Horten Ho 9: A Photo History (X Planes of the Third Reich) [Illustrated] [Paperback]

David Myhra (Author)

Book Description

Series: X Planes of the Third Reich | Publication Date: August 1999

X PLANES OF THE THIRD REICH SERIES An Illustrated Series on Germany's Experimental Aircraft of World War II Three Horten Ho 9s were constructed prior to wars end: the V1 sailplane, the twin 004B powered prototype V2, and the serial production prototype V3 by Gotha-Friedrichsroda. The V1 was destroyed at the U.S. Luftwaffe Aircraft Collection Center-Merseburg. The V2 crashed at Oranienburg killing its test pilot Erwin Ziller. The V3 was captured and taken by General George McDonalds Army Air Force Intelligence unit to the U.S. Luftwaffe Aircraft Collection Center. The Ho 229 V3 was eventually shipped to Freeman Field, Ohio about September 1945, and is now in storage at the National Air and Space Museum, Silver Hill, Maryland awaiting restoration. Myhra has taken 150 photos of the Ho 9 from his collection, along with several dozen digital images, and has put together a unique Ho 9 photo collection.

Product Details

• Paperback: 79 pages
• Publisher: Schiffer Pub Ltd (August 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764309161
• ISBN-13: 978-0764309168
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 7.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,048,332 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars x-Planes of the Third Reich : Horten Ho9, August 17, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Horten Ho 9: A Photo History (X Planes of the Third Reich) (Paperback)

One of a series of Books on the subject of prototype or "drawing board" aircraft developed in Germany towards the end of World War II. Unlike some in the series, this book concentrates on an aircraft which actually flew, and in fact, is still in existence at the Smithsonian Institution. The book offers a wealth of photographs on this important, but relatively obscure aircraft and its predecessors. Particularily satisfying is the overview of the other aircraft produced by the Horten brothers and also the various versions of the Ho9 - both powered and unpowered. Of special interest are the pictures of the surviving unrestored airframe. There is not an over reliance upon computer generated pictures and for that reason I would say it is one of the best in the series.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mediocre coverage of this unique aircraft, January 28, 2011

By 

Mauricio Vives (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Horten Ho 9: A Photo History (X Planes of the Third Reich) (Paperback)

As the title and low price suggests, this is a short (75 pages) wide-format book of captioned photos of the unique Horten Ho 9 aircraft. It actually provides some coverage of the earlier Horten planes (such as the Ho 2), but the bulk of the coverage is indeed the Ho 9, and especially the Ho 9 V3, also known as Ho 229. There is some introductory text, but it is poorly formatted and filled with grammatical errors. I can't speak about factual errors, but I am wary.

As for the photos, they are all black and white, and include some historical photos I had not seen before. The captions are generally good, making it clear what is being depicted, especially since there were several variants of this plane. However, many of the photos are in fact computer renderings, and not very good ones: the renderings were made at low-resolution, then appear to have been printed on paper and scanned. They tend to lack contrast and detail, and some images are duplicates from slightly different angles, or take up full pages. The renderings would have been more compelling in color, but again all images in this book are black and white. Some of the renderings are useful in depicting proposed variations that were never drawn or constructed during the war, e.g. adding a vertical fin or additional engines.

As a pictorial overview of the Ho 9, this book suffices. However, if you are looking for more than that, I would recommend the more detailed hardcover Horten Ho 229 Spirit of Thuringia: The Horten All-Wing Jet Fighter, though it appears to be out of print now. The author of the book reviewed here also has a more recent Kindle book covering the aircraft called Horten 229 A Close-up Book, but unfortunately the preview is nearly useless, so I can't comment further before buying it myself.

Please reply to this review if you have comments or questions. Thank you!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too many computer pictures and too little text, May 14, 2008

By 

Kristoffon - See all my reviews

This review is from: Horten Ho 9: A Photo History (X Planes of the Third Reich) (Paperback)

This book has too little text and too many pictures created on a computer. Not worth it.