Messerschmitt aircraft: books - history and technology

Messerschmitt - Pionnier de l'aéronautique allemande de 1914 à nos jours

Messerschmitt, si ce nom évoque le premier chasseur à réaction à voler en opération, le Me262, c'est aussi le célèbre M109 adversaire malheureux des Spitfire de la bataille d'Angleterre. Mais au-delà de l'aviation militaire, Messerschmitt désigne avant tout son créateur, Willi Messerschmitt, un génial pionnier de la construction aéronotique allemande.
C'est l'histoire de cette firme née au lendemain de la Grande Guerre - aujourd'hui devenu le grand groupe Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB-EADS) dont la production, avec plus de cent mille salariés, va de l'Airbus à la fusée Ariane -, que dévoile ce volume, pour la première fois, grâce à des documents d'archives, des photographies inédites et des plans originaux.
Aujourd'hui, Messerschmitt reste à la tête de l'innovation parmi les plus grands de l'aéronotique avec plus de 150 modèles créés en 70 années.

Les 350 illustrations, les plans détaillés des avions les plus célèbres, tant civils que militaires, et l'histoire précisément documentée de ce volume consacré à ce constructeur mythique font de cet ouvrage un incontournable de l'histoire de l'aviation. Rien d'aussi complet sur le sujet, en dehors de quelques monographies sur certains modèles.

Willy Messerschmitt - Pioneer of Aviation Design

Willy Messerschmitt (1898-1978) was indisputably one of the most significant of Germany's aeronautical design engineers.

This book examines Messerschmitt's life as a designer, aircraft builder, and businessman; it begins with the Harth-Messerschmitt gliders (1913-1923), winds its way through the sportplanes of the 1920s and 1930s, the M 18 and M 20 passenger airliners, the Bf 108 Taifun commuter plane, the Bf/Me 109, 110, 210, 410 military aircraft, and continues on to the Me 261, 264, 321, and 323 behemoths, as well as the Me 262 jet powered combat plane and swing-wing P.1101.
The activities of the Messerschmitt AG after World War II, with the forced interruption of German aircraft production and Professor Messerschmitt's foreign developments in Spain and Egypt, are also given a thorough treatment.

Messerschmitt Aircraft since 1925 (Fact File)

Wilhelm Emil Messerschmitt is the most famous German aircraft designer and manufacturer. Messerschmitt's single most important design was the Bf 109, designed in 1934 which remains the most-produced fighter in history.
Another Messerschmitt model, the Me 209, broke the absolute world air-speed record. Messerschmitt AG also produced the first jet-powered aircraft in the world, the Me 262.

This Fact File edition includes details on all Messerschmitt aircraft and its variants. Included are all the facts and figures associated with each plane combined with contemporary photographs making this serious reference book.

Jagdgeschwader 400 : Germany's Elite Rocket Fighters (Osprey)

The Jagdgeschwader 400 group was formed for the sole purpose of flying one of the world's most revolutionary aircraft, the rocket-powered Me 163.
Although the Me 163 scored relatively few kills, with a success rate much lower than the Me 262, it still had a massive psychological impact upon the Allies, and the technology and experiences gained in the Me 163 went on to influence the jet fighters of modern times.

The introduction of jet-powered aircraft demanded massive changes in training, equipment, servicing and tactics, all of which are described and examined in this essential analysis of the story of the Me 163 in frontline service with Erprobungskommando 16 and Jagdgeschwader 400.

Messerschmitt Me 264 Amerika Bomber (Osprey)

As Europe plunged into World War II, Hitler ordered the development of a hi-tech secret weapon capable of taking the war across the Atlantic - the Messerschmitt Me 264. Chosen from designs for an 'Amerika Bomber' tendered by Messerschmitt, Junkers and Focke-Wulf, this ultra-long-range aircraft would be capable of attacking cities in the United States. Just one month before the attack on Pearl Harbor and the American entry into World War II Hitler was promising, privately, to wage a 'new war' against the USA after his victories in Europe.

Dazzling digital artwork and 50 rare archive photographs perfectly complement the detailed analysis offered by Robert Forsyth as he examines the development, intended role and influence of the aircraft that Hitler planned to use to bomb New York City.

Secret Messerschmitt Projects - Studies, projects and prototypes for single-engine fighter aircraft

The P1101 was Messerschmitt's second jet aircraft after the Me 262. Designed as a fighter, the test version of this type was to serve as an experimental aircraft to test the swept wing concept.
After World War II, the P1101 was brought to the U.S.A. and served there, among other things, as a testbed for the similar developments. Photos and data of this astonishing, yet understandably unknown aircraft with its futuristic technology are rare.

This book is a comprehensive documention. where not only the development history with all the important data concerning the P1101 is gathered, but also photos, detailed facts and figures about this aircraft.
While there are innumerable German technical publications about well-known, mass-produced Messerschmitt aircraft, the authors have been successful with this book in supplementing these works with the portrayal of the last almost completed Messerschmitt aircraft.

Me 209 V1 (X Planes of the Reich)

Rare history of the the secretive and seldom photographed Messerschmitt Me 209 V1, V2, V3, and V4 prototypes.

Messerschmitt Me 263 (X Planes of the Reich)

The Messerschmitt Me 163, designed by Alexander Lippisch, wasn't quite finished even though it went into serial production. The RLM called upon Heinrich Hertel of Junkers Flugzeugbau to give the aging 163 a complete make over and a make up for all the initial items it lacked - that is a cruising HWK 509 bi-fuel liquid rocket engine with a dual combustion chamber, tricycle landing gear, C and T-Stoff fuel tanks in the wings to provide longer flight duration, and so on.

Although Hertel's machine was not flight tested under power prior to war's end, the new and improved version now known as the Me 263 was test flown post war in the USSR.
David Myhra has assembled previously unpublished photos, state-of-the art digital images, and photos of a 263 scale model to make this book on the 263 a one of a kind photographic reference.

The Messerschmitt Me P.1101 (X Planes of the Reich)

Powered by a single HeS 001A turbojet engine, Woldemer Voigt, who had artfully crafted the Me 262, ran out of time before he could make the 1101's design "jell" as he struggled to produce the world's first variable wing sweep, ultra light weight interceptor, and armed with Germany's state-of-the art wing-mounted air-to-air guided missiles.
Post-war, Bell Aircraft sought to carry on Voigt's planning and resolved to make the complicated mathematics of light weight, variable wing sweep and wing-mounted weapons come together in a single aircraft design. The result was the Bell X-5, and it too, was disappointing.

This photographic history of the Me P.1101 by David Myhra features mostly previously unpublished photos, three-view line drawings, and stunningly realistic photos of a 1101 scale model.

Die Messerschmitt-Werke im Zweiten Weltkrieg

Am Beispiel der Regensburger Messerschmitt-Werke wird in dem vorliegenden Band eine ebenso aufregende wie aufwendige Dokumentation der deutschen Rüstungsindustrie des Zweiten Weltkriegs vorgelegt.
Dem Autor ist nach jahrelangen Forschungen, Interviews mit Zeitzeugen und mit bislang unbekanntem Fotomaterial eine eindringliche Dokumentation eines bedeutenden Kapitels der deutschen Luftfahrtgeschichte gelungen.