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Miranda |
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Unknown! No. 4 |
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by J. Miranda and P. Mercado |
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Reviewed By Jim Pearsall, #2209 |
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MSRP: $32.00 USD, 30 Euros (Includes Shipping) Available from the Author:
Justo Miranda (e-mail pmercado@fujitsu.es ) http://www.luft46.com/rd/rdreams.html The basics: Stapled paper, 60 pages, 11.5’ X 8” (A4?), technical illustrations in 1/72, 1/24 and 1/5 scale (as appropriate to the subject). Covers 11 distinct aircraft types, German antitank rocket weapons, and a 1-man flying device. English text. Each entry contains information about the project, technical data and a bibliography. I want to thank the authors for sending this review copy. The aircraft: Having been exposed to the idea of Luftwaffe ’46, and being somewhat familiar with some of the lesser known projects of the US Army and Navy, I was still surprised at some of the ideas that came up, not just from the Germans, but also the French, the Americans, and the British. These were projects which mostly never got off the drawing board, either because they were just too advanced to be practical, or they just didn’t have the performance, the capability, or the political clout needed to reach mass production status. When there’s a war on, the craziest ideas are considered, because (as stated in a corollary to Murphy’s Law) a stupid idea that works is not stupid. This series brings back those ideas which were hatched by some brilliant thinkers and engineers under the pressures of wartime. The web site page is “Reich Dreams”, subtitled “The information about German Secret Weapons you cannot find anywhere else!” The contents: Horton Ho XIIIB, German supersonic delta fighter. Henschel P.75, German canard-pusher heavy fighter “Einpersonenfluggerat” German flying belt “PanzerBlitz I” German anti-tank airborne rockets. Curtiss-Wright P-248-01 (Demon with an Allison in-line engine) Curtiss P-40, twin engine version Davis Manta fighters, twin boom “pusher” and conventional airframe Kawanishi “Baika” series Model 1 “Baika” with detachable undercarriage Model 2 “Baika”, submarine launched version Model 3 “Baika”, air launched variant. Blackburn Firebrand Fiat G50V, G52 & G53 with in-line engines. French aircraft guns of WW2 MAC 34 Oerlikon FFS HS 7 HS 9 HS 404 French “baby” fighters Potez 230 Poussel R 30 Bloch 700/720 Usefulness as a modeling reference: Good. Each item is covered by a short text, but the real star is the set of line drawings by Paulo Mercado. The other really useful part is that if there’s a kit available of the aircraft/weapon, they mention it. |
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The book could be very useful if you’re going to attempt scratch building
an aircraft, or if you need detail information for one of the kits. The
drawings are 5-views, and the Horten, the Henschel and the Mantas include
engine, fuel tank, and landing gear location drawings. Conclusion: I was rather taken with the choice of aircraft. A twin engine P-40. Hmmm. OK, the maneuverability of a P-40 combined with the weight of a Bf-110. Not a winner. And the Baika Model 3. What were they thinking?!? They put the pulse-jet engine under the fuselage! How do they get the gear down? Oh… Yeah… Kamikaze. Never mind. And the German rocket belt. The designer figured out how to get a pulse jet to work on compressed air. But the problems of having the pilot’s knees cooked to medium rare hadn’t been solved yet. This should be a popular book with those modelers and aviation enthusiasts who are out there beyond the leading edge. The web site for this book is Luftwaffe ’46, and short of science fiction modeling, or fantasy figures, there’s nothing quite like it. Neat stuff. |
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