Messerschmitt Me 328 Development & Politics

By: Sharp, Dan

"... presented in an oversized format and printed on high-quality paper which shows photographs and drawings with clarity. Sharp includes copies of German documents and drawings to support his case." -The Journal of the Air Force Historical Foundation

There was huge excitement when Argus engineer G nther Diedrich succeeded in building a pulsejet powerful enough to propel a car up to 100km/h in 1941 - it was simple, cheap and lightweight, and before long Germany's premier fighter manufacturer Messerschmitt had come up with a simple, cheap and lightweight airframe on which to mount it - the Me 328.

The new aircraft was first pitched as an interceptor, then as a parasite bomber for attacks on America, then as an airborne version of the infamous Soviet Katyusha rocket launcher, to fire heavyweight rocket-bombs at Allied shipping. Prototypes were built and flown both as gliders and under pulsejet power, and when Nazi fanatics needed an aircraft suitable for suicide attacks against high-value Allied targets, their first choice was the Me 328. Yet the type never fulfilled the grandiose ambitions of those who designed, built and supported it.

Dan Sharp unravels a development history that was anything but straightforward to find out exactly what happened to the Luftwaffe's most enigmatic 'secret project' aircraft. Messerschmitt Me 328 Development & Politics is based on extensive archival research of contemporary German documents and includes numerous previously unpublished period drawings as well as 50 new full colour profile artworks.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1911704206
• ISBN13: 9781911704201
• Release Date: July 2024
• Publisher: HarperTempest
• Length: 150 Pages
• Weight: 2.11 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 8.3" x 11.7"