Fighter aircraft - Luftwaffe: books - history and types

German Anti-tank Aircraft

Covers German anti-tank/assault aircraft: Bf 109, Fw 190, Ju 87, Ju 88, Hs 129, He 177 and others.

Luftwaffe Emergency Fighters : Blohm & Voss, Heinkel, Junkers, Messerschmitt and Focke-Wulf (Osprey)

In late 1944, the German Air Ministry organised what it called an 'Emergency Fighter Competition' intended to produce designs for quick-to-build yet technically and tactically effective jet fighter aircraft capable of tackling the anticipated arrival of the B-29 Superfortress over Europe, as well as the British Mosquito and US P-38 Lightning which were appearing in ever greater numbers.

Thus was born a cutting-edge, highly sophisticated series of aircraft including:
- Blohm & Voss P.212
- Heinkel P.1087C
- Junkers EF 128
- Messerschmitt P.1101, P.1110 and P.1111
- and Focke-Wulf TA 183.

Armed with heavy cannon and the latest air-to-air rockets and missiles, these were designed to inflict carnage on American bomber formations at high speed.
Using stunning three-view illustrations of each prototype along with full colour artwork, aviation expert Robert Forsyth traces the history of the extraordinary aircraft of the 'Emergency Fighter Competition', Hitler's last throw of the dice in the air war against the Allies.

Nachtjagd, Defenders of the Reich 1940-1943

This new volume from Martin Bowman examines the first three years of the Second World War, consolidating first-hand accounts from German fighter pilots caught up in some of the most dramatic night time conflicts of the early war years.

Viewing Bomber Command's operations through the eyes of the enemy, the reader is offered a fresh and intriguing perspective.
Set in context by Bowman's historical narrative, these snippets of pilot testimony work to offer an authentic sense of events as they played out.

German Nightfighter Aces of World War 2 (Osprey)

When the Luftwaffe entered World War 2, its nightfighter force was virtually nonexistent thanks to its leader, Reichmarschall Hermann Göring, who boasted that bombs would never fall on Germany.
By mid-1940 his folly was evident; the first night fighter wing was hastily formed with Bf 110s. Initially capable of detecting targets by visual acquisition only, the force greatly improved its effectiveness with the creation of the 'Giant Würzburg' radar chain. By the end of 1942, the night fighter force controlled some 389 fighters and had destroyed 1,291 RAF bombers in that year alone.
Complete with first-hand accounts and detailed colour illustrations, this book profiles the many variations of night fighters, and the men who made ace flying them.

Contents: Introduction - With Lights and Guns - Intruders - Electronic Eyes - Hamburg Watershed - 'Wild Boar' and Jazz Musik - Last Kills - Fighter's Night - Appendices.

German Jet Aircraft 1939-1945

Germany was one of the leading developers of jet propulsion during the Second World War - in August 1939 the world's first jet aircraft, the Heinkel He 178, took to the air on its maiden flight.

This book examines all of the developments, production and aircraft types: He 280, Me 262, Ar 234, He 162, Ju 287, Ho IX, Me 328, P1101, Hs 132, DM 1, Ta 183 and others by such aircraft manufacturers as Heinkel, Junkers, Messerschmitt, and powerplant manufacturers BMW and Daimler-Benz.
Numerous photographs and three-view drawings illustrate this extraordinary book.

German Rocket Fighters of World War II

In 1940 the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug launched the DFS 194, developed by Alexander Lippisch, and the tests with this experimental plane laid the foundation for the Messerschmitt Me 163, the world's first operational rocket fighter.
Using a Walter rocket engine, the Me 163 achieved hitherto unimaginable climb rates and speeds. It was in this rocket powered plane that, on 2 October 1941, Heini Dittmar reached 1003 km/h and thus became the first pilot in the world to break the magic mark of 1000 km/h. In so doing, he also brushed against the sound barrier.

The technology incorporated into Germany's rocket planes - the Messerschmitt Me 163 Bs and Cs, the Me 263, and Bachem Ba 349 Natter - was recognized throughout the world as cutting edge and after the war had a major impact on the technological development of other countries.
This book is the first to present every rocket aircraft flown in Germany and the rocket systems developed by Walter and BMW, as well as several of the most interesting projects drawn up by Germany's aviation industry.