How many there was

[tomi]

Hello

Is the any idea how many "paper" projects German produce during war (or before it in the 30`s) ?
I was counting about 350 ( in the Luft 46 site), but I have read somewhere, that the count could be about 700.

TF

 

[Jemiba]

A problem may be the definition of "paper projects".
Very often a manufacturer not only had one design for a tender,
but several alternative designs, that at least were developed and
compared internally. At least when considerably different, would
such alternative designs be regarded as just one "paper project" ?
As you expand the time frame from the period under review in Luft '46,
to the '30s, I would dare to say, that sometimes such older designs
may have got more man hours by designers and engineers, than
those from the closing stages of the war, so could be regarded as
more realistic, at least drawn with the real aim to turn this design
into hardware. To most designers in Germany in, say March 1945,
it probably was very clear, that their designs had no chance of ever
becoming reality, but they had to do their job and try to escape the
transfer to the front ! Did it influence their work ? Maybe calculations
were more on the optimistic side ? To me, that would be more interesting,
than the pure number of projects.

 

[tomi]

Thank you, for you answer.

TF