Luftwaffe Fighter Aces
Luftwaffe Fighter Aces

Author: Mike Spick

Publisher: Frontline Books

Published: 2011-07-19

Total Pages: 248

ISBN-13: 1783375787

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In this exciting book Mike Spick shows how the Luftwaffe's leading fighter pilots were able to outscore their allied counterparts so effectively and completely during the Second World War. When the records of the Jagdflieger pilots became available after the war, they were initially greeted with incredulity _ the highest claim was for 352 kills, and more than 100 pilots had recorded more than 100 victories. However postwar research proved that these claims had in fact been made in good faith and confirmation had only been given after rigorous checking. To discover the secret of this success, aviation history expert Mike Spick examines the exploits of these aces and sets out the context in which it took place. Every major theater is covered in detail including the conditions peculiar to each: climate, relative numerical and qualitative strengths, the presence or absence of radar and other measures, and the relative merits of the planes being flown. He focuses on the methods and tactics used by individual aces and uses firsthand sources wherever possible to put the reader right alongside the pilot in the cockpit.

Luftwaffe Fighter Aircraft in Profile
Luftwaffe Fighter Aircraft in Profile

Author: Claes Sundin

Publisher: Schiffer Military History

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 141

ISBN-13: 9780764302916

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A superb study for both the historian and modeler, this book contains 124 color profiles showing Luftwaffe single-engine fighter aircraft - Bf 109, Fw 190, Ta 152, Me 262, Me 163, and He 162 - once piloted by some of the most famous German aces of World War II. Also shown are war-era photographs of select aircraft and pilots. The book begins with a summary of Luftwaffe fighter camouflage and color schemes on the various war fronts, then explains unit markings, tactical codes, personal markings and other markings. Luftwaffe Fighter Aircraft in Profile serves as the perfect introduction to the history of the German Luftwaffe in World War II. At the same time, it is an indispensable volume to the aircraft modeler.

Unflinching Zeal
Unflinching Zeal

Author: Robin Higham

Publisher: Naval Institute Press

Published: 2012-09-15

Total Pages: 369

ISBN-13: 1612511120

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This consequential work by a pioneer aviation historian fills a significant lacuna in the story of the defeat of France in May-June 1940 and more fully explains the Battle of Britain of July–October of that year and the influence it had on the Luftwaffe in the 1941 invasion of the USSR. Robin Higham approaches the subject by sketching the story and status of the three air forces--the Armée de l’Air, the Luftwaffe, and the Royal Air Force--their organization and preparation for their battles. He then dissects the the campaigns, their losses and replacement policies and abilities. He paints the struggles of France and Britain from both the background provided by his recent Two Roads to War: From Versailles to Dunkirk (NIP, 2012) and from the details of losses tabulated by After the Battle’s The Battle of Britain (1982, 2nd ed.) and Peter Cornwell’s The Battle of France Then and Now (2007), as well as in Paul Martin’s Invisible Vainqueurs (1990) and from the Luftwaffe summaries in the British National Archives Cabinet papers. One important finding is that the consumption and wastage was not nearly as high as claimed. The three air forces actually shot down only 19 percent of the number claimed. In the RAF case, in the summer of 1940, 44 percent of those shot down were readily repairable thanks to the salvage and repair organizations. This contrasted with the much lower 8 percent for the Germans and zero for the French. Brave as the aircrews may have been, the inescapable conclusion is that awareness of consumption, wastage, and sustainability were intimately connected to survival.