Messerschmitt Me 262 Development & Politics by Dan Sharp

[newsdeskdan]

Some further notes about what this book is and what it isn't.
As mentioned, it's grounded in cited primary source documents throughout - so if I make a point about something you can see what evidence there is underpinning it, should you wish to. Taking surviving German wartime documents as a whole, a very significant proportion of them - I would hazard a guess at something like 10% - either concern the Me 262 directly or contain information which informs the Me 262's story. This amounts to thousands of documents and I have, consequently, collected and processed thousands of documents on the Me 262, distilling the information they contain into the book.
I read other people's books as widely as possible both before and during the writing process, so I'm well aware of what's previously been written about the Me 262; I was able to test assertions made in those books against the primary sources to see whether they had any validity.
Although the book is 160,000w long, it's rather economical in the sense that there are no biographies of the key players involved, no tech explanations of how a turbojet works, no lengthy back story about the Messerschmitt company and its founding etc. Nor is there anything much on the pilots who flew the Me 262, their units or their missions. Those 160,000w are about design, development, discussion and decision-making - with a side order of production.
I assumed that anyone who reads a book with both 'Me 262' and 'politics' in the title would already be at least familiar in passing with the Me 262 story. In fact, this is really a book for people who've read that story elsewhere - probably different, conflicting versions of that story - and who wondered which was right.
My core goal, really, was to find out what actually happened to the Me 262 all the way through from 1938 to 1945 by using the historical sources rather than whatever appears in other people's books.
What emerges, I think, is a rather more complex and nuanced story than anyone, including me, would have expected.

 

[sienar]

That is great. Too many books ostensibly targeted at enthusiasts retread the same ground again and again. Maybe that is what publishers demand but I don't need to know who Goering is, or what and axial compressor is, and I'm guessing most people willing to shell out $45 on a book about a single aircraft are in the same boat.

Does the book touch on some of the single engined fighters, like the P.1095 that had 262 wings?

 

[newsdeskdan]

That is great. Too many books ostensibly targeted at enthusiasts retread the same ground again and again. Maybe that is what publishers demand but I don't need to know who Goering is, or what and axial compressor is, and I'm guessing most people willing to shell out $45 on a book about a single aircraft are in the same boat.

Does the book touch on some of the single engined fighters, like the P.1095 that had 262 wings?

No P 1095 - that's really a part of the P 1101 story, which probably requires a full book in its own right. The Me 262 book does touch on how Willy Messerschmitt ordered his Project Office not to waste their time designing single jet fighters.

 

[athpilot]

I know I´m a little late here. But I´m absolutly thrilled about this one. Most german authors on the 262 subject use german archives (if at all), but Dan has this materail and the (captured) material from british and american archives as well. So I tend to say that this book will be the first real Me-262 biography, because it combines the political, design and war history of this aircraft. And not only the technical side. Finally! But one thing is still not clear to me: will the projects, variants, one-offs and armament be covered in another publication? Because I'm interested in that, too, of course. And I think Dan has a lot to say here.

 

[athpilot]

That is great. Too many books ostensibly targeted at enthusiasts retread the same ground again and again. Maybe that is what publishers demand but I don't need to know who Goering is, or what and axial compressor is, and I'm guessing most people willing to shell out $45 on a book about a single aircraft are in the same boat.

Does the book touch on some of the single engined fighters, like the P.1095 that had 262 wings?

No P 1095 - that's really a part of the P 1101 story, which probably requires a full book in its own right. The Me 262 book does touch on how Willy Messerschmitt ordered his Project Office not to waste their time designing single jet fighters.

Hm so will there be a P 1101 book? I´d buy it on the spot!

 

[elmayerle]

I'll second that about the P.1101 book.

 

[newsdeskdan]

I know I´m a little late here. But I´m absolutly thrilled about this one. Most german authors on the 262 subject use german archives (if at all), but Dan has this materail and the (captured) material from british and american archives as well. So I tend to say that this book will be the first real Me-262 biography, because it combines the political, design and war history of this aircraft. And not only the technical side. Finally! But one thing is still not clear to me: will the projects, variants, one-offs and armament be covered in another publication? Because I'm interested in that, too, of course. And I think Dan has a lot to say here.

The projects, variants, one-offs and armament (in most cases) are extensively covered in this book. I found many variants had a surprisingly rich history. For example, even though it's often disregarded, the glass-nosed Me 262 with prone bomb aimer was regarded as the most important sub-variant (after the A-2) for about six months.

 

[newsdeskdan]

First sample copy back from the printers. The remainder are due to arrive in the Mortons warehouse on Friday. I'll be signing copies on Monday and pre-orders should be sent out the same day.



A couple of further points concerning this book which might be of interest.
1. This is not a book for those who are new to the Me 262 and/or German WW2 aircraft development in general. It does not contain any biogs of individuals - so Willy Messerschmitt's early career, for example, is not detailed. Neither does it include any background on the companies concerned i.e. the pre-Messerschmitt Bayerische Flugzeug Werke saga. The 160,000w are focused tightly on the development of the Me 262 and the politics surrounding it. Similarly, the book won't tell you how a turbojet works or explain how the different items of equipment fitted to the aircraft operated. All these things can be found elsewhere and there wasn't room for anything in this book which wasn't directly relevant to the subject described in its title.
2. There are 305 images in the book but as with point 1., the book was written under the assumption that most people who read it will have seen practically every known photo of an Me 262 already. I didn't want this to be a book where every page looks familiar because the reader has already seen the images on it a dozen times elsewhere. As such, many of those 305 images are drawings from Messerschmitt reports - and many of them are, I believe, previously unpublished. Some have appeared in 'cleaned up' form in the works of, for example, Smith and Creek, but anyone who's read any of my previous works will know that I much prefer to see what the original drawing looks like - as scruffy as it might be. The images, just like the text, are presented in chronological order - with any given image on the page having been produced at around the same time as the events being described in the text on that page. Where relevant, I've noted where those images actually come from too - so for example the famous side view of the Me 262 V1, as well as detail shots of the same aircraft, all appear together in a single original report, the written content of which Willy Messerschmitt personally described as 'nonsensical'. In this way, I hope to provide additional context and richness to the Me 262 development story where previous works have simply used those photos and others without offering any insight on their background and origin.

 

[Foo Fighter]

Are all the pre orders signed or just some of them?

 

[newsdeskdan]

Are all the pre orders signed or just some of them?

All of them. I'm signing 300 and I believe there are about 200 pre-orders. The print run is 900 copies total.

 

[Foo Fighter]

Thank you.

 

[newsdeskdan]

The books were delayed in transit for some reason and only arrived in the warehouse today (October 11, 2022). I'm going to sign the 300 tomorrow - and they should be posted out to pre-order customers immediately thereafter.

 

[newsdeskdan]

The 300 copies were signed on Wednesday and pre-orders were posted on the same day. Hopefully people should be receiving them soon. Anyway, here's a page from the book. I don't recall seeing this design mentioned elsewhere (though I could easily be wrong!) - a proposal to create a single-seat Me 262 long-range day fighter by taking the stretched two-seater B-2 night fighter airframe and replacing the rear cockpit with additional fuel.

 

[Foo Fighter]

I got mine today, £30 for that? It's a bargain, seriously good value for money folks.

 

[newsdeskdan]

I got mine today, £30 for that? It's a bargain, seriously good value for money folks.

I kept the book as tight as possible to keep the price down. I hope it proves to be an interesting read.

 

[elmayerle]

The 300 copies were signed on Wednesday and pre-orders were posted on the same day. Hopefully people should be receiving them soon. Anyway, here's a page from the book. I don't recall seeing this design mentioned elsewhere (though I could easily be wrong!) - a proposal to create a single-seat Me 262 long-range day fighter by taking the stretched two-seater B-2 night fighter airframe and replacing the rear cockpit with additional fuel.

View attachment 685466

From a modelling point of view, not impossible to do as there is a conversion for the Me262B-2 available.

 

[newsdeskdan]

The 300 copies were signed on Wednesday and pre-orders were posted on the same day. Hopefully people should be receiving them soon. Anyway, here's a page from the book. I don't recall seeing this design mentioned elsewhere (though I could easily be wrong!) - a proposal to create a single-seat Me 262 long-range day fighter by taking the stretched two-seater B-2 night fighter airframe and replacing the rear cockpit with additional fuel.

View attachment 685466

From a modelling point of view, not impossible to do as there is a conversion for the Me262B-2 available.

Does sound feasible. I'd be interested to know whether anyone else has ever heard of this variant before. I have a feeling that it's a new discovery but I could be wrong.

 

[Raketyr]

The 300 copies were signed on Wednesday and pre-orders were posted on the same day. Hopefully people should be receiving them soon. Anyway, here's a page from the book. I don't recall seeing this design mentioned elsewhere (though I could easily be wrong!) - a proposal to create a single-seat Me 262 long-range day fighter by taking the stretched two-seater B-2 night fighter airframe and replacing the rear cockpit with additional fuel.

View attachment 685466

From a modelling point of view, not impossible to do as there is a conversion for the Me262B-2 available.

Does sound feasible. I'd be interested to know whether anyone else has ever heard of this variant before. I have a feeling that it's a new discovery but I could be wrong.

I don't know if it's the same thing.. Me 262 Langrumpf (FliegerRevue X 57).

X-Projekte: Me 262 Langrumpf | FliegerRevue X

www.fliegerrevuex.aero

 

[newsdeskdan]

The 300 copies were signed on Wednesday and pre-orders were posted on the same day. Hopefully people should be receiving them soon. Anyway, here's a page from the book. I don't recall seeing this design mentioned elsewhere (though I could easily be wrong!) - a proposal to create a single-seat Me 262 long-range day fighter by taking the stretched two-seater B-2 night fighter airframe and replacing the rear cockpit with additional fuel.

View attachment 685466

From a modelling point of view, not impossible to do as there is a conversion for the Me262B-2 available.

Does sound feasible. I'd be interested to know whether anyone else has ever heard of this variant before. I have a feeling that it's a new discovery but I could be wrong.

I don't know if it's the same thing.. Me 262 Langrumpf (FliegerRevue X 57).

X-Projekte: Me 262 Langrumpf | FliegerRevue X

www.fliegerrevuex.aero

Looks like I was beaten to it by Mr Jack!

 

[athpilot]

The 300 copies were signed on Wednesday and pre-orders were posted on the same day. Hopefully people should be receiving them soon. Anyway, here's a page from the book. I don't recall seeing this design mentioned elsewhere (though I could easily be wrong!) - a proposal to create a single-seat Me 262 long-range day fighter by taking the stretched two-seater B-2 night fighter airframe and replacing the rear cockpit with additional fuel.

View attachment 685466

From a modelling point of view, not impossible to do as there is a conversion for the Me262B-2 available.

Does sound feasible. I'd be interested to know whether anyone else has ever heard of this variant before. I have a feeling that it's a new discovery but I could be wrong.

I don't know if it's the same thing.. Me 262 Langrumpf (FliegerRevue X 57).

X-Projekte: Me 262 Langrumpf | FliegerRevue X

www.fliegerrevuex.aero

Looks like I was beaten to it by Mr Jack!

This is the first time! Actually, it's usually the other way round.

 

[Dagger]

Received my copy of the book today.

BTW: that Me 262 Langrumpf was also posted four years ago in this topic: https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/me-262-projects-pre-projects-and-variants.6994/post-336819

 

[newsdeskdan]

Received my copy of the book today.

BTW: that Me 262 Langrumpf was also posted four years ago in this topic: https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/me-262-projects-pre-projects-and-variants.6994/post-336819

I hope you enjoy it!

Without wishing to take anything away from Mr Jack, who clearly discovered the design first and deserves credit for that, I'm not sure I buy into his interpretation of the 'project'. Nowhere in the original document is the term 'Me 262 Langrumpf' used. In the time-honoured tradition of secret projects writers, he appears to have just come up with that himself.
It's only really a 'langrumpf' in the same way that the Me 262 B-2 was intended to have a 'langrumpf' - and no one ever uses that word to describe the B-2. This is simply a B-2 airframe with the rear seat removed, or perhaps never fitted in the first place. He refers to a 'Projekt Me 262 Langrumpf' but again, there does not appear to have been such a project.
The proposal to reconfigure B-2 airframes for use as a long-range day fighter doesn't seem to really be a project in its own right. As you'll see from my book, it's just an idea for another way in which the Me 262's range can be extended.

 

[Dball]

View attachment 683775

Messerschmitt Me 262 Development & Politics by Dan Sharp

There are many myths surrounding the development of the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter. Its unparalleled performance is beyond doubt; easily able to outpace its opponents and possessing the firepower to shred them in seconds. Yet immediately after the Second World War, rumours abounded that official indifference, technical shortcomings and interference from the Führer himself had crippled the Me 262’s progress and delayed its appearance on the front line until it was far too late.

Begun as a series of design concepts during 1938, the fighter would not enter mass production until the spring of 1944. Even then it failed to make any notable impact until the closing weeks of the war, when Me 262s began destroying USAAF bombers at an alarming rate. Exactly what happened to cause this apparently late start and who was responsible has until now been largely a matter of conjecture.

Grounded in research involving thousands of wartime documents spread across archival collections in three countries, Messerschmitt Me 262 Development & Politics finally sweeps aside the myths and provides a clear understanding of the real history. Sharp examines the aircraft’s technical development in unparalleled detail as well as analysing the ongoing discussions surrounding the Me 262 at the highest levels within the Messerschmitt company, the German Air Ministry and Adolf Hitler’s inner circle.

328 pages
160,000w of text
300 images
A4 hardback
£30 / $45

Due to go to press next week with a 2-3 week turnaround time until copies are available.

Pre-orders are now open here:

MESSERSCHMITT ME 262: DEVELOPMENT AND POLITICS | Mortons Books

Book - Messerschmitt Me 262: Development and Politics

www.mortonsbooks.co.uk

Trash

The FÜHRER NEVER ORDERED THAT THE 262 BE MADE INTO A FIGHTER BOMBER AND NEITHER DID GÖRING.....that demand was MADE BY SPEER.

 

[newsdeskdan]

Trash

The FÜHRER NEVER ORDERED THAT THE 262 BE MADE INTO A FIGHTER BOMBER AND NEITHER DID GÖRING.....that demand was MADE BY SPEER.

If you had read the book, you would know that Goering first mentioned Hitler's desire that the Me 262 should be a fighter-bomber to Milch at a meeting on October 28, 1943 (p109-110).
The archival reference for this is: IWM Milch 63/6016 Besprechung beim Reichsmarschall am Donnerstag, dem 28. Oktober 1943, 12 Uhr in Carinhall.
Then at another meeting on November 2, with Willy Messerschmitt present, Goering explained in detail exactly what bomb load Hitler wanted the Me 262 to carry, as a fighter-bomber, and Messerschmitt confirmed that it would be able to carry that bomb load (p111-112).
The archival reference for this is: IWM Milch 63/5961 Die Besprechung beim Reichsmarshall am Dienstag, dem 2. November 1943, 10.45 Uhr in den Messerschmitt-Werken in Regensburg

Now, what's your evidence for Speer demanding that the Me 262 be made into a fighter-bomber?

All the claims made in this book are backed up by archival evidence. This is fully referenced, so you can seek out the sources and read them for yourself should you wish to do so.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

User Dball has been banned from posting.

 

[SleeperService2]

Well colour me very impressed indeed. Superb book in all ways, if you have even a passing interest in the Me262 I'd suggest buying it. A friend has a veritable library of Me262 books, glanced through my copy and ordered one immediately.
One day that wretched myth about the fighter bomber causing all the delay may finally die.
It's a great book and Crimble approaches....

 

[athpilot]

4 in a row. This! This is what I call a good day.
Now I will have some good reads and hope I can post some reviews etc. in the near future. But at a first glance, Dan´s book on the 262 is very deep and well researched.

Cheers!

 

[Dagger]

4 in a row. This! This is what I call a good day.

Good choice of books.
That yellow book, 'Johannes Winkler in den Junkers-Werken und die Dessauer Raketen' looks also interesting to me.
Could you post a photo of the table of contents?

 

[Harry64]

4 in a row. This! This is what I call a good day.

Good choice of books.
That yellow book, 'Johannes Winkler in den Junkers-Werken und die Dessauer Raketen' looks also interesting to me.
Could you post a photo of the table of contents?

Here please.

 

[Dagger]

Thanks!

 

[athpilot]

4 in a row. This! This is what I call a good day.

Good choice of books.
That yellow book, 'Johannes Winkler in den Junkers-Werken und die Dessauer Raketen' looks also interesting to me.
Could you post a photo of the table of contents?

For more on this book please see her: https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/th...unkers-werken-und-die-dessauer-raketen.40586/

Cheers!

 

[OliverSedlacek]

Just wanted to say I've really got stuck into my copy and I'm loving it! Good value too.

I'm starting to come to the conclusion that the loser's story can be more revealing than the winner's.

 

[Calum Douglas]

Trash

The FÜHRER NEVER ORDERED THAT THE 262 BE MADE INTO A FIGHTER BOMBER AND NEITHER DID GÖRING.....that demand was MADE BY SPEER.

If you had read the book, you would know that Goering first mentioned Hitler's desire that the Me 262 should be a fighter-bomber to Milch at a meeting on October 28, 1943 (p109-110).
The archival reference for this is: IWM Milch 63/6016 Besprechung beim Reichsmarschall am Donnerstag, dem 28. Oktober 1943, 12 Uhr in Carinhall.
Then at another meeting on November 2, with Willy Messerschmitt present, Goering explained in detail exactly what bomb load Hitler wanted the Me 262 to carry, as a fighter-bomber, and Messerschmitt confirmed that it would be able to carry that bomb load (p111-112).
The archival reference for this is: IWM Milch 63/5961 Die Besprechung beim Reichsmarshall am Dienstag, dem 2. November 1943, 10.45 Uhr in den Messerschmitt-Werken in Regensburg

Now, what's your evidence for Speer demanding that the Me 262 be made into a fighter-bomber?

All the claims made in this book are backed up by archival evidence. This is fully referenced, so you can seek out the sources and read them for yourself should you wish to do so.

Replies in ALL CAPITALS are a sure sign of a very small brain overheating. Whats wrong with people. I remember getting quite bemused by one "I have never read the book but I know best" type on another forum, who after the publication of my book insisted that Dr Kollmann was never the chief designer at Daimler-Benz. Although I had translated his memoirs, interviewed his son and had dozens of archive references including an organizational diagram with "Dr Kollmann, Chief Design Dept" written on it.


But he knew none of that mattered because he had a letter dated two years before that (before Kollmann was promoted) showing Kollmann not the chief engineer. I was about to write up a little physics essay because the laws of our space-time necessarily require things that happen later not being recorded before they happen. But I thought the better of it.

 

[HoHun]

Hi Dan,

Grounded in research involving thousands of wartime documents spread across archival collections in three countries, Messerschmitt Me 262 Development & Politics finally sweeps aside the myths and provides a clear understanding of the real history.

Some information from your book I've been pondering for a while ... on p. 22, you quote Voigt's statement on the sweep of the Me 262's outer wings being introduced to fix a centre of gravity issue caused by the heavier-than-expected engines. Clearly, that implies that without that fix, the Me 262 would have been tail-heavy.

Voigt also states that the introduction of outer wing sweep and the mounting of the engines below the wings were done in one combined change, which you (very sensibly doubt, based on the drawings also reproduced on p. 25, showing a Me 262 with swept outer wings and (fairly small) embedded mid-wing engines, dated March 21, 1940.

I believe another bit of information you provide on the February 17, 1940 amendment of the Projektübergabe document also casts doubt on the "centre-of-gravity" explanation: This eliminated 150 kg of ballast from the nose, which stood in for the planned armament the prototype wasn't supposed to be carried.

Taken together, this would seem to suggest that the sweeping of the outer wings and the increased weight of the engines had to combined effect of making the aircraft so nose-heavy that it wouldn't be able to carry armament.

That seems rather self-contradictory, considering that the nose-heavy condition could have been fixed by bringing the wings back to their original un-swept state immediately.

Sounds like a minor detail, but I'm really scratching my head about this one Do you have any thoughts on this?

Regards,

Henning (HoHun)