Messerschmitt Reviews

The story is great. I agree with what is in the other two reviews. But the end of the book is the best part. It gives Steinhoff's insight (25 years after the conclusion of the war) into a modern nation's needs for defense and how that defense might be constructed. This insight, following the story of the defense of Sicily, makes the book! This insight is worth your time to read.

This book will be disappointing to anyone expecting tales of aerial victories. Instead, read about the near impossibility of fighter defense under the pressure of incessant night and day raids on German airfields, the management of experienced and inexperienced (though expert) pilots, use of alternative fields, retreat, and the unreality of orders from higher level of German air force leadership. I have reread this book several times, and strongly recommend it for its reality, not its thrills.

Steinhoff's tenure in the Luftwaffe spanned ten years, of which six years involved active combat. As Kommodore of JG-77, Steinhoff was responsible for the aerial defense of Sicily during the Allied Operation Husky. This book, written by the man who commanded German fighters, is pivotal in the historiography and critical to the understanding of just how that phase of the war developed. I highly recommend the book.

An excellent publication for anyone interested in WWII Luftwaffe in general or in the Messerschmitt 109. A 'must have' for any modeller building BF109's. Extensive photographic coverage of all the various F,G & K models. Clearly explains the confusion surrounding the 'late' war models, and especially the AS models (ie:G6/AS,G10/AS,G14/AS) Picture quality is generally very good, with a lot of previously unpublished photographs. Overall, a high quality product and excellent value for money.

The books deals with great variety of bf109 models produced in wartime Germany. Although this books does not includes the early 109 versions like B, D and E, it gives you a good look at all the version of the most famous models of this plane F, G and K. The book's name tells everything- it's an illustrated study, so don't expect a lot of writing. You'll see some paragraphs with info and development, but no more. What I liked the most, was pictures from technical manuals and a color photogallery at the end of the book. In conclusion, this book gives you what it promises-lots of wartime pictures of all possible variations of the Bf109.

This book is outstanding. The plates contain an unparalled 32 examples the K-4, including Hartmann's, which I had seen only as a poster. The many versions of the G are also well represented. This book's scholarship on the K-4 is not as extensive as can be found in similar books from the Czech Republic and Poland, but I nonetheless recommend this work without reservation especially for students of the the air war in 1945. It's great to see that Amazon has made easily available this excellent work on "the last of the eagles."

See my review for volume 1 to this series. Splendid reference for those who appreciate the complex camouflage patterns used by the Luftwaffe. Very interesting in how various markings were applied as well. No one bothered to edit these books but so what, at 13 bucks, it is a crime to not buy it.

Only rarely does an airman have the ability to so communicate his experiences that the reader sweats through them with him. Geoffrey Morley-Mower ranks right at the top with only a handful of such men. The grit, grime, tension and raw fear of having to fly when completely exhausted and lacking enough sleep comes through over and over again.

For the first time we have a clearly honest account of the war from a recce pilot's viewpoint. Seeing the desert war from this vantage point was a unique experience for me. The book gives you a real feel for the pressure of such dangerous flying under which some men understandably broke.

Very interesting for camouflage and detailed information for Me.109 in the royal italian force.

The book gives a very thorough overview of the designs created by Willy Messerschmitt before and during the war. The growing company headed by the designer is very good described. Perhaps is the period prior to the war described in more detail than during the war, despite the fact that the company grew dramatically during the war. Great care is given to documetation, and the reader can be assured that the facts are correct. The book describes both the successful and not successful projects, and guides the reader through the reasons why some projects were not continued. Political and business considerations between Messerschmitt and the Nazi leaders are also described very good.

I miss more detail describing the last two years of the war, this period is only dedicated a few percentages of the volume of the book. The post-war years are completely lacking, which is also a shame.

However, I strongly recommend this book, which can be read as a novel, describing in a thru! stworthy and exiting way the projects and company of the genius aircraft designer.

When I ordered this book I was worried that I may have been straying too far into the realm of Luftwaffe esoterica. Perhaps so, but Vogt's book is an immensely useful supplement to any other book on the Bf109 on the market today.

Vogt deals with the after-market accessories (in modern parlance) for the Bf109 methodically and clearly, with judicious use of photographs, diagrams and reproductions from the contemporary Oberkommando der Luftwaffe parts listings. The latter are particularly interesting, especially for the model maker. Vogt manages to cover the plethora of G and K model Bf109s succinctly and provides a particularly useful listing of the Rustsatze kits known to have been used with each type.

Several remarkable points emerge, which I have not encountered in other sources. The use of red paint on the main-gear oleos and wheels to denote an aircraft equipped with the MW50 boost system is new to me and Vogt provides a contemporary colour photo to demonstrate this. I was fascinated to learn that that the full tropicalisation kit for the Bf109 not only included the well-known tropical dust filter for the supercharger intake, but also a comprehensive survival kit (with sandals!) and a rifle tucked away in the rear fuselage. The books is full of this sort detail, and I hope that future volumes emerge covering other types, especially the Fw190 series.

I strongly recommend this book for anyone seriously interested in the technical details of Luftwaffe aircraft, but especially the Bf109 enthusiast and model maker.

This is my favorite book on the '109, and I've seen many. It has great photographs of two restored 109's. One is the Mark Hanna restored G-10 on the cover, and the other is a G-2 tropical. My favorite are the closups of the 2,000 HP DB 605D engine showing the huge supercharger and cannon. Also of note are the stories and modern reunion photographs of two aces with this plane, one being #2 ace Gunther Rall. Fantastic. To sum up, a great picture book, but with good text (14 large page small print history at front of book)...not comprehensive as far as blow by blow combat accounts, but a great look at a great plane. Thanks.

This is a great book about the Zerstorer aces of world war 2. It covers the fighting of the Zerstorers in Poland, Denmark, Norway, France, the low countries, Russia, North Africa, Italy, and Finland. It also covers the Battle of the German Bight, and the Battle of Britian. It has lots of pictures, and the color plates are nice because they show how the planes were painted. Also the Ju 88c and Me 410 are also pictured and talked about a little in this book. Some of the pilots talked about are Werner Methfessel, Heinz Nacke, and Theodor Rossiwall.

This is a well organized, 50 page, inexpensive book on one of the Luftwaffe aircraft. The book contains specifications, illustrations, developments, assembly, and a wide variety of many clear pictures which I had never before seen. It's an interesting, straightforward book. I'm glad I found it.