Luftwaffe Emergency Fighters

An interesting book about aircraft which, mostly, never got to fly. It is late in the Second World War and the Luftwaffe are planning for the coming threat of newer Allied bombers, especially the B-29. A new more powerful turbojet is being developed and this will be used to power a second generation of jet fighters...

Well as we all know, the War ended before any of these types could enter service, or even fly. One major reason for this was the Heinkel HeS 011 turbojet. This was a more advanced design but by the time the Nazis were defeated only 19 had been built not the hundreds needed for the new wave of fighters.

The most notable of these fighters, and the one which came closest to actual reality was the Messerschmitt P.1101. A notable feature of this fighter was the swept wing, the geometry of which could be changed before flight. When the war ended the P.1101 was found in an uncompleted state but the design was adapted into the Post-war US experimental aircraft the Bell X-5 which was the first aircraft to have a swing wing.

So, this is a look at what might have been if the war in Europe had continued into 1946. It is to the usual standard of an Osprey book, well written and illustrated.