Luftwaffe Confidential

[gatoraptor]

I recently came across this book, which I'm surprised I have not seen mentioned on this forum. The author (Claudio Lamas de Farias) and illustrator (Daniel Uhr) are both Brazilian, the book is published in Germany by Eqip Werbung & Verlag, and it is available in separate English, German and Portuguese editions.

The book is subdivided by technologies, rather than by aircraft name, with the main headings being Aerodynamics, Configuration, VTOL and Special Missions. Topics covered include such things as swept wings (aft, forward & variable), crescent wings, oblique wings, delta wings, tailless aircraft, twin-fuselage aircraft, asymmetric aircraft, butterly tails, T tails, convertiplanes, tail-sitters, parasite aircraft and rocket-powered aircraft. The book is illustrated with a combination of photos and Mr. Uhr's artworks, in the style of Midland's "Secret Projects" series.

I would say that at 166 pages and a lot of topics covered, the coverage on individual topics is rather brief at times, but the book is quite readable. Mr. Lamas did the English translation and it is generally very good. Postwar developments of these technologies is described, and there is particular emphasis on Argentine activities, perhaps due to the nationality of the author. The relationship of the Ta 183, MiG-15 and IAE Pulqui II is covered in some detail.

Is the book worth 29 Euros? That's up to you to decide, but I was glad that I bought it. The publisher's webpage is at http://www.eqip.de/index.php?page=shop.product_details&category_id=8&flypage=yagendoo_VaMazing_zoom2.tpl&product_id=34&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=74&lang=en. I found it available at http://www.amazon.de/Luftwaffe-Confidential-Fundamentals-Modern-Aeronautical/dp/3980883841/ and at http://buchhandel.de/default.aspx?strframe=titelsuche&caller=vlbPublic&nSiteId=11&Func=Search&stichwort=luftwaffe%20confidential.

 

[Antonio]

Why only available at amazon.de? Not from amazon.es?

 

[BAROBA]

@pometablava,
It has to do with the publisher I think, amazon.de doesn't sell it, it is a marketplace-seller who uses the amazon.de-name/system.

@gatoraptor,
Can you send us an low-res example of one of the pages? I am curious to see with is inside, the covers don't show much..

Cheers,

Rob

 

[gatoraptor]

I don't think the publisher would mind this, if it helps sell more books!

 

[Geist]

About selling in Amazon.de and not in Amazon.es, as was said before, was a publisher decision, but now it can also be found at aviation bookshop.

[font=arial][SIZE=2][url=http://www.aviation-bookshop.com/asp/releases.asp]http://www.aviation-bookshop.com/asp/releases.asp[/url][/SIZE][/font]

We (me and Claudio) decided to devide the book by technologies, because we wanted to make a link between what was developed in 40's by the Germans and that are still in someway in use like swept back wings. Besides it to show that sometimes the "modern" designs are not so new as said but are a review based on "old" projects such as swept foward wing and flying wing.

Best regards
Daniel Uhr
http://www.duhraviationart.com/

 

[Geist]

Links where you can buy it

• Ebay.Pl
• Ebay.At
• Ebay.It
• Ebay.De
• Ebay.UK
• Ebay.Be

• Intu (Österreich)
• Tyrolia(Österreich)
• Niedrigster-preis (Deutschland)
• Maudrich (Österreich)
• Autobooks-aerobooks (USA)
• Christian-schmidt Bookshop (Deutschland)
• Aviation Bookshop.(UK)
• Amazon.de
• Eqip.de(Publisher)

 

[Antonio]

no amazon.es?

 

[Geist]

Not until now. (lamentablemente)
but you can find at Ebay.Es

Ebay.Es
Ebay.Au
Facultas (Österreich)

 

[Geist]

3 links more for the book

oebv

Ebay.Ch

Ebay.Fr

 

[Geist]

Can also be found at

Amazon.com

 

[Geist]

Recently gathering info (feedback market) about the book, I got this pleasent message from an website where his owner writes reviews about various aviation book, just like Gatoraptor did in this topic in the initial post.

---------

"A book about the German developments and projects before and during WWII is not an exception. Midland Publishing supplies a complete series (Luftwaffe Secret Projects), while other publishers have also done their bit.

But now German publisher Eqip, known for their authoritative books on gliding and sailplane history (Sailplanes-series), has produced a book that gives the subject a new twist. Unlike other books, which tend to list all 'old' German projects, with all kinds of derivatives, the authors of 'Luftwaffe confidential' start out with a limited amount of designs and then explain how these designs have inspired and influenced modern aircraft design.

The book has four main sections: Aerodynamics, Configuration, VTOL and Special missions. Sounds all a bit technical at first, but don't let that scare you! The book goes deep into the different subjects, but never becomes tedious; the use of the English language is smooth and correct, but not complicated.

Both military and civil projects are dealt with, and many times a connection to the present has been made, for example indicating at which museum a certain aircraft can still be seen. The human factor is not overlooked either - at several places the authors have put biographical excursions to certain designers.

A pleasant surprise about this book is that even people knowledgeable about its subject find new information. The history of the Horten 'flying wings' is extensively discussed - also what happened after WWII. It is often assumed Horten quit after 1945 with the development and construction of the flying wings, but in Argentina a quite remarkable 'restart' was made.

Horten began with the construction of gliders in Argentina, after 1945, but their 'magnum opus' was a four-engined cargo plane, specifically built to transport oranges from the Argentinian farmlands to its capital, the IAe 38 "Naranjero". The single prototype made a total of four flights, but the project was shelved because only Argentinian power plants could be used, which were not powerful enough by a long shot.

The authors, two Brazilians, clearly show how modern aircraft are in many ways inspired by the German designs of the WWII-era. It must be said that some arguments are taken a bit to far of base: calling a Fokker G1 a "twin-fuselage" aircraft is stretching - single fuselage, twin tail boom, would be more accurate… Proof reading could also stand some improvement: at the Daimler-Benz Project A+F the text states it is a twin-engined aircraft, the illustration (same page) shows four engines.

All-in-all both the text and the illustrations of the book are of high quality; the price can only be called 'very friendly'. For the connoisseurs the book is a nice addition to their collection, for those with a more general interest in aviation (history) this is the book to have on this subject. So, despite a few quibbles, highly recommended!

Anton van Rijsbergen from www.Avianet.eu "

Thank you both
Daniel Uhr

 

[edwest4]

I found the book disappointing overall. The layout was amateur with a jarring mix of computer rendered designs at various sizes that just wasted space, some unnecessary white space, and only a few bits of information that I had not seen published elsewhere. There were a few photos showing the Pulqui designed by Kurt Tank but what does that have to do with the topic? There are better, more comprehensive books available.

 

[hesham]

Hi,

Book design

The main idea of the book is not only to show the Germans projects developed beteween 1939 and 1945, but relate them to the main changes in the aeronautical design and it's reflection up to now in the civil and military area among other area.

www.behance.net