[Richard T. Eger]

Dear All,

I received this book today and agree with Dirk's description and assessment as to its value. For me, its coverage of the Me 262 is quite extensive and thus worth the price, even if more expensive than most books. And, most books run 220 pages or less, whereas this one runs 398 pages, so the higher price can, from this count, be excused.

The question was asked as to how it stacks up to the new JaPo book on Me 262 activity in Czechoslovakia. The simplest way to handle this is to compare the amount of text per day.

For 16 April 1945, Horn's book runs about 3/5ths of a page of larger text, whereas the JaPo book runs only a paragraph specifically on KG 51, but 1-1/5th pages on all units that day.

For 18 April 1945, Horn's book runs about 3/4 page, while the JaPo book doesn't specifically mention KG 51 but runs 2-1/4 pages.

The difference, of course, is that the JaPo book covers all Me 262 activity, whereas Horn's book, I presume, restricts itself to KG 51.

Horn's book appears to pay more specific attention to the specific Me 262's involved in each combat, frequently giving the operational codes, which can then be back tracked through Dan O'Connell's Werknummer book, which Horn references and possibly used for this purpose.

Four tables are provided at the rear of the book which list, among other things, the Werknummer and operational code of each aircraft, including, besides Me 262's, Me 410's and Fw 190's, aircraft for which O'Connell did not provide this information.

Obviously, one big difference is that the JaPo book is in English, whereas Horn's book is in German.

Regards,
Richard