Justo Miranda

"Unknown! No. 5"

by  J. Miranda & P. Mercado

Reviewed By  Keith Pruitt, IPMS# 44770

MSRP: $37.00 US (€25 Euros) 60 pages, color front & back cover, with plus 41 line drawings, Softbound, Order from Justo Miranda, P° Pintor Rosales 34-5° C, 28008 Madrid, Spain, justomir@telefonica.net http://www.luft46.com/rd/rdreams.html I had heard of "Luft '46" several times over the years, but, since I tend to focus more on US projects, I had not looked into it. Now, I can see the attraction of those types of projects. This magazine-sized book is a very interesting "what if" study of various projected aircraft possibilities. It covers fictional German, American, British, Australian, French, Italian, and Japanese projects, with some designs that are derived from actual or "drawing board" projects. The well-written text describes the history and development of most of the aircraft. Being a history buff, I found myself caught up several times, and had to remind myself that these are ONLY fictional aircraft. It begins with the Horten Schnellbomber, a variation of the flying wing. There are actually several versions depicted in the drawings. Next it covers a German weapons system, the R4M "Orkan" Rocket, and its implementation on various aircraft (including the familiar Me 262 and the He 162). Next, the book covers the evolution of the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporations Boomerang into the CA-15 Kangaroo. The story describes a sortie from the Australian-Indonesian War of 1953. Like I said, it's easy to get caught up in the stories… Not all of the possibilities are solely considered weapons. The "Outpost" Lifeboat was designed in 1958, for a series of space stations that would orbit 400 miles above the earth, gathering intelligence data, making scientific observations, and performing satellite repair. There is a comparison of the Kyushu Shinden Kai and the Curtiss-Wright CW 24-C (the jet powered version of the XP-55 Ascender). These are both "canard" fighter aircraft. The British Blackburn B-44 is a seaplane design with a retractable float and outriggers, and dual contra-rotating propellers. The French are included with the Arsenal Flying Wings, which used a tandem engine configuration, with gull wings and dual contra-rotating propellers. The Italians are represented by the Reggiane RE 2006 R, a hypothetical jet version of the Re 2005, and the Re 2007, which would appear to be a "new" jet design.

The last segment covers a late-WWII Kamikaze attack on the Panama Canal by flights of Japanese Ohka 43A, the rocket-powered flying bombs. This is a fantastic story…WAIT! It is FICTION!!! Again, I'll remind you that it's easy to get caught up in these stories. All of the line drawings are in 1/72 scale, so if you're into building a fictional squadron, it would be relatively easy to scratchbuild or kitbash most of these designs. And, they would look SO unbelievably cool on a shelf!! I enjoyed reading this book…even when I got carried away, and began to believe some of the stories. It's definitely a "must have" for fans of the Luft '46 genre!! I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Justin Miranda and to IPMS/USA for this review sample.

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