Customer Reviews

Wings of the Luftwaffe

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

World war two is history like other things we learned from books and media. But how many times could you find a reference is written by a person who actually flew those airplanes ? Especially they were not Allied's planes, they were German's military airplanes.

You could learn the speed, range or how many guns of each airplanes from tones other books, but you won't be able to learn the feeling to fly all of them by the same person from them.

This book was published long long time ago, but don't think the data and describtion is also old. Those experience is never faded away.

This is probably the closest that the average person will come to flying a captured Luftwaffe aircraft. Wings of the Luftwaffe is certainly among the best books in the relatively small flight test review genre. Brown has a terrific eye for detail, and must have been an exceptional test pilot. I just wish Brown would write an expanded edition of this book, and his other classic, Wings of the Navy.

Just as flying magazines review the latest twins, this is a 'you are there' kind of book. Organized to convey the standard specs- takeoff distance, range, armament, etc, Brown has included plenty of photos, and a rich narrative. Did you know the Germans used propeller controls modeled on the face of a clock? I was also intrigued by Brown's experiences with German aviators before and after the conflict. He must have led a fascinating life. Every scholar needs a copy of this book beside him when reading anything about World War II Luftwaffe operations.

Yes, this is the best book on this subject that you will every read. I've long read Eric Brown's articles in Air International.
I've always found them both enjoyable and informative. This book is a collection of some of those materials and others he had yet to publish. The articles come directly from his log book and include broader experiences then even the log books provide.
Each article about each aircraft is both informative in there detail but are also delightfully colored by some personal experience that Mr. Brown had with them. Eric Brown is arguably
the most experienced pilot when it comes to the sheer number of aircraft types that he flew during World War II and in the 1950s. His ablitity to evaluate these aircraft of different companies and different nations makes his assessments truly unigue. This is NOT a book to be missed by anyone truly interested in military aviation!

I first came across this book over twenty five years ago when I was a young kid. It was at the local library for a very short space of time before it was stolen. Not remembering the title or the author of the book it has taken me until now to renew my acquaintance with this riveting read. This document offers a rare insight into the aircraft featured, also into the life of an accomplished test pilot during a very interesting period of aviation and political history. While the multitude of other books on this subject are written on hearsay and conjecture, this is coming from the horse's mouth. Eric Brown not only flew the aircraft featured, but also flew the aircraft that they are compared against. In this regard the book is unique and it staggers me why it should be out of print. If I were to fault the manuscript it would be that the final page came all too quickly. For anyone interested in aviation this book is a 'must have'.

Eric Brown was an RAF fighter pilot in World War II who saw plenty of combat, and from January 1944 onward, a test pilot as well. When the war ended, he had access to all the surviving aircraft the Luftwaffe had produced, many of which he had spent the past few years trying to blast out of the sky. It was his job to issue detailed technical and intelligence analysis of these aircraft. Simply put, he flew the wings off `em, and what he discovered is in this book.

Brown examines seventeen types of German aircraft, which can be divided into two rough groups: the "workhorses" (piston-engine aircraft like the Me 109) and the "flashy stuff" (jets and rocket planes). He approaches the book systematically, one aircraft to a chapter. He begins with some broad and often colorful commentary, weaving often fascinating personal experiences in with his narrative, before settling into the nitty-gritty: long, extremely technically detailed analyses of the planes themselves - their performance and handling, merits and flaws. Many of his conclusions are against conventional wisdom. For example, he declares that the ME 110 Zerstörer was not a "failure" as most historians claim, but a good bomber-interceptor wrongly thrust into a fighter's role. And of course the book is loaded not merely with photos, but also numbered cutaway drawings, technical schematics of the cockpits, and suchlike.

My only objection is that the book is perhaps TOO technical for the layman. A lot of Brown's jargon flies right over my head, which is why I penalized the book one star. That, however, should not discourage anyone looking for a real in-depth study of Nazi-era German aircraft... perhaps the only truly in-depth study on the market.

I don't think there is anywhere else an unbiased test-pilot analysis of how these aircraft rate up and fly. We know that some of these aircraft were bad, some mediocre, some good and some magnificent but this is the only book I have come across that describes exactly what made a great aircraft great and a bad one bad. Captain Brown gives us a dispassionate test pilots view of each aeroplane and is not partisan in his views.

The details are great for model builders but his comments on the personal flying difficultlys too much in depth. Overall, a solid 9. I paid $28.95 and it was worth every cent.