Luftwaffe Fighter Aces: The Jagdflieger and Their Combat Tactics and Techniques [Hardcover]

Mike Spick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1996

An aviation historian examines why the Nazi fighter aces outdid the Allies in the sky. To examine the secret of the Luftwaffe pilots' success, Mike Spick explores the exploits of Nazi Germany's most famous pilots, focusing on the methods and tactics of individual aces, discussing the importance of machinery, training, climate, numbers, and theater of war.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mike Spick is an author and consultant specializing in air combat and helicopter tactics, and has written more than thirty books on military aviation. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 248 pages
• Publisher: Greenhill Books (October 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1853672556
• ISBN-13: 978-1853672552
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,153,920 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars History of the Luftwaffe's top 'Experten' and their tactics, April 27, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Luftwaffe Fighter Aces: The Jagdflieger and Their Combat Tactics and Techniques (Hardcover)

I'm the guy that recommended this book to Bowhunter0. If you're 'into' PC flight simulators, aviation, history, or combat stories, you'll enjoy this book. Mike Spick uses diagrams and photographs to illustrate his points, and in the world of air combat a diagram of two airplanes with dashed lines showing their flight paths can go a long way to explaining energy states, relative attitudes, and shot opportunities. He also covers the basic maneuvers, terminology, and the history of the combat aircraft utilized by the aces. One particular section even has a brief talk-through of the steps a Luftwaffe pilot took to launch a 109, fly it, and land it in one piece.

Mr. Spick has written another book about Allied aces and their tactics, which I would consider to be a companion piece to this book. He's also written several other books about military aviation which I've found to be very entertaining and plain ol' good reading.

If you're serious about your PC flight simulators then you'll get a lot of benefit from Mike Spick's two books. If you don't read his books, well, I guess you'll just spend a lot of your time back at the hangar trying to figure out how that 109 pilot managed to shoot you down yet again.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Maybe a good first book, January 23, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Luftwaffe Fighter Aces: The Jagdflieger and Their Combat Tactics and Techniques (Mass Market Paperback)

Micke Spick's book was a disapointment. It is not very well researched and I found a lot of stories in it, which other books described better and more in depth. Some facts about the pilots are myths and have been shown to be wrong. The comments about the radar in the book are so brief that it gives you the wrong impression about the different approaches the germans and british had to this new technology. The tactics of the german pilots are only described briefly. Yes, we already know that the germans invented the "rotte" and the book goes tell you about "schräge musik", that the germans tried to shoot at very close range and so on and so on. There are no new facts in this book. For anyone who already read a few book about the airwar in europe, this book can't be recommended. It gets two stars because it is a fair introductory book at at low price.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A view from the other side, November 29, 2000

By 

Claudio Bompadre - See all my reviews

This review is from: Luftwaffe Fighter Aces: The Jagdflieger and Their Combat Tactics and Techniques (Mass Market Paperback)

Sometime studying the opponent is much more instructive than glorifying the victor. As long as this book is concerned, the riveting description of German training, tactics and traditions is really exhaustive.

It is surprising to see how long the duty tour was for a German pilot and how dedicated they were to their job, under the word of honor and chilvary that permeated the Luftwaffe tradition. Notwithstanding this credit and a self taught decency, despite the terrible strain of combat, the portrait of their character and lifestyle is really vivid. But even if this psychological trait is instrumental to understand the German aces achievement in battle, the most interesting feature of the volume is the comprehensive examination of pilot training practices, mental preparation and flying skills. A large discussion of combat tactics and fighting methods is presented for each ace, well depicted in the contest of climate, theater of war and available equipment.

Beautifully researched, the book is quite easy to read and each chapter is a clearcut account of all threads leading to a conclusive analysis of how German aces outscored the Allied by a wide margin.