ebooks Messerschmitt Me 262: Arrow to the Future by Walter J. Boyne; Donald S. Lopez in History

Review

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Great book. A lot I didn't know about theBy Donald C. BingamanGreat book. A lot I didn't know about the Me2624 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Much better than the average Schiffer bookBy S. J. WillI found this book to be a significant improvement over other Schiffer books; most of their military airplane books tend to be slender volumes with lots of pictures and very little text; meant primarily to be used as a reference for model-makers.This book was a very pleasant surprise! It has extensive detail on the history of jet engine research; not just in Germany but in the U.S. and Britain as well. It describes how the Me-262 airframe design came about; how the tricycle landing gear (as opposed to the usual tail-wheel) came to be. There is also a detailed look at the various Me-262 aircraft that were "liberated" by Allied forces and brought back to the U.S. and Britain for display; a full chapter is devoted to showing the restoration of the Me-262 in the National Air Space Museum facility at Silver Hill; Maryland; with color photos of the finished result. The book finishes with a chapter on the various other jet aircraft in development in the 1940s; including the Gloster Meteor; Arado Ar-234; Horten Ho-IX/Gotha Go-229; Lockheed XP-59A 80; and Heinkel He-162. There is even an Appendix reproducing (in English translation) the notes of German pilot Fritz Wendel on how to best fly the Me-262! Amazing!In short; very interesting stuff for the Me-262 enthusiast. And there are lots of photos of many different 262 aircraft; so if you are a modeller there is plenty for you here as well. An excellent book; I am very glad I bought it.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. The development and deployment of the Me 262 jet fighterBy UlfilasWalter Boyne pens an engaging account of the development and deployment of the Me 262 jet fighter that provided a valuable template for post-WW2 military aviation. Judged by the author to be "three years ahead of its time;" the Me 262 was still "but a dust mote in the furious advance of Allied power." Still; 1443 Me 262's were built and 300 saw combat.An essential part of Me 262 development was that of the twin jets engines powering the aircraft. Early German get engine development was the responsibility of Heinkel engineer Han von Ohain; a student fresh out of Goettingen; who began this task in 1936. By 1939 Junkers was also involved in jet engine design; an effort headed by Dr. Anselm Franz. By the end of 1941; the Junkers 004 engine was able to develop 2200 pounds of thrust; which put all other jet engines of the era "in the shade."Part of the challenge of jet engine development was that of eliminating vibration failures. To that end; Junkers even employed a violinist who matched the pitch of his musical instrument against natural frequencies of specific turban blades in order to locate the source of the problem. This collaboration between music and engineering professionals led to the elimination of the vibration problem by tapering the turbine blades (to increase their natural frequency) while reducing the engine RPM from 9000 to 8700 (p.21).The success of the complete aircraft owed much to the management philosophy of Dr. Willy Messerschmidt; whose status as CEO never superseded his instincts as an engineer. Willy maintained the integrity of his design teams by putting most decisions in the hands of broad-based technical committees instead of a rigid hierarchical organization. In addition; many disasters were averted by test pilot Fritz Wendel; who was able to land unstable early models that would have otherwise crashed.In addition to the engaging story of the Me 262; Boyne provides a discussion of other WW2 era jet aircraft; including the British Gloster Meteor and the American Lockheed XP-80.