Messerschmitt Me 209 - Der Weg zum schnellsten Propellerflugzeug der Welt

Ferdinand C.W. Käsmann, Aviatic Verlag GmbH, Oberhaching, Germany, 2012, ISBN 978-3-942645-03-4. Illustrated, hardcover, published in German.

Cover image © by Aviatic Verlag GmbH, 2012.

When I came across the news regarding the publication of this book last year, I felt elated. The Messerschmitt Me 209 record aircraft had always intrigued me greatly, and I also entertained a faint hope that the author might perhaps have managed to uncover some new information regarding the later and very elusive V5 and V6 fighter prototypes bearing the same Me 209 designation. Wishful thinking, perhaps, but not necessarily an unrealistic expectation.

It was thus a somewhat sobering moment when I finally held Messerschmitt Me 209 - Der Weg zum schnellsten Propellerflugzeug der Welt [Messerschmitt Me 209 - The Path Towards The Fastest Propeller Aircraft In The World] in my hands. To speak of a disappointment is perhaps too harsh, but in this day and age, one tends to expect more from a specialist publication, and, not least, from a publishing house that has provided the enthusiast with milestone works such as Vernaleken/Handig's indispensable Junkers Ju 388 or Kössler/Ott's Die grossen Dessauer (covering the Junkers Ju 89, Ju 90, Ju 290, and Ju 390 family of aircraft), to name but two.

The first impression was that Käsmann's Messerschmitt Me 209 was deficient in exactly the content advertised by its title. What usually fills an introductory chapter in monographs by Monogram Aviation Publications or Classic Publications, for example, takes the space of 47 out of a total of 119 pages in Käsmann's work. In other words, close to half of the rather slim book is dedicated to an introduction to the topic. It is understood that material on the Me 209 is somewhat scarce (not least given that only four prototypes of the original Me 209 design were built), and the book's subtitle hints at an examination of the larger context. Nonetheless, I don't think it is wrong to expect the majority of this book to be about the actual aircraft mentioned in the title.

Käsmann's description of the quest for speed in aviation and earlier high performance aircraft designs at least has a direct connection to the Me 209's gestation, and this is thus a far more consistent approach than the irritating practice implemented by authors such as David Myhra or Horst Lommel, whose books are often filled with vastly disjointed and unrelated material or badly rendered computer graphics, apparently to simply enhance the page count if no authentic and directly related material could be found.

Expecting the definite history of the Messerschmitt Me 209 will leave the reader feel strangely dissatisfied. In addition, the wording of the text is sometimes feels strange. At certain points, it's almost like a novel, rather than a documentation or factual report. Perhaps this may be explained by the simple fact that the author is of a different generation (he was 84 years old when the book was published) than many of the authors who have published the seminal Luftwaffe works of the past two decades.

Messerschmitt Me 209 does provide the reader with what is perhaps the most comprehensive collection of Me 209 photos in one single source. The illustrations include countless very interesting detail shots as well as period drawings, facsimile documents, newspaper clippings, and drawings by Günter Sengfelder. All illustrations are printed in black & white (even the photos of the sole surviving Me 209), and there are no color profiles. The layout of the book is utterly uninspired, however, and a far cry from what could be achieved today.

The Messerschmitt part of the book closes with scant information on the Me 309 (some of it contradictory) and a mere five sentences (along with the only known, familiar photo) on the Me 209 V5 and V6. The narrative then departs again for the final pages, to focus on the quest for aviation speed records after World War II.

It's not surprising, then, that one is prompted to have very mixed feelings about this publication. It's is nice to have a single, hardcover compilation of so many Me 209 photos and drawings. But given the page count of this book, I did expect significantly more comprehensive research on the aircraft itself instead of such a balance towards context.

Horten Ho 229 - Spirit Of Thuringia (The Horten All-Wing Jet Fighter)

Andrei Shepelev and Huib Ottens, Classic Publications/Ian Allan Publishing Ltd., Hersham, Surrey, England, 2006, ISBN 1-903223-66-0. Illustrated, hardcover, published in English.

Cover image © by Classic Publications/Ian Allan Publishing Ltd., 2006.

Although frequently and ignorantly derided as merely "yet another Luft '46 pipe dream", the Horten Ho 229 was neither only a paper project nor was it simply another aircraft among the uncounted types operated by the German Luftwaffe in World War II. It was a technically, aerodynamically, and aesthetically highly intriguing design which was ahead of its time in many respects. This is even more remarkable if one considers that he Ho 229 did not originate with one of the behemoths of the German aircraft industry such as, for example, Heinkel, Junkers, or Messerschmitt. The Horten brothers thus had to make do without the assignment of a high priority to their design, and they had to cope with inferior financial, industrial, and engineering resources. Add to this the gradually deteriorating situation within Germany as the end of the war approached and the difficulties associated with German jet engine mass production which had an impact on the gestation cycle of any German jet powered design of the period. It is remarkable, then, that the Horten brothers prevailed, managed to bring the design to hardware status, and were able to commence construction of a number of prototypes, three of which were completed and two of which flew.

A serious and competent study of this aircraft was long overdue. We are fortunate that two experts on the topic, Andrei Shepelev and Huib Ottens, have conspired to fill this gap in the documentation of German aviation history. Before the appearance of the book by Shepelev and Ottens, there existed only a handful of publications on the Ho 229, most of them much more limited in format and scope. Among them were David Myhra's typically chaotic and fanciful concoctions, which, due to the absence of an authoritative alternative, unfortunately probably found more readers than they should have.

Horten Ho 229 - Spirit of Thuringia by Classic Publications has since its release become famous for featuring the only known and previously unpublished photo of the assembled Ho 229 V3 prototype. This is indeed a sensational find, and a significant piece in the puzzle that constitues this aircraft's history. But equally astonishing for students of the aircraft are the book's perhaps slightly less spectacular but equally significant further treasures, e.g. the small photo on page 79 showing catapult seat trials specific to the Ho 229, the exhaustive coverage of earlier Horten aircraft designs, or the convincing identification of the Ho 229 V4 and V5 prototypes under construction.

The book is a labor of love. It is extremely detailed, not only with regard to the main facts of the story but down to the lesser known aspects of the history of the Horten brothers and the aircraft's development. Where possible, the authors put faces to names, and there is plenty of background information. In addition, the book provides a plethora of photos as well as superb line and technical drawings, both from original wartime sources as well as by the exceptional Arthur Bentley. There are a small number of color shots where existent or applicable, and Shepelev also contributes his own computer artwork.

The only aspect I found disappointing and highly annoying was the frequent spelling mistake of "Horton" instead of "Horten". Although of course a minor criticism, this should not occur in an exhaustively researched expert publication on the Horten brothers which, after so many years, finally does proper justice to their work. The erroneous spelling of "Horton" can frequently be seen in shoddily compiled English-language texts about the Ho 299, but it has no place in a book such as this one.

At the end of the day, however, this book renders irrelevant all previous publications on the Ho 229. It is a testament to the vision and attention to detail exhibited by the now sadly defunct Classic Publications (now reorganized in slightly different form as Chevron Publishing Limited), and it will stand as the ultimate reference on the topic for many years to come.

Secret Aircraft Designs Of The Third Reich

David Myhra, Schiffer Publishing Ltd., U.S.A., 1998, ISBN 0-7643-0564-6. Illustrated, hardcover, published in English.

Cover image © by Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 1998.

When it was announced in 1998, I was looking forward to this book. Due to its sheer size and the inclusion of hundreds of illustrations, it could have become a standard work of reference.

And yet I feel that the publication of incorrect reference material is detrimental to historical accuracy, to truth, to our interests, and to our hobby. I am afraid that this book's effect is simply to petrify previous misinformation and to amplify the prejudice against what is actually a highly interesting and influential part of Germany's aviation industry during Word War II. It is disappointing to find that this book contains numerous misinterpretations and inaccuracies, some trivial, many grave, which the detailed research that one expects to go into a publication of this size should have avoided. To randomly pick a few:

- In spite of the fact that correct information finally found its way into the public in the course of the 1990s, the book fossilizes the ancient misconception of what the Heinkel He 176 looked like. Myhra uses the often-printed, outdated, and fictitious artist's impression originally based on Hans Regner's incorrect interpretation of the aircraft's shape (p. 162). In view of the importance the He 176 assumes in aviation history, it would have been appropriate for Myhra to refer instead to photos and three-view drawing published by Dr. Volker Koos in Germany's Jet & Prop (issue 1/1994) and Flieger Revue (issue 5/1995) magazines. Even more so as the author in fact avoided the comparable and equally popular ancient artist's impression of the Henschel Hs 132 and instead featured photos of the actual unfinished prototype.

- The picture of the "warhead" of Heinz Sombold's So 344 (p. 328) is obviously really the forward fuselage of the C 2 Wasserfall ground-to-air missile.

- The artist's impression of a "collection of anti aircraft missiles" (p. 24) shows, in reality, a variety of pulse-jet and rocket-powered manned aircraft and unmanned missiles, among them ground-to-ground weapons.

- The postage stamp "showing ground-to-air missiles" (p. 25, top) actually portrays the launch of ground-to-ground Nebelwerfer rockets (an artillery weapon used by German infantry).

- Countless three-view drawings are rendered unusable by pixel distortion beyond recognition.

- The picture on page 299 does not show the "Messerschmitt Me 262 C-1a" (V 186, Werknummer 130186) as stated in the caption. It is instead the Me 262 C-1b (V 074, Werknummer 170074) which featured a completely different dual rocket motor installation.

- The Bachem Ba 349 Natter did not carry "Henschel Hs 217 Föhn" air-to-air rockets (p. 49) but RZ 73 Föhn or R4M Orkan air-to-air rockets (as later correctly stated on p. 51 and p. 54).

- The Consolidated Vultee (Convair) XF-92 was not named "Cutlass" (p. 277, top). The name "Cutlass" was assigned to Chance Vought's F7U fighter. The XF-92 bore the unofficial name "Seven-Balls-Two" (as in model 7002).

- Perhaps the most significant characteristic of the Lippisch P 15 is not even mentioned (p. 289). According to Lippisch himself (in Ein Dreieck fliegt, Stuttgart, 1976, by Lippisch and Trenkle), the P 15 was to be a combination of existing parts from other contemporary aircraft: He 162 forward fuselage and cockpit, Me 163 wings and vertical tail, Ju 248 landing gear. Lippisch also states that the P 15 was to be powered by the HeS 011 A turbojet (as opposed to David Myhra's Jumo 004 D).

- Also according to Lippisch himself, the air raid on the Luftfahrtforschungsanstalt Wien (LFW), which killed 45 members of his staff, took place in June 1944, not in April 1945 (p. 281). It is also hardly possible that the "coal fuelled P 13" was destroyed in this raid (also p. 281), as the aircraft actually had not yet been built. What existed was a large-scale free-flight model of the P 13, which might have been destroyed in the raid (as later correctly stated on p. 288).

- The rocket-powered Hatry Flugzeug was not the important Lippisch-Opel collaboration (p. 271). According to Lippisch, the partnership between Sander, Opel and Lippisch resulted in the installation of rockets in the Lippisch-typical Ente [duck] trial design in 1928, with which Fritz Stamer subsequently made a number of powered flights. A further aircraft, which Lippisch designed specifically for Opel's rocket experiments, was never completed due to disagreements between Opel and Lippisch. This aircraft, the Raketen-Versuchsflugzeug [Rocket Trial Aircraft], was a very advanced concept for its time (1929) - it was to be a swept-back flying wing.

- The translation of the German-language inscription on the air war memorial in Dresden is entirely incorrect (p. 337). The actual translation would read: "How many died? Who knows the number? In your wounds, one can see the agony of the nameless who burned in the man-made hell fire. - To the memory of the victims of the air attack on Dresden on February 13 - 14, 1945."

- The Fieseler Fi 103 shown on page 136 (centre) is not a Reichenberg version, but a regular Fi 103 as air-launched by KG 53. Also, the manned Fi 103 was named Reichenberg, not "Reichenburg", as mistakenly stated in several places.

- The picture on page 142 (top right) does not show a "Vampire".

- The "Russian flying test bed for the Soviet-redesigned Jumo 022-K turboprop" is, in fact, a heavily modified Junkers Ju 252, used for flight tests of the Junkers Jumo 222 24-cylinder liquid-cooled radial engine.

- The aircraft on page 156, top left, is not a "Heinkel He 70", but a He 64.

- The "Messerschmitt Bf 108" on page 290 (bottom right) is, in fact, a Bücker Bü 181.

- The "Messerschmitt Me 209 V1 in flight" (p. 291) is, in fact, a retouched picture of the Me 209 V4.

- The Henschel Hs 295 was not a "high-tech air-to-air anti aircraft missile" (p. 183, bottom), but an air-to-ground missile.

- The model on page 229 (bottom) does not represent the "Ho 9 V2", but rather what the V3 perhaps would have looked like with armament.

This list could be continued almost indefinitely.

There are many positive points about this book. The obvious use of computer-generated images was overdue at the time of its publication, and the author is to be commended for his openness towards this tool. There are also some astonishing b/w pictures, such as the one on page 266, top. But this also serves to expose a (presumed) negligence and simplistic approach that characterizes Secret Aircraft Designs of the Third Reich, especially if one considers the book's retail price: the mere accumulation of uncounted illustrations fails to make up for a lack of research and accuracy.