as on the conditions within. The contents of Bilder aus Dora are completed by maps and black & white photos (taken during and after the war) of the camp and manufacturing tunnels.

It is the inevitable and unholy connection between frequently stunning images depicting the production of an ultra modern, high-tech weapon and images depicting the ruthless subjugation and elimination of human beings to facilitate exactly such production, which makes this book insdispensable for anyone even remotely interested in German aerospace industrial processes of the Second World War.

In spite of what seems like a relatively low page count (88 pages, format 294 x 208mm), Bilder aus Dora is therefore a comprehensive study of what is a dramatic and important topic. The book was originally released as an exhibition catalog to accompany special exhibition at the Deutsches Museum in Munich in 2001. It was produced in affiliation with the French La Coupole museum, whose head, Yves Le Maner, is one of the two authors of the book. The other one, André Sellier, is a historian and himself a former deported slave laborer.

---

A4/V2 Rocket

November 29, 2010, 7:58 pm

≫ Next: Motor und Sport Magazine, April 1936

≪ Previous: Bilder aus Dora - Zwangsarbeit im Raketentunnel 1943-1945

$

0

0

Components of an Aggregat 4 (V2) long-range ballistic missile, date and location unknown, although the photo was very likely taken immediately after the cessation of hostilities. In the background: the rocket's main body (left) as well as a tail section with fins (right). In the foreground: a turbopump (left) and the corresponding rocket engine (right). (Fischer collection)

Motor und Sport Magazine, April 1936

December 18, 2010, 3:04 pm

≫ Next: Random Notes Regarding Focke-Wulf's Ta 183 Jet Fighter Concept

≪ Previous: A4/V2 Rocket

$

0

0

Motor und Sport periodical (aviation issue), volume XIII, issue no. 17, April 26, 1936. Motor und Sport was a self-declared "independent weekly magazine for the entire motoring trade", published by Vogel-Verlag GmbH in Pössneck, Thuringia.

The front cover is a Junkers ad, depicting a Lufthansa Junkers Ju 86 above the slogan "comfortable and safe air travel with Junkers aircraft". (Fischer collection)

Random Notes Regarding Focke-Wulf's Ta 183 Jet Fighter Concept

January 29, 2011, 12:41 pm

≫ Next: Gotha Go 145

≪ Previous: Motor und Sport Magazine, April 1936

$

0

0

Above: attempted partial conceptual reconstruction of the instrument panel of the Focke-Wulf Ta 183. This incomplete and inevitably flawed draft is based on Günter Sengfelder's drawings of the the Jumo 004-powered variant at the planning stage of March 20, 1945, and the surviving photos of the full-size wooden mock-up of the Focke Wulf P VI "Flitzer" (see text below). (Drawing: Fischer)

The Focke-Wulf Ta 183

Frequently dismissed as yet another speculative Luft '46 concept, the Focke-Wulf Ta 183 was, in actual fact, far more than just a paper project. In early 1945, the first prototypes of the Ta 183 were actually scheduled to be built, and the design of the aircraft had apparently progressed relatively far in its development. According to various sources, a full-scale, wooden mock-up, jigs, and perhaps even some subassemblies had been completed by war's end. And so had numerous technical and manufacturing drawings of what the finished prototypes were going to look like.

In spite of such reported gestation progress, the availability of solidly reliable prime-source material remains spotty to this day. In attempting to reconstruct some of the details of the Ta 183, one is left dependent on fragmentary information and circumstantial evidence, more so even than in the case of, for example, the Messerschmitt P1101 V1 (of which at least photos of the incomplete prototype exist). The depiction of the Ta 183 both in graphic illustrations and as scale models is thus often flawed. While this might be a moot point for many due to the fact that even the very first prototype evidently was never completed, careful examination of the sparse available material actually makes it possible to arrive at a fairly realistic idea of what the aircraft was actually going to look like.

Due to the protracted development schedule of the Heinkel HeS 011 jet engine, the initial examples of the Ta 183 were to be powered by the already mass-produced Junkers Jumo 004 jet engine. As depicted, these two early Ta 183 versions were to both share common features and be distinguished by a number of differences.

Junkers Jumo 004-powered Ta 183:

- What little is known of the cockpit of the Ta 183 seems to generally resemble the cockpit layout of the broadly Ta 183-contemporary Focke-Wulf P VI "Flitzer" jet fighter project, of which far more detailed information survives. Based on Günter Sengfelder's drawings of the Jumo 004-powered Ta 183 variant at the planning stage of March 20, 1945, and the existing detailed photos and drawings of the elaborate "Flitzer" mock-up, it is immediately obvious that the "Flitzer" cockpit area (including the instrument panel) seems to be similar to that of the Ta 183. If one looks at the development of other German aircraft of the period, it is perhaps reasonable to assume that a final mock-up configuration frequently reflected the actual initial layout of the subsequent prototype. Amongst other things, production orders were not least dependent on repeated inspections and improvements of the mock-up.

- The Ta 183's pilot's seat seems to be a typical Focke-Wulf design, not unlike the seat used in the Fw 190/Ta 152 series of aircraft. The seat itself seems to feature no head rest, although an Fw 190-style head rest seems to be indicated as part of the canopy.

- The canopy, too, seems to be a rather typical Focke-Wulf design. The bottom edge of the windscreen side panels on the Jumo 004-powered Ta 183 is a straight line.

- The inside of the air intake duct for the Jumo 004 jet engine seems to be initially encumbered by a lengthy bulge which extends almost halfway down the fuselage. This bulge serves to provide the space required for the retractable nose landing gear (the nose wheel remains vertical while retracted). The intake duct then curves down towards the engine.

- The rear section of the fuselage of the aircraft is slightly extended in order to accommodate the full length of the Jumo 004 engine.

- The space and proportions within the main wheel bays are dictated by the front section of the Jumo 004 jet engine, placed in immediate proximity within the fuselage. The forward end of the main gear wells is thus deeper than the rear end, requiring the main landing gear to be retracted forward and the retracted main wheels to rest right next to the intake duct.

- The main gear well covers are of an elongated, rectangular shape.

- The outline of the horizontal stabilizer is rounded at the tips, as is the top rear end of the rudder.

- The aircraft on its landing gear displays a very pronounced tail-low/nose-high stance. Again, many recent depictions of the Ta 183 miss this prominent and defining element entirely. This is a feature the Ta 183 shares with many early jet aircraft designs, as evidenced, for example, by the similar stance of the completed Messerschmitt P1101 V1 prototype, the Junkers Ju 287jet bomber (and its subsequent EF 131 and EF 140 developments), the Horten Ho 229 jet flying wing, the Focke Wulf P VI "Flitzer" project, the Ta 183-derived post-war FMA IAe 33 "Pulqui II" jet fighter, the Kurt Tank-designed Hindustan Aeronautics HF-24 "Marut" jet fighter, or even the Vought F7U "Cutlass" and F-8 "Crusader" jet fighters, and the LTV A-7 "Corsair II" attack aircraft.

Heinkel HeS 011-powered Ta 183:

- The Heinkel HeS 011-powered Ta 183 seems to have been designed with a different seat than that of the Jumo 004-powered variant. The seat of the HeS 011 version features head armour and seems very similar to the seat intended for the "Flitzer" jet fighter (of which photos exist).

In recent years, the Ta 183 has at times been depicted with a Heinkel-type "Katapultsitz" (ejection seat), but this seems to be entirely fictitious. Excellent photos of the tests of Focke-Wulf's own ejection seat, fired from a Fw 190, Werknummer 0022, SB+IB, have been published. Besides showing the seat during the insertion into the Fw 190, and during the actual ejection, there are also very detailed pictures showing the seat by itself. Again, this Focke-Wulf ejection seat prototype closely resembles the one depicted in the drawings of the HeS 011 version of the Ta 183. The only apparent difference is that the head armour as planned for the Ta 183 is angled forward.

Intriguingly, however, the catapult seat tested for the Focke-Wulf Ta 154 looks different yet again.

- Apparently, there are no published drawings or photos of the instrument panel, and the general cockpit layout of this version of the Ta 183 must be deduced solely on the basis of the general see-through side view drawings of February and March 1945.

- Again, the canopy seems to be a typical Focke-Wulf design. The bottom edge of the windscreen side panels, however, is now curved.

- The nose landing gear bay is of a different shape and length than those of the Jumo 004 version. The same thus applies to the associated landing gear doors. The nose wheel now turns upon retraction and is placed at an angle within the bay. This allows the air intake duct for the HeS 011 jet engine to remain unencumbered by any bulges. Due to the different proportions of the HeS 011 engine, the intake duct in this version is straight, from the nose of the aircraft to the compressor face of the engine.

- The rear section of the fuselage of the aircraft is devoid of any extension, due to the different dimensions of the HeS 011 engine.

- The main gear well doors of the HeS 011-powered Ta 183 are not rectangular, instead they taper towards the rear, starting about one third down the length of the doors. The space within the main landing gear bay seems to be arranged in a similar manner as on the Jumo 004-powered version.

- The main gear legs feature a distinctive kink near their attachment points to the fuselage structure.

- Again, the aircraft displays a very pronounced tail-low/nose-high stance.

- The outline of the horizontal stabilizer is rounded at the front and pointed at the rear.

- The top of the rudder features a sharper downward-angle and a more pronounced point than that of the Jumo 004 version.

- The aircraft seems to feature a shallow weapons bay which permits weapons to be carried semi-recessed. This bay appears to have angled inside walls. According to published drawings, it was to be possible to carry either bombs, drop tanks, or cameras in this bay. Apparently, the Jumo 004 version of the Ta 183 doesn't feature such a weapons bay.

(Text amended and expanded from sections of correspondence originally provided to Alan Griffith of now-defunct US scale model manufacturer AmTech, in 2001 and 2002.)

Gotha Go 145

February 3, 2011, 2:25 pm

≫ Next: Focke-Wulf Fw 191 Kampfflugzeug und das Bomber B-Programm

≪ Previous: Random Notes Regarding Focke-Wulf's Ta 183 Jet Fighter Concept

$

0

0

Top: Crash site of Gotha Go 145 A, WL+ITEE (formerly D-ITEE). Date and location unknown. (Fischer collection, aircraft identity confirmation courtesy of the LEMB Stammkennzeichen Database Project)

Bottom: Gotha Go 145 advertising by Gothaer Waggonfabrik AG, as featured in the Motor und Sport periodical (aviation issue), volume XIII, issue 17, April 26, 1936. (Fischer collection)

Focke-Wulf Fw 191 Kampfflugzeug und das Bomber B-Programm

November 11, 2011, 2:47 am

≫ Next: Zwischen Leipzig und der Mulde - Flugplatz Brandis 1935-1945

≪ Previous: Gotha Go 145

$

0

0

[Full title: "Focke-Wulf Fw 191 Kampfflugzeug und das Bomber B-Programm - Focke-Wulf im Wettbewerb mit den Entwicklungen der Arado Ar 340, Dornier Do 317 und Junkers Ju 288"] Hans-Peter Dabrowski & Peter Achs, Stedinger Verlag, Lemwerder, Germany, 2011, ISBN 978-3-927697-61-4. Illustrated, hardcover, published in German.

Cover image © by Stedinger Verlag, 2011.

The existence of the Luftwaffe's "Bomber B" program is common knowledge for anyone seriously interested in German military aviation of World War II. It has been referred to in uncounted books on the Luftwaffe, and it is perceived as a major and very costly (and ultimately failed) weapons program. Nonetheless, no comprehensive history of the "Bomber B" program had so far been published. We were left with brief glimpses and fragments at best and unsubstantiated assertions at worst, many of them perpetually repeated.

Competent but, by necessity, fragmentary information about the Bomber B program can be found, for example, in Thomas H. Hitchcock's Close-Up 2: Junkers 288 (Monogram Aviation Publications, USA, 1974), or in Manfred Griehl's Dornier Do 217-317-417 (Airlife Publishing Ltd., England, 1991). Moreover, political, technical, and industrial implications of the Bomber B program are illuminated in greater detail as part of Lutz Budrass' phenomenal 976-page study Flugzeugindustrie und Luftrüstung in Deutschland 1918 - 1945 (Droste Verlag, Germany, 1998). Updated information was also published in recent years in specialist magazines, namely in Germany's Flugzeug Classic.

But now we are presented for the first time with a publication entirely dedicated to the Bomber B program and the resulting aircraft designs. And what an absolutely spectacular book it is, packed with information and rare and detailed photos. At 344 pages, a format of 205 x 285mm, and some 420 illustrations, it is a sizeable publication by any means. Moreover, it's perhaps most surprising that it is still possible to publish such an astonishingly comprehensive study in this day and age of economic-commercial challenges and massive competition by means of countless multi-media platforms.

Still, Germany's Stedinger Verlag has a long history of publishing well-researched, landmark-type books on Luftwaffe-related topics. Publications such as Hans-Peter Dabrowski's own Focke-Wulf Nahaufklärer Fw 189 A Uhu (2008), Stephen Ransom's astounding Zwischen Leipzig und der Mulde - Flugplatz Brandis 1935 - 1945 (1996), or F.-Herbert Wenz' Chronik des Lemwerder Flugzeugwerkes 1935 - 1963 (1995) and Flughafen Tempelhof 1939 - 1945: Chronik des Berliner Werkes der Weser Flugzeugbau GmbH (2000) are but a few examples of this publishing house's commitment to provide ground-breaking, quality releases.

Focke-Wulf Fw 191 Kampfflugzeug und das Bomber B-Programm is no exception. If anything, it represents a new pinnacle in both Stedinger Verlag's catalog of titles and the work of Hans-Peter Dabrowski and Peter Achs. The book's sheer opulence and attention to detail, along with its careful, fact-based approach, render it a magnificent one-stop source for the program in question and the aircraft involved.

On the back cover of the book, and at various points in the text, Dabrowski and Achs are at pains to explain that there exist significant gaps with regard to surviving original documents relating to diverse aspects the Bomber B program. It will thus probably remain impossible to ever compile a truly definite history of the program. And yet, taking into consideration such insurmountable obstacles, Dabrowski and Achs have achieved exactly that - the most complete history of this topic ever released. In doing so, they are able to address and correct many assumptions and much erroneous information previously published.

Starting with a background on the situation which gave rise to the Bomber B idea, the book then details the early designs for Focke-Wulf's response to the call for proposals, leading to the actual Fw 191. The text is supported by numerous drawings, tables, and original documents, along with photos of contemporary display and windtunnel models, mock-ups, static tests, technical and powerplant details, and prototype aircraft. The political and industrial context is continuously highlighted in the narrative, as are changes to design and engines, as well as problems during design, construction, and test flights. Also covered are the individual prototypes, and planned further developments (such as the Fw 491, or the Ta 400, and many more).

A nice and very helpful touch are loosely interspersed brief biographies of significant personalities involved, such as engineers, political brass, Luftwaffe staff, or test pilots. The wealth of photos uncovered (many of them previously unpublished) is simply astounding, particularly if one takes into account the loss of much such material due to the ravages of the war.

A significant component of the story of the Bomber B program is of course the question of the powerplant. The associated problems and changes, seemingly perpetual, played a major part in eventually dooming this entire weapons program, and they are well documented here by the authors.

One of the most stunning (and, to me, most unexpected) aspects of the book is that it doesn't just stop at the aircraft which is the subject of its title. Focke-Wulf Fw 191 Kampfflugzeug und das Bomber B-Programm also contains what is probably the most comprehensive history yet written on Junkers' Bomber B entry, the utterly fascinating Ju 288. At 75 pages, and again heavily illustrated, the section on the Ju 288 is basically a book within the book. A further section of 18 pages details the usually elusive Dornier Do 317 entry, another 11 pages are dedicated to the even more obscure Arado Ar 340 entry. A final page is discusses what potentially also was a Bomber B contender, the Henschel Hs 130 C.

The book's appendix contains four color profiles of the Fw 191, Ju 288, Do 317, and Ar 340, along with two color facsimiles of original Fw 191 documents, and a listing of sources and materials used in the completion of the book

A minor point of contention could perhaps be that a number of photos have been printed at a relatively small size. This is undoubtedly the result of the sheer number of photos contained in the book as well as the eventual limitations of page-count and associated (and entirely understandable) commercial confines. While this is sometimes a bit of a shame, I wouldn't want to trade the existing book for one with fewer but larger photos. In addition to the massive amount of information presented, it is not least the aforementioned wealth of illustrations which serves to make this publication such a treasure.

Zwischen Leipzig und der Mulde - Flugplatz Brandis 1935-1945

November 13, 2011, 7:39 pm

≫ Next: Arado Ar 66

≪ Previous: Focke-Wulf Fw 191 Kampfflugzeug und das Bomber B-Programm

$

0

0

Stephen Ransom, Stedinger Verlag, Lemwerder, Germany, 1996, ISBN 3-927697-09-5. Illustrated, softcover, published in German.

Cover image © by Stedinger Verlag, 1996.

This remarkable little book (112 pages, format 240 x 170mm, 90 illustrations) managed to turn quite a few heads in the Luftwaffe research community upon its release in the second half of the 1990s. There are quite a number of publications dealing with the airfields used by the Luftwaffe in World War II, most of them released in Germany. This is a very specialized field of interest, and most of these publications thus see only very small print-runs and are generally overlooked by the larger World War II aviation enthusiast audience, in favor of books on far more popular topics, such as Focke-Wulf Fw 190s, Messerschmitt Bf 109s, et al.

Many of these airfield publications are compiled by local historians in an effort to preserve parts of their town's history. They are typically created on a shoe-string budget (and sometimes without a professional design staff), they are frequently hampered by a lack of available/surviving photographic material, and they are often either published by small local publishing houses or even self-published. And yet they are a crucial part of Luftwaffe research, and they sometimes contain surprising new bits of information or unexpected photographic treasures. Typical examples of the above are, perhaps, Uwe-Rolf Hinze's Start und Ziel Neuruppin (Edition Rieger, Germany, 1996), Tony Haderer's Der Militärflugplatz Zerbst (Extrapost Verlag für Heimatliteratur, Germany, 2002), or Heiner Wittrock's Fliegerhorst Wunstorf - Teil 1: Der Fliegerhorst des Dritten Reichs: 1934 - 1945 (Libri Books/Heiner Wittrock, Germany, 1995). There are literally uncounted more.

One could thus be forgiven for assuming that Stephen Ransom's Zwischen Leipzig und der Mulde is simply another interesting yet unspectacular such release. But it isn't; the book's contents were simply breathtaking at the time of its publication, and, to some extent, they still are today. To begin with, Not only is Zwischen Leipzig und der Mulde a very professionally made book, released by a well-known publishing house specialized in works of outstanding quality, but Brandis ranks among the Luftwaffe's most fascinating airfields. This is not least due to its use as a location of aircraft trials and test flights by Junkers and others.

In his introduction, Ransom writes that this book basically came into existence as a byproduct of information uncovered during his extensive studies of the Junkers Ju 287 forward-swept wing jet bomber. Zwischen Leipzig und der Mulde is thus filled with well-researched, solid information, augmented by often spectacular pictures. This begins already with the book's very cover which depicts the wrecks of Messerschmitt Me 163 B V45 rocket fighter prototype and a Henschel Hs 130 A high altitude reconnaissance aircraft.

Focusing on the final events of the war at Brandis, Ransom details the Allied reconnaissance over and the subsequent advances towards the airfield. Many of the most poignant photos reproduced in the book were taken by the US troops occupying Brandis in 1945. Interspersed for historical context are photos and illustrations depicting the earlier history of the airfield, such as Luftwaffe staff and aircraft in the second half of the 1930s und during the initial years of the war. While many of these photos are superb and fascinatingly detailed (such as the two hangar shots on pages 42 and 43, for example), it is probably the picture content from the final phase of the war which is most captivating. This includes German anti-aircraft guns, Jumo 004 jet engines on rail cars, as well as advanced and/or unusual aircraft such as the Me 262, Me 163, Ho 229 V1, or AS 6.

Most interesting, however, is the series of photos depicting the Ju 287. To the best of my knowledge, this was the first time an author was able to publish a number of remarkable and conclusive images (as well as the associated analysis) of both initial Ju 287 prototypes, the V1 and V2. Stephen Ransom has in the meantime of course expanded on that topic, by writing, together with Peter Korrell and Peter D. Evans, his milestone study Junkers Ju 287 - Germany's Forward Swept Wing Bomber (Classic Publications/Ian Allan Publishing Ltd., England, 2008).

Zwischen Leipzig und der Mulde is thus a truly noteworthy and important book, even if it has since become slightly outclassed by its author's own subsequent work. There are only a few nitpicks to note. In my humble opinion, for example, the photo on page 23 does not depict the wreckage of a Junkers Ju 88 in the foreground but rather that of a Heinkel He 177. Also, my copy of the book, purchased in March 1997, now shows signs of pages coming loose where they were glued to the spine. This in spite of explicitly careful handling over the years.

Arado Ar 66

November 14, 2011, 5:33 pm

≫ Next: Heinkel He 70

≪ Previous: Zwischen Leipzig und der Mulde - Flugplatz Brandis 1935-1945

$

0

0

Arado Ar 66 (most likely a C subtype) seen refuelling from a truck, photographed from the cockpit of a Junkers W 34. Exact date and location unknown. (Fischer collection)

---

Heinkel He 70

November 16, 2011, 12:36 pm

≫ Next: Fieseler Fi 156 With Skis

≪ Previous: Arado Ar 66

$

0

0

Heinkel He 70 D, D-UBIN, "Falke", Werknummer 709, operated by Deutsche Lufthansa, photographed approximately 1936. Photo was originally featured in Transaer 1937 - Handbuch des internationalen Luftverkehrs [Handbook Of International Air Transport], edited by Fischer von Poturzyn, Dr. Heinz Orlovius, and August Dresel, 538 pages, published as an edition of 2000 copies, by Richard Pflaum Verlag, Munich, Germany, 1937. (Fischer collection)

Fieseler Fi 156 With Skis

November 23, 2011, 5:55 pm

≫ Next: Nachtjagdleitschiff Togo

≪ Previous: Heinkel He 70

$

0

0

Replacement of main wheels and tail wheel of a Fieseler Fi 156 Storch with articulated skis for winter operations.

These drawings were originally featured in Das Flugzeug - Dritte Auflage [The Aircraft - Third Edition], edited by Theo E. Sönnichsen, published by Richard Carl Schmidt & Co., Berlin, Germany, 1942. Das Flugzeug was a heavily illustrated, 944 page (!) handbook on technical, mechanical, and operational aspects of aviation.

Das Flugzeg also included an additional illustrated booklet detailing the design and configuration of the Focke-Wulf Fw 58 Weihe, a large German aircraft identification wall poster, and various fold-out color plates. (Fischer collection)

Nachtjagdleitschiff Togo

November 24, 2011, 6:03 pm

≫ Next: Messerschmitt Bf 109 B-1

≪ Previous: Fieseler Fi 156 With Skis

$

0

0

Kurt Petsch, Preußischer Militär-Verlag, Reutlingen, Germany, 1988; ISBN 3-927292-00-1. Illustrated, hardcover, 215 x 150 mm, 212 printed pages, published in German.

Cover image © by Preußischer Militär-Verlag, 1988.

NJL Togo (NJL = Nachtjagdleitschiff = night fighter guide ship) was quite a unique ship, and its significance with regard to the Luftwaffe’s night fighter operations warrants the inclusion of this book within the scope of this blog.

NJL Togo was the last night fighter guide ship of the German Kriegsmarine (navy) and Luftwaffe in World War II. Launched as a merchant vessel (M/S Togo) in 1938, it was absorbed into the Kriegsmarine after the commencement of hostilities and initially converted into a minelayer and then into an auxiliary cruiser. It also served as a minesweeper, and as a merchant harassment cruiser. In late 1943, after the loss of the Kriegsmarine’s first night fighter guide ship, NJL Kreta, the vessel was converted to a radar ship. It subsequently served as a night fighter guide ship until the end of the war, although its final missions also included refugee evacuation in the Bay of Danzig.

The operations of NJL Togo were directed by the Luftwaffe. Intended to close gaps in the German radar network, the ship was stationed in the Baltic Sea. It carried a Freya long-range radar and a Würzburg-Riese medium-range radar. The large parabolic dish of the Würzburg-Riese radar was a prominent feature of the ship’s silhouette after its conversion to a radar ship. NJL Togo was also fitted with significant flak artillery. The ship was operated jointly by two crews. A Kriegsmarine crew ran the ship, while 74 Luftwaffe radar specialists were in charge of the night fighter guide equipment.

This little known but highly fascinating component of the World War II Luftwaffe is covered in great detail in Kurt Petsch's Nachtjagdleitschiff Togo. The book is a veritable treasure trove of information and illustrations. While it contains a number of photos of the actual NJL Togo, there are also numerous drawings, cross-sections, maps, and original documents. The text itself first details the ship and its installations and then reproduces the contents of the ship's log, from October 1943 to March 16, 1945. An assortment of brief reports of various incidents during NJL Togo's operations completes the narrative.

It is impossible, however, to review this book without voicing a number of serious reservations. Even though Nachtjagdleitschiff Togo was published by what seems to be a proper publishing house, the book's layout is somewhat deficient and often even amateurish. Moreover, a good number of illustrations were either created freehand or captioned by hand, which makes much intriguing content look rather unprofessional. Most puzzlingly, however, is that the entire text of the book, including all photo captions, has been printed in the old Fraktur (blackletter) script. This renders the text very tedious to read for modern eyes. What a shame.

Messerschmitt Bf 109 B-1

November 25, 2011, 5:27 pm

≫ Next: Junkers Variable Pitch Propeller

≪ Previous: Nachtjagdleitschiff Togo

$

0

0

M. Maslov, ExPrint NV Ltd., Moscow, Russia, 1995. Illustrated, softcover, published in Russian and English.

Cover image © by ExPrint NV Ltd., 1995.

It’s blatantly obvious, the entries in this blog frequently feature what one could term "obscure publications". The reason for this is simple. It is often an obscure, underground publication which turns out to be a hidden treasure. It is one of the privileges of running such a blog (and doing it entirely without being restrained by the fetters of commercial demands) that one is not necessarily required to bow to the preferences of a wider audience but instead is granted the complete freedom to also cover such little known gems

This little booklet is a prime example of the above. At 26 printed pages and a format of 200 x 290 mm, it certainly seems insignificant enough. In fact, it comes across like a thin magazine. But in reality, Maslov’s Messerschmitt Bf 109 B-1 is an extremely detailed walk-around type publication, revealing amazing details of an otherwise rather poorly covered variant (simply due to lower production numbers and its absence from front line units during World War II) of Messerschmitt’s Bf 109.

On December 4, 1937, during German operations with the Legion Condor as part of the Spanish Civil War, Feldwebel Otto Polenz landed his early model Bf 109, coded 6●15, on Republican-held territory after running out of fuel. The then state of the art fighter aircraft was of course a priced possession. While still in Spain, it was thoroughly tested by the French. Subsequently, the aircraft was shipped to the Soviet Union for further evaluation at the NII VVS air force research institute. The NII VVS prepared a comprehensive and exhaustively illustrated report, the photos of which now constitute this fantastic booklet.

Following a brief introduction in Russian and English, Maslov’s Messerschmitt Bf 109 B-1 is basically a photo album with compact captions. The photos show incredible detail and cover most parts of the aircraft. They are hugely interesting, not least because there still exists a dearth of reference material on early Bf 109s (as opposed to the abundance available on later versions of the aircraft). Included in the coverage are the Jumo 210 engine, the cockpit and its components, the landing gear, interior details, armament, and much more. The booklet is thus also an excellent modeler's reference.

In closing, a couple of points should perhaps be addressed. In my humble opinion, the modern four-view drawing on page 12 might be slightly questionable in some areas, e.g. the Bf 109's nose section. Moreover, Maslov (and much of the available literature on German military aviation in the Spanish Civil War) refers to this aircraft as a Bf 109 B-1. In his excellent The Messerschmitt Bf 109 - Part 1: Prototype To "E" Variants (SAM Publications, England, 2005), Lynn Ritger proposes that it was, in fact, a Bf 109 A. Ritger backs this assertion by means of a number of intriguing observations.

Junkers Variable Pitch Propeller

November 26, 2011, 6:29 pm

≫ Next: Dornier Do 215

≪ Previous: Messerschmitt Bf 109 B-1

$

0

0

Design and mode of operation of Junkers variable pitch propeller (based on the Hamilton principle), as featured in Das Flugzeug - Dritte Auflage [The Aircraft - Third Edition], edited by Theo E. Sönnichsen, published by Richard Carl Schmidt & Co., Berlin, Germany, 1942. (Fischer collection)