X-Planes: German Luftwaffe Prototypes 1930-1945

by Manfred Griehl

Renowned German aviation specialist Manfred Griehl has collected a unique and valuable selection of photographs of Luftwaffe projects that never made it into battle. They remained on the drawing board or at prototype stage either because they were deemed unsuitable or the developers simply ran out of time and the projects never went into production.Most photographs come from the development sites and testing grounds of the major manufacturers of Nazi companies such as Dornier, Junkers, Focke-Wulf and Heinkel all received funding from the government to develop bigger and faster aircraft. A huge amount of private testing went on with major organizations such as Daimler-Benz, BMW and Siemens investing huge amounts in new engine systems and other advances such as radar.This book also details the innumerable alterations that were made to existing service aircraft to equip them for new roles. There are examples of Fw190s developed for the delivery of chemical and toxic weapons, the high altitude Junkers EF 61, the early prototype WNF 342 helicopter as well as numerous examples of developmental jet fighters that could very well have been realized had it not been for the effectiveness of the Allied bombing campaign in restricting the supply of necessary materials.

Genres: Military Fiction

498 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 19, 2012

Reviews

[Friedrich Haas]

A fine overview. I now know why many designs never made it to combat.

[Friedrich Haas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Strictly a reference book. I was hoping for more of the stories of the aircraft.