Blohm & Voss BV 155

Dan Sharp, Secret Projects Of The Luftwaffe 2, Tempest Books/Mortons Books Ltd., Horncastle, UK, 2019, ISBN 978 1 911658 32 0. Illustrated, softcover, published in English.

Cover image © by Tempest Books/Mortons Books Ltd., 2019.

The recent past has seen a number of highly competent publications in the field of historic German aviation. Landmark studies such as Martin Pegg's thoroughly revised Henschel Hs 129 Panzerjäger (Chandos Publications Ltd.) or Brett Gooden's stunningly comprehensive masterpiece Natter - Manned Missile Of The Third Reich (self-published) come to mind, for example. And although significantly smaller, physically, than the aforementioned books, Dan Sharp's Blohm & Voss BV 155 should probably be included in this list; as it is equally a landmark effort.

At 114 pages and in the 25 x 18 cm format, this little gem of a book is likely the most complete history of this deeply intriguing aircraft we will ever see in our lifetimes, given that only three prototypes of the aircraft were built (of which only one was fully completed and actually flown). Previous reliable published material regarding the BV 155 has been accordingly sparse, with Thomas H. Hitchcock's slim Blohm & Voss 155 (Monogram Close-Up 20, Monogram Aviation Publications, 1990) being the only serious contender. It is not surprising, unfortunately, that Horst Lommel's subsequent Blohm & Voss Bv 155 & Me 263 softcover (Lautec Software und Medien GmbH) reflects that author's usual standard of reliability (i.e., lack thereof) and should thus be avoided.

Dan Sharp is mainly known within our field of interest for a series of "bookazine" softcover publications on the subject of German aviation projects of the World War II period. While this choice of topic alone will likely provoke some sentiments of derision with a number of serious students of the former German Luftwaffe, Sharp's publications have actually been incredibly well researched, professional, and comprehensive, and the author has frequently managed to provide the reader with previously unknown information or period drawings/images, in spite of the exhaustive coverage of this very subject matter during the past few decades.

It was thus with quite some positive anticipation that I awaited the release of Sharp's Blohm & Voss BV 155. And the book indeed does not disappoint. Endowed with a striking cover illustration and printed on beautiful semi-gloss paper (essential to facilitate a crisp and detailed reproduction of the book's many illustrations) Blohm & Voss BV 155 provides a true in-depth study of the aircraft, from the original idea and requirement to concept, gestation, stages of development, technical details, prototype manufacturing, evolving design decisions, flight tests, and the disposition of the aircraft after the war's conclusion. All of this is lavishly illustrated by means of countless period drawings, photos, and colour profiles. And to complete such ample content, the book's final appendix provides the detailed description and photos of the BV 155 V2 as originally featured in the Royal Aircraft Establishment's general examination report of 1946.

Sharp thus provides the most meticulous (and fascinating) documentation yet published of the astonishing growth of the BV 155 concept from a pure Messerschmitt Bf 109 high-altitude fighter offshoot to a more distinctly derived aircraft and on towards an almost completely new and very different design. This even includes a number of "what if" colour profiles of the various unrealized incarnations of the concept, these being – although of course not strictly necessary – quite interesting and certainly entertaining. And while it is often nearly impossible to competently assert the full accuracy of such a book's historical and technical content without having spent as much research as the author himself, Sharp's list of sources and documents consulted during the creation of this publication is essential, impressive, and deeply reassuring.

If Dan Sharp's Blohm & Voss BV 155 is any indication, one may look forward with justified excitement to further instalments of this Secret Projects Of The Luftwaffe series. Highly recommended.

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.

Junkers Ju 287 - Germany's Forward Swept Wing Bomber

Stephen Ransom & Peter Korrell, with Peter D. Evans, Classic Publications/Ian Allan Publishing Ltd., Hersham, Surrey, England, 2008, ISBN 978-1-90322-392-5. Illustrated, hardcover, published in English.

Cover image © by Classic Publications/Ian Allan Publishing Ltd., 2008.

As in the case of Classic Publications' book on the Horten Ho 229, those with a somewhat less visionary disposition will undoubtedly dismiss this book, too, as a waste of paper on a Luft '46 delusion. So be it. In reality, however, the significance of the emergence of the Ju 287 cannot be overstated, and the publication of a book such as this one is thus both important and overdue.

Due to its status as a late-war fringe design, the Ju 287 has so far been largely neglected as far as mainstream Luftwaffe publications are concerned. There has been a photo of the Ju 287 here and there during the past decades, mostly in books dealing with German jet design or German aviation projects of World War II (such as in Smith & Creek's Jet Planes Of The Third Reich or Griehl's Jet Planes Of The Third Reich - The Secret Projects, Volume Two, both by Monogram Aviation Publications, and in a variety others). Gathering solid data on the Ju 287 was difficult for the common reader, as was obtaining a comprehensive and reliable history of this aircraft type. The sole exception was of course Thomas H. Hitchcock's very first Close-Up booklet, Junkers 287 (Monogram Aviation Publications, USA, 1974), which dealt exclusively with this elusive aircraft but, by now, no longer matches the state of research. But market forces and the relative scarcity of available period material usually meant that the existence of the Ju 287 was utterly eclipsed by works on the various Bf 109s, Fw 190s, Me 262s, et al.

For anybody seriously interested in cutting edge aircraft design or technological advances during World War II, however, the Ju 287 is of course immeasurably more intriguing than most of the conventional aircraft of the Luftwaffe. Accordingly, it was with quite some anticipation that the first dedicated hardback monograph on the Ju 287, Horst Lommel's Junkers Ju 287 (Aviatic Verlag, Germany, 2003) was awaited. Purchased on the day of its publication, it left me strangely dissatisfied, if not outright disappointed. Lommel, apparently well on his way to become the German David Myhra, had wasted the exhilarating chance to literally write history with his book. Instead, he provided the reader with an unstructured concoction of information and images, often prompting the question of the extent of historical accuracy. Moreover, about half of the book was dedicated to other aircraft only superficially related to the main topic, as has become the unfortunate norm for his publications.

We are thus incredibly fortunate that, only a few years later, a trio of very distinguished protagonists from the Luftwaffe research community embarked on the unenviable task to finally set the record straight. Stephen Ransom is of course the author of the fantastic study on Brandis airfield, Zwischen Leipzig und der Mulde (Stedinger Verlag, Germany, 1996). This book is itself a treasure and, upon its publication, caused quite a stir among enthusiasts due to the inclusion of sensational, rare photos of the second prototype of the Ju 287.

Dr. Peter Korrell is also a familiar name to serious Luftwaffe researchers; he has been publishing restored reprints of rare vintage aviation documents for years (some of which are reviewed elsewhere in this blog). A number of Dr. Korrell's publications deal with the Ju 287 and related designs. Peter D. Evans, last but not least, is the eminent creator of the Luftwaffe Experten Message Board, the internet's foremost meeting point for those seriously interested in the former German Luftwaffe. Evans, too, had long been studying the Ju 287.

The Ju 287 photos that were once part of Ransom's book on Brandis airfield have now been included in what is and probably will remain the standard work on the type, Junkers Ju 287 - Germany's Forward Swept Wing Bomber. As can be expected when such a trio of authors teams with Classic Publications, the book is a beauty. It is thoroughly researched, complete, professionally designed, and sumptuously illustrated.

The book commences with a look at the development of forward sweep until 1935. It then delves into Junkers' interest for the concept, followed by the actual development of hardware in the form of the first two prototypes of the Ju 287. Further chapters deal with the flight trials and disposal of the prototypes, with the mysterious and still unidentified "Rechlin 66" aircraft whose shape suggests a close affiliation with the Ju 287, and with the further development of the Ju 287 in the Soviet Union. All chapters are crammed with photos and drawings, and every conceivable aspect of the aircraft is investigated. A postscript looks at swept wing designs after World War II. There are detailed endnotes to every chapter as well as a comprehensive appendix which contains biographies and further interesting insights into the research conducted for the book.

Junkers Ju 287 - Germany's Forward Swept Wing Bomber is a stunning and very satisfying book. Even if one were to disregard the exhaustive text, the book's photo content alone is well worth the purchase price. It is astonishing how many pictures exist of an aircraft that has so far been regarded as completely obscure. Moreover, some of the photos reveal amazing detail (e.g. on pages 82 and 83). Only a few very minor questions remain. The authors speculate, for example, whether the two photos on page 64 show the mock-up or the actual front section of the Ju 287 V1. In my humble opinion, the aircraft section in question is not a mock up (except for the dummy engines) but definitely part of the actual prototype.

One can still hope that additional photos of the EF 131 (originally designated Ju 287 V3) will emerge from Russia one day, as it happened a few years ago in the case of the equally shrouded Junkers EF 126.

Der erste bemannte Raketenstart der Welt (Geheimaktion Natter)

Horst Lommel, Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart, Germany, 1998, ISBN 3-613-01862-4. Illustrated, hardcover, published in German.

Cover image © by Motorbuch Verlag, 1998.

When it was originally published, this book was an overdue and welcome study on the relatively little-known but nevertheless highly intriguing Bachem Ba 349 Natter rocket-powered manned interceptor program of late-war Germany. Due to the desperate nature of the Ba 349 idea (so representative of many contemporary German programs), the small number of aircraft built, and the failure to achieve actual combat operations with the Ba 349, the information published up to then was scarce at best, and no combined study of all available facts existed: Moreover, much of what was available had been copied and reprinted countless times, regardless of many uncertainties and obvious errors.

This book, then, went a long way towards rectifying this situation. On 204 pages, it contained a wealth of pictures, drawings and facsimile documents, making it worth acquiring even though it was only available in German. The author's research answered many open questions and the Ba 349 is unquestionably a very exciting and visionary aircraft in technical terms, even to people indifferent to late-war German projects. Also, the fact that several dozen Ba 349s were built and actually launched clearly sets this aircraft apart from mere "paper projects". Lommel's book covered this aspect in great detail, along with the world's first vertical manned rocket launch by Lothar Sieber in March 1945. Further chapters portrayed the development of the Ba 349, testing of the aircraft as a glider in various configurations, manufacturing, armament, the vertical launch concept, planned combat operations, surviving aircraft. Included were numerous outstanding pictures of the Natter, particularly the photos of the manned glider prototypes on pages 29 and 39.

Even so, there remained questions. For example, no explanation was given on why the well-known series of pictures of the M52 prototype being readied for launch (p. 63 to 66) shows the aircraft with a significantly enlarged horizontal stabilizer.

In spite of this, Lommel's pioneering work would only be eclipsed in 2006, when Classic Publications released Brett Gooden's landmark work, Projekt Natter - Last Of The Wonder Weapons.