Luftwaffe Secret Projects, Ground Attack & Special Purpose Aircraft [Hardcover]

Dieter Herwig (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 23, 2004

The two previous volumes in this hugely popular series have covered Fighters 1939-1945 and Strategic Bombers 1935-1945. This new addition takes a close look at a varied range of aircraft types, principally described as ground-attack and special-purpose types, but which includes Kampfzerstörer (multi-purpose combat aircraft), multi-purpose and fast bombers, explosive-carrying aircraft intended to attack other aircraft, air-to-air ramming vehicles, bomb-carrying gliders and towed fighters, and airborne weapons and special devices (rockets, cannons, flame-throwers, etc.)

As in the first two volumes, the technical descriptions and histories of about 140 aircraft types are brought to life by many specially created full-color artworks, showing the projects, often in unit markings, as they might have appeared if they had come to fruition and/or if the war had continued beyond 1945. This series has proven indispensable for historians and notably for modelers, whose imaginations are fired up by these revelations.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dieter Herwig, born in 1926, was called up for service with the Luftwaffen-Lehrregiment at Berlin-Gatow, on the strength of his earlier flying training. By the war's end he had been posted to Berlin-Adlershof, where he was a member of staff of the Chief of Aircraft Procurement and Supply's Central Scientific Records Office for Aviation Research (ZWB), which was subordinated to the Reichsluftfahrtsministerium (RLM). After the war he published Germany's first specialized aviation periodical, Aero Magazin, and many other works. Dieter Herwig has built up one of the largest aviation collections in Germany and heads the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Luftfahrtdokumentation (German Association for Aviation Documentation) and the Deutsches Studienbüro für Luftfahrt (German Aviation Study Bureau) in Frankfurt am Main. Heinz Rode, born in Berlin in 1932, has been a freelance graphic designer and press artist for more than 30 years. He is also an illustrator of non-fiction historical books. His special interests are aviation and space. Among his other works, he has produced several hundred titles and covers for books, films, specialist magazines, catalogs and newspapers. The fine color illustrations in this book are all products of his talent and brush.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Midland Pub Ltd; English Language Ed edition (January 23, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1857801504
• ISBN-13: 978-1857801507
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #926,624 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Pictures, but disappointing research, December 29, 2004

By 

Emmanuel Gustin (Mechelen, Belgium) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Luftwaffe Secret Projects, Ground Attack & Special Purpose Aircraft (Hardcover)

Page 7 of this book contains a remarkable Publisher's Note, in which the publisher acknowledges the efforts of translator Ted Oliver (for this book was originally written in German) for his efforts to improve on the original version and the addition of "commentary on the author's erroneous text repeated from sources known to be incorrect or speculative." It must be almost unique to have such a statement in the foreword of a book.

There still is a lot of interesting material in this book, including many fascinating reproductions of original German drawings. But the text is took skimpy, and too much space is devoted to often speculative artwork. This book creates an appetite for more, but one is left feeling dissatisfied and in doubt about the validity of what one has just read.

I don't regret buying this; it is a book worth having. But compared to Tony Buttler's really excellent series on British Secret Projects (which is, that is true, rather harder to digest) this is the work of a dilettante.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Super Work!, January 12, 2004

By 

Roll Tide "Chuck" (Texas) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Luftwaffe Secret Projects, Ground Attack & Special Purpose Aircraft (Hardcover)

Mr's Herwig and Rode, an excellent work on the topic. I found this book to be very informative, had interesting and rare photos, the illustrations and line drawings were excellent, and it was easy to read. There were some items discussed that I had never heard of, namely the "Flammelwerfer" or flamethrower on the rear of an aircraft. All in all, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the subject. A truly super job!

5.0 out of 5 stars Luftwaffe Secret Porjects: Ground Attack and Special Projects, October 3, 2011

By 

lg788 - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Luftwaffe Secret Projects, Ground Attack & Special Purpose Aircraft (Hardcover)

A beautiful, heavy, cofee-table volume with excellent format, text, and illustrations. A very useful and informative book on all sorts of "exotics" submitted to the Luftwaffe 1939-1945. A joy to own.