Secret Projects of the Luftwaffe

Vahe Demirjian

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A couple new books are on pre-order at Amazon.co.uk:


It'd be interesting to see if those volumes contain some new info regarding well-known Nazi-era rocket and jet fighter and jet bomber projects.
 
I'm sure Dan can enlighten us given he is an active member of the forum.;)
 
These are compiled from Dan's bookazines with a sprinkling of extra stuff.

newsdeskdan said:
Secret Projects of the Luftwaffe: Jet Fighters and Secret Projects of the Luftwaffe: Bombers will include content from across my Luftwaffe: Secret series, plus some previously unpublished images, in order to tell the full story of jet fighter and bomber development, respectively, in Nazi Germany.
 
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I told the story of jet fighters in Luftwaffe: Secret Jets in 2016 and bombers in 2017's Luftwaffe: Secret Bombers. I've done a lot of research since then, however (some of it scattered across subsequent volumes of the Luftwaffe: Secret series), and can now offer a much clearer picture of how aircraft intended for each role were developed. I also have previously unpublished drawings to include as you might expect. In addition, these will be hardback books, rather than magazine format bookazines.
 
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Does the volume about bomber aircraft follow the 1998 volume about the He 177 in listing the He 277 as a separate entry from the He 177B, since the He 277 was clearly a different machine from the He 177B in terms of having a bigger wingspan and Blenheim-like nose section?
 
Does the volume about bomber aircraft follow the 1998 volume about the He 177 in listing the He 277 as a separate entry from the He 177B, since the He 277 was clearly a different machine from the He 177B in terms of having a bigger wingspan and Blenheim-like nose section?

From GL/C-E 2 memo Nr. 12987/43 of July 10, 1943:

04.jpg
 
I can now confirm a few more details of this new hardback book. It's going to be about 150,000w with 600 images - about 75 of which are previously unpublished. Probably about the same number have previously been published by me in a much more degraded condition (I've since found better versions of many of the images I've used previously).
I expect that it will run to 336 pages not including the cover - for £27.50. And I will be making sure that the text runs in two columns per page and that it will be justified.
It will also have about 400 footnotes detailing all the sources used so that anyone with any doubts about the account presented - or who thinks that perhaps someone else's contradictory but unsourced account might be more accurate - can go and see the original source for themselves.

By way of comparison, my softback Luftwaffe: Secret Jets of the Third Reich bookazine of 2015 had about 80,000w with 300 images crammed into 132 pages including covers - albeit at a much lower price.

For Secret Projects of the Luftwaffe Volume 1: Jet Fighters 1939-1945, rather than simply repurposing the content of Luftwaffe: Secret Jets, I have written a new account of German jet fighter development during WW2 utilising hundreds of sources I hadn't yet discovered in 2015 and while the broad picture remains similar, I have been able to go into significantly greater detail and show how everything is backed up by original German wartime documents.


Secret Projects Jet Fighters.jpg
 
Any idea of when it will be available?

Hopefully within a couple of months. It was originally slated for the back end of last year but it's simply not been possible to write a book this size and this complex that quickly. But it is written now. All the words and images are ready - just waiting on the completion of design work.
 
Got a copy of each book on preorder; looking forward to them.

The bombers book shouldn't take quite so long to write - there was less wrong with the original Luftwaffe: Secret Bombers than there was with the original Luftwaffe: Secret Jets. But I still have plenty of unseen material I can add to it.
 
Amazone.de just cancelled my preorder of the Jet Fighters. Such a mess. I cannot order directly from mortons, because I don´t have a credit card at the moment...
 
Amazone.de just cancelled my preorder of the Jet Fighters. Such a mess. I cannot order directly from mortons, because I don´t have a credit card at the moment...
Don’t mind, the books weren’t released on that date.
 
I wish someone would do a volume on the postwar German Luftwaffe,'s secret projects.
 
Or to broaden it perhaps Western European projects. There are some nifty Italian and Dutch projects. France of course merits a whole volume or two but then there are some gorgeous French books already.
 
I notice that noone has come up with one.
 
uk 75 which french books do you recommend?
Apologies, what I actually meant were these two books by M. Carbonnel in English. Though there are excellent French books on the Mirage Family and nuclear bombers
 

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Amazone.de just cancelled my preorder of the Jet Fighters. Such a mess. I cannot order directly from mortons, because I don´t have a credit card at the moment...
Don’t mind, the books weren’t released on that date.

Thanks! I hoped it would be so...
Great work!


The book is 336 pages long and design work is now complete on all but seven - the index and second appendix. Final corrections have been completed on all but 20 pages including those seven. Hoping to have the whole thing print-ready by early next week.
 
I wish someone would do a volume on the postwar German Luftwaffe,'s secret projects.

That would make a very interesting book. I have too many projects on the go as it is though.
That sounds interesting. Can we get a glimpse on your list?

I still need to finish my He 162 and Me 262 books, as well as the second volume of Secret Projects of the Luftwaffe (bombers) and my Breaking the Luftwaffe book on how the USAAF used Ultra intercepts to target and destroy the German air force. Design work on my small Fw 190 book is very nearly finished, so hopefully that should be out reasonably soon.
Beyond that, I have a couple of non-projects profiles bookazines due later this year, another very large book project that's taking a lot of time to bring together (and for which I have done a vast amount of research and carried out several interviews, one lasting three whole days) and a couple of further small book projects which are reasonably far along.
My main concern at present, though, is editing Calum Douglas's The Secret Horsepower Race ready for publication.
 
I still need to finish my He 162 and Me 262 books, as well as the second volume of Secret Projects of the Luftwaffe (bombers) and my Breaking the Luftwaffe book on how the USAAF used Ultra intercepts to target and destroy the German air force. Design work on my small Fw 190 book is very nearly finished, so hopefully that should be out reasonably soon.
Beyond that, I have a couple of non-projects profiles bookazines due later this year, another very large book project that's taking a lot of time to bring together (and for which I have done a vast amount of research and carried out several interviews, one lasting three whole days) and a couple of further small book projects which are reasonably far along.
My main concern at present, though, is editing Calum Douglas's The Secret Horsepower Race ready for publication.

Do you ever feel guilty about being so lazy?
 
I wish someone would do a volume on the postwar German Luftwaffe,'s secret projects.

That would make a very interesting book. I have too many projects on the go as it is though.
That sounds interesting. Can we get a glimpse on your list?

I still need to finish my He 162 and Me 262 books, as well as the second volume of Secret Projects of the Luftwaffe (bombers) and my Breaking the Luftwaffe book on how the USAAF used Ultra intercepts to target and destroy the German air force. Design work on my small Fw 190 book is very nearly finished, so hopefully that should be out reasonably soon.
Beyond that, I have a couple of non-projects profiles bookazines due later this year, another very large book project that's taking a lot of time to bring together (and for which I have done a vast amount of research and carried out several interviews, one lasting three whole days) and a couple of further small book projects which are reasonably far along.
My main concern at present, though, is editing Calum Douglas's The Secret Horsepower Race ready for publication.
And the series next chapter maybe: Me 328/P.1079
 
I wish someone would do a volume on the postwar German Luftwaffe,'s secret projects.

That would make a very interesting book. I have too many projects on the go as it is though.
That sounds interesting. Can we get a glimpse on your list?

I still need to finish my He 162 and Me 262 books, as well as the second volume of Secret Projects of the Luftwaffe (bombers) and my Breaking the Luftwaffe book on how the USAAF used Ultra intercepts to target and destroy the German air force. Design work on my small Fw 190 book is very nearly finished, so hopefully that should be out reasonably soon.
Beyond that, I have a couple of non-projects profiles bookazines due later this year, another very large book project that's taking a lot of time to bring together (and for which I have done a vast amount of research and carried out several interviews, one lasting three whole days) and a couple of further small book projects which are reasonably far along.
My main concern at present, though, is editing Calum Douglas's The Secret Horsepower Race ready for publication.
Quite impressive! He-162, Me-262 still preordered. Btw. today I finished my BV-155 reading. You do so fantastic work/research! Have a good time.
 
A few months ago Amazon had the 262 volume listed but now its gone. Has it just been pushed back indefinitely?
 
Secret Projects of the Luftwaffe Volume 1: Jet Fighters 1939-1945 finally went to press yesterday. I think the UV cover edition may now have been limited to 300 copies, which is a relief frankly, because signing even 100 books really takes its toll on my wrist and 500 would have been hell. The He 162 volume is still due out later this year but the 262 one has been pushed back to early next year. Here's another sample spread from SPLV1:

Secret Projects spread 2.jpg
 

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