Secret Projects of the Luftwaffe

Zizi6785 said:
newsdeskdan said:
Zizi6785 said:
Maybe is not a Flitzer mock-up:
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I think this is FWII:
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Interesting point - you could be right - though the 'intake' ring at the front seems a little too small.
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Same size as the other, Ta-183
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It might be possible to prove it one way or another. It would depend on when it snowed in Germany during 1944! I did try to find meteorological records for the period but drew a blank. If it didn't snow until after mid-December, you're probably right.
 
newsdeskdan said:
Zizi6785 said:
newsdeskdan said:
Zizi6785 said:
Maybe is not a Flitzer mock-up:
View attachment 636451
I think this is FWII:
View attachment 636452
Click to expand...

Interesting point - you could be right - though the 'intake' ring at the front seems a little too small.
Click to expand...
Same size as the other, Ta-183
Click to expand...

It might be possible to prove it one way or another. It would depend on when it snowed in Germany during 1944! I did try to find meteorological records for the period but drew a blank. If it didn't snow until after mid-December, you're probably right.
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Dan, you're doing a thorough job! We all thank you for that!
 
Looks pretty convincing, though presumably it applies to the original straight-spine version of Projekt Mittelhuber than the later curved spine version, which would place the photo in January 1945...
 
Fits better at the spine but not so well on the nose. Nevertheless, it does appear to be Projekt Mittelhuber. I just called the printers and apparently they haven't started plating the pages yet so the captions on p139 can and will be altered accordingly - thanks for the help Zizi!

EDIT: The printers have now been sent a revised version of p139 and I'm told that printing will commence tomorrow.
 
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newsdeskdan said:
Fits better at the spine but not so well on the nose. Nevertheless, it does appear to be Projekt Mittelhuber. I just called the printers and apparently they haven't started plating the pages yet so the captions on p139 can and will be altered accordingly - thanks for the help Zizi!

EDIT: The printers have now been sent a revised version of p139 and I'm told that printing will commence tomorrow.
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What finally became the caption?
 
Some sample pages:
issuu.com

Secret Projects of the Luftwaffe Volume 1 Jet Fighters preview

Buy now: https://www.mortonsbooks.co.uk/product/view/productCode/15008 Germany’s air ministry was quick to grasp the potential of the jet engine as early as 1938 and by 1939 several German aircraft manufacturers were already working on fighter designs that would utilise this new form of...
issuu.com issuu.com
 
First sample back from the printers. The rest are due to arrive today. This is the 'spot UV' cover version, limited to 300 copies, which shows off Ronnie Olsthoorn's artwork. You can only really see the title when you tilt the book into the light. I'll be signing and numbering 'the 300' next Wednesday and they'll go out to everyone who's bought them immediately thereafter. It's only available direct from Mortons.
The regular edition (not pictured), of which I think there are 2000 copies, has the title printed in black on the front. The RRP is the same for both versions - £27.50/$39.99.
The book is 336 pages long, has 600 illustrations, runs to about 150,000w and has all source material fully referenced (something like 500 primary source documents, although several thousand relevant primary source documents were checked - along with many more which turned out to be not so relevant), for those who care about such things.

IMG_1146[1].jpg IMG_1149.jpg
 
Looking forward to receiving my copy as I ordered a bunch of your stuff when it was first announced.
 
Have received my copy today, number 34 of 300 . . . I wasn't expecting to get a limited signed copy . . . :eek: :D
Good service from the publisher, too. Ordered on Tuesday last, arrived today.
A (very) quick look bears out what has been posted on this thread already, The way that the various projects have been grouped by requirement, rather than manufacturer, greatly helps with the understanding of their development, and how they relate to one another.
A minor gripe, I would have liked to have seen a heavier paper used, compared to say Chris Gibson's books, or the 'Convair Advanced Projects' books, (I had one to hand . . .) the pages in this book do feel a little . . . flimsy. But then I was a litho printer for 30 years, so I'm a 'Paper snob' . . . :p
Overall, though, well worth the purchase price, hell, it's worth it just for the illustrations.

cheers,
Robin.
 
robunos said:
Have received my copy today, number 34 of 300 . . . I wasn't expecting to get a limited signed copy . . . :eek: :D
Good service from the publisher, too. Ordered on Tuesday last, arrived today.
A (very) quick look bears out what has been posted on this thread already, The way that the various projects have been grouped by requirement, rather than manufacturer, greatly helps with the understanding of their development, and how they relate to one another.
A minor gripe, I would have liked to have seen a heavier paper used, compared to say Chris Gibson's books, or the 'Convair Advanced Projects' books, (I had one to hand . . .) the pages in this book do feel a little . . . flimsy. But then I was a litho printer for 30 years, so I'm a 'Paper snob' . . . :p
Overall, though, well worth the purchase price, hell, it's worth it just for the illustrations.

cheers,
Robin.
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Thanks Robin!
 
My copy arrived today, number 127 of 300. I haven't had time to more than flip through it, but what I saw looks highly promising.
 
Finally got my copy! Although I had all Dan`s previous bookazines I could find a lot of new stuff here so, well worth the buy. My favorite novelty? The huge Focke-Wulf twin-boom night-fighter "Entwurf II", with a fantastic annular radiator, radar dish at the protruding diffusor and, for those who love aircraft engines, the side view of what was the Argus As 413, matching the unidentified project portrayed in page 149 of "Flugmotoren und Strahltriebwerke". Great!!!
 
Just adding this "goodie" to radar buffs: on pages 261 and 262 (specially the latter one) you can see the location of a FuG 224/240 Berlin antenna in the wing tip (extended) of the Dornier P 254/1. Amazing what a higher resolution image can show!
 
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Two days ago mine arrived too. I had some trouble getting it via amazon, but finally... I only can secon Wurger: this is a real rich source and very well illustrated. A very good upgrading from the bookazine (more information, more sources, more joy). Have a good read!
Cheers
 
Dan's latest Secret Projects of the Luftwaffe volume arrived with a thump in the post this morning. A beautifully produced and extensivly illustrated book, very very impressive and highly recommended indeed, thoroughly researched and is sure to become the primary reference on the subject. (loved the 'ghost titling' cover format too, mine is 163/300, which shows Ronnie Olsthoorn's artwork well)

heres to further volumes in the series :)
 
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newsdeskdan said:
elmayerle said:
My copy arrived today, number 127 of 300. I haven't had time to more than flip through it, but what I saw looks highly promising.
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I hope it lives up to the promise.
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I finished it this morning and it definitely lived up to the promise. I am very much looking forward to future volumes. Superb coverage that does an excellent job of putting everything in context.
 
I received my copy of the book, here in Oz, a short time ago. I went through Morton's to purchase the book, and I would have to say that they have been terrific in replying to my query's concerning this book and others of a similar nature previously purchased. The quality of this book is terrific, and though only a brief view has been taken to get a feel of its worth (information-based that is), my feeling is that it will easily measure up to, and pass, anything put out by other parties. The comprehensive listing of references, in itself, is noteworthy. My copy is number 208 of 300. Well done Mr Sharp!
 
I am lucky to have copy number 103. As others have said, the UV cover looks great and the content is superb! I really appreciate the extensive list of references provided, too. Most other books published on the subject fail to even come close to Mr Sharp's work.
 
I finally got my copy of the volume, via ebay. It's very well put together. However: My copy has been incorrectly bound! That is, it was bound upside down inside the main covers. You have to flip the book upside down, and start with the rear cover (in upside down format) and open the book, and there is the beginning of the book....But my hat is off to you, Dan Sharp, the book's contents are top notch.
 
I hope you'll do the same kind of book for other kind of aircraft ,going to get mine this weekend
 
finally got my copy and I must say that I like it ,the document are way bigger than the bookazine wich is a + to me ,I like the document on the Me P1099/P1100 wich I shall use for my revell model and the other novelty (even the intro got new document) ,the me 328 documentation shall be use for my me 328 from huma and my other on going build (more than 10 to do....) , I guess the profile are for the 2021 book right? and regarding the cover,I don't know why but the triebflügel remind of the fw 190 D13 yellow 10 ,so overall good book!
 
I recently pre-ordered a copy of the book Secret Projects of the Luftwaffe, Volume 2: Bombers 1939-1945 from Amazon.co.uk and I look forward to seeing it when it it delivered, because I'm sure it will take into account material that previously wasn't covered in Dan Sharp's 2016 magazine on Luftwaffe bomber projects, including drawings of the EF 116, additional documentation regarding the Ju 287 production versions, He 177B, and He 277. I've also ordered a copy of Secret Projects of the Luftwaffe, Volume 1: Jet Fighters 1939 -1945, and it makes clear that the Focke-Wulf Flitzer, Nachtjager, and Strahlrohrjäger were never given RLM designations (the Fw 226, Fw 251, and Fw 283 designations applied to these designs respectively are inventions in some postwar aviation literature on German jet aircraft projects and definitely are derived from Focke-Wulf drawing numbers).
 
Allowed to unwrap my copy of Vol. 1 today. Been sneaking aside with it ever since. First impressions:

Does what it says on the tin, a "proper" edition of the original bookazine, focusing on fighters and with additional/corrected material.

Generally similar format, though basically US letter rather than A4 and - a big hooray - text a point size or two bigger and two-column rather than three. Images too are generally larger, if only because 1/2 of US Letter is a heck of a lot wider than 1/3 of A4; that alone is a massive improvement. It all makes for more pages but the increase from 130 to 336 makes it clear just how much new material has been included from the later bookazines and elsewhere. Notes, Appendices and an Index complete the transformation. This is a proper book, all right.

The content has not only been refocused but also rewritten around the core thread which emerged for Dan's researches, in the various programmes initiated by Germany to try and develop jet aircraft for the war. In this, it is a historical study of no small significance and I do hope it gets the establishment recognition it deserves.

All I need to do now is read it through :)
 
Some further thoughts as I start to work through.

The conception remains hugely significant. For example one reads elsewhere of Lippisch and Horten being interviewed by Goring. But juxtaposing both, each given only 15 to 20 minutes, the one immediately after the other, and each sanctioned half a million to progress their latest all-wing warplanes side by side, starkly highlights an obviously considered placing of a 1 million Reichsmark bet both ways. Top stuff!

But proofreading could have been better. The text breaks flow across pp.66-68 (67 being all images and captions) and pp.111-112, and a paragraph half-repeats itself across another page break which I have since misplaced. The German translations betray their machine origin, sometimes quite grossly, and cry out for a copyedit by someone who knows both German grammar and UK aeronautical jargon. Let me know if you want a hand with the next reprint, Dan!

And some of the author's technical commentary is dubious. Does moving twin engines out to the wings really necessitate strengthening and thickening? Would the Arado dreieck really have been directionally unstable? Such suggestions are at best debatable half-truths.

Still, these are trivial gripes. The book as a whole contains enough new material and new perspectives to be as spellbinding as the original bookazines.

And the bigger pictures are so much better; they are helping me to see the metaphorical bigger picture too. One thing they are revealing is an apparent trend on tailless designs, from around the middle of the war, to drop aerofoils with reverse camber, as used on the Me 163 and Horten gliders, in favour of symmetrical profiles. Both profiles are designed to confer stability, or at least neutrality, in pitch without the need for a tail plane. Positive camber at the front plus reverse camber at the rear was developed for subsonic use. But it puts the thickest part of the wing and the greatest suction far forwards, making for early transition to non-laminar flow and poor transonic performance. For that a more laminar flow, with the thickest part of the wing further back, is needed, and this is clearly seen in the symmetrical aerofoils which Lippisch and Horten substituted on the jet wings which they presented to Goring within 15 minutes of each other. That twofold change of heart can have been no coincidence.
 
The Skoda P.14 ramjet is more commonly known as the Skoda-Kauba SK P 14 (hence the drawing designation Dan mentions). Otto Kauba was a personal friend of Hermann Goring, who in 1942 arranged premises for him in Prague, as a joint venture with the Skoda group.

Kauba would have come across Richard Vogt of B&V when he converted an experimental twin-boom pusher light aircraft as a testbed for the control system of the tailless pusher B&V P 208. Sources differ as to whether the resulting SL6 ever flew, as the P208 was swiftly overtaken by jet-powered derivatives.

The SK 257 was a fighter designed by Kauba, and featuring the B&V trademark cylindrical steel man spar-cum-fuel-tank that had been introduced by Richard Vogt. A small production batch were produced by nearby Avia but quality was so poor they were not accepted. Were Dan's book addressing contemporary piston developments, the Skoda-Kauba V5 development of the 257 would appear as a competitor to the Focke Wulf Ta 152.

After the war Kauba went back to his native Austria, where he made motor scooters and even the occasional aeroplane, dying in 1962. One can only hope that he told somebody about his wartime work and they preserved his words for posterity.
 
Does the upcoming book Secret Projects of the Third Reich Volume 2: Bombers 1939-1945 contain any Junkers company drawings from July/August 1944 of the planned production Ju 287 with two underwing pods of three turbojets, but also mention of the EF 125 project for a proposed two-engine Ju 287 derivative powered by either BMW 018 or Junkers Jumo 012 turbojets, info on the EF 132 backswept wing jet bomber project, and newly uncovered project documents regarding the Heinkel P.1064 six-engine bomber project and P.1070 flying wing jet bomber, since the EF 132 was the last wartime Junkers design for a jet bomber and Dan Sharp considers the P.1064 to have been Heinkel’s first Fernkampffugzeug design?
 
Harry64 said:
Secret Projects of the Luftwaffe. Volume 3: Messerschmitt Me 262,
www.mortonsbooks.co.uk

MESSERSCHMITT ME 262: DEVELOPMENT AND POLITICS | Mortons Books

Book - Messerschmitt Me 262: Development and Politics
www.mortonsbooks.co.uk www.mortonsbooks.co.uk

was announced until recently at mortons for 14.99£ with 116 pages. Now it is listed on their site for 30£ and 300 pages. Does anyone have any info what happened there?
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Perhaps it is down to being published now in hardback form instead of paperback, I am surprised that it was not published as a paperback book. Anyway, looks like it is going to be highly interesting.
 

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