Air War Publications update

[Andrew Arthy]

Hi,

We've just released a blog post outlining the status of our various book projects, which can be found here: https://airwarpublications.com/seaso...-publications/. In summary, 2022 was a very productive year for us, and we intend 2023 to be equally as productive!

Cheers,
Andrew A.
Air War Publications - www.airwarpublications.com/earticles

[Jukka Juutinen]

Will the Hs 123 book be also an exquisitely detailed and thorough technical and engineering treatise, not just a combat chronicle?

[Morten Jessen]

Hej Jukka
Thanks for your interest in the Hs 123 project. I will present my findings of both the design and build phase as well as the operational history.
Are there any particular technical aspects that you are interested in, since you are specifically asking for "exquisitely detailed and thorough technical and engineering treatise".
also, what is detailed and thorough technical material for you?

Cheers
Morten

[Jukka Juutinen]

Mortem, I think you can get a good overall picture of what I mean from Francis Dean's "America's Hundred Thousand" the Luftfahrt Dokumente book on the Ar 234. Take a look on the information provided on each type covered. In addition, I would like to see how the designers arrived at various aspects of the design and why was was a particular feature chose. Also I would like to see translated original test reports assessing its flying qualities and cockpit arrangement (including stalling and spinning characteristics and recovery techniques), performance (for example, the maximum air range speed and the fuel consumption at that setting and take-off/landing performance ground run/15 m obstacle clearance). Also information on manufacturing techniques would be welcome.

[Edward]

Summary of Book Projects by Air War Publications

Coming in 2023

Night Fighters Over the Eastern Front
by Sven Carlsen, Morten Jessen and Adam Thompson
Aircraft Profiles by Claes Sundin

https://airwarpublications.com/upcom...eastern-front/

A History of No. 450 Squadron RAAF Vol. I
by Doug Norrie
Aircraft Profiles by Ronnie Olsthoorn

Coming in 2024 and beyond

Air War Courland
by Andrew Arthy

Henschel 123
by Morten Jensen

Untitled Unit history of a Luftwaffe transport Gruppe
Adam Thompson

No. 450 Squadron RAAF Vol. II
by Doug Norrie

Fw 190 in the Mediterranean Vols. 2 & 3
[Schlachtgeschwader 4 over Italy]
by Morten Jensen & Andrew Arthy

[BruceMk11]

Edward, you don't think other members are capable of clicking on a bloody link and reading for themselves??

[Morten Jessen]

Hej Jukka, thanks for your detailed input. I will present the material that I have discovered in my 15 years of research, but my aim is to tell the story and not just duplicate original documents. I do not see a point in doing that, unless they are essential to the story. I am writing a book, with an emphasis on good story-telling, rather than merely presenting the data. Some of the aspects you mentioned will be covered, but perhaps not in the level of detail you would desire.

We appreciate that the engineering side is important to the story, so we give it due attention. However, the majority of the aviation history community is more interested in the operational side and telling a good story, rather than the nuts-and-bolts engineering side of things. That is why you find most aviation history books focus on the combat aspect of an aircraft's history, rather than the technical.

I would love to know what thoughts the designers had regarding various aspects of the design process, but up until now I have not discovered any construction or engineer diaries. A few meeting minutes are available, but they are just a few in a line for probably hundreds or thousands of meetings held within the Henschel company or with BMW or other external partners.

Keep in mind that documentation on German aircraft is very often limited. You refer to a book on American aircraft types … they have a whole lot of documentation available. The factories probably still exist, and have complete archives :0) Things are a little different from the German side of things.

Cheers
Morten

[Adriano Baumgartner]

JUKKA and MORTEN, good morning.

You are probably the two (or two amongst others) experts on biplanes in WW2.

I tend to agree with JUKKA in that it is very scarce to find on the literature books that covers the aspects (comparative with other models for instance) that Jukka pointed out. Mainly because, the operational aspect was rather focused on combat sorties rather than the characteristics of the model itself.

I guess that for that purpose, one (Historian, Researhcer, Enthusiast) should have had access (preferably a good focused or directed interview) with the TEST PILOTS and engineers of the project themselves. In our case, this is extremely rare. Only those who have testes or flew the machine could answer how it felt on a spinning to the right side or left side; how many feets it deeped per turn, how much pressure on the controls one would have to put to recover, etc.

The Air Ministry Flight Manuals are very short, straight and without much "colour" on them....on the other hand the US Army Air Corps WW2 Flight Manuals and Syllabus are extremely detailed, with "Cartoons" remembering the "student" some very important aspects and Safety issues. The Germans did have some very technical manuals as well, but I would say that they stay in the middle, on a scale range. I only saw "cartoons" on one or two German manuals up so far.

As you know much more than me, please do allow me to ask: HOW MANY MANUALS (technical, flight manuals, Syllabus, Engineering, etc.) of the Henschel Hs-123 survived or exist (either in PDF format or in paper) and are preserved?

I know for instance that the Ju 88 and He 111 did have several volumes and several kind of manuals, and in one of them (PDF), I found the Single Engine performance I was looking for and the dump fuel system (Junkers) that I wanted to know how it operated.

This is a good topic JUKKA and certainly, the new books focused on the airplanes could have a comparative study of performance against enemy similar types and with other LW machines (spinning characteristics, take-off and landing distances [ISA], range, etc.).

Most humbly yours

Adriano

[Jukka Juutinen]

Adriano:

1. The best source for information on issues like spinning characteristics are original test report by either manufacturer or government testing facilities' test pilots. For example, the USN required that companies demonstrate their fighter designs to meet certain spinning and recovery standards. Now, the woeful state of literature on German aircraft in English is demonstrated by the fact that I never seen in any book what were the RLM's airworthiness requirements for spinning. Probably there is a book on whether Adolf Galland wanked with his left or right hand...

2. German pilot manuals are very poor in providing any sort of non-numerical handling information. E.g. the Bf 109 "pilot's notes" is basically a description of flight controls and systems.

3. As the recent engine book by Calum Douglas demonstrates, there are massive amounts of new discoveries possible in the German archives with thorough research.

4. The Luftfahrt Dokumente volume on the Ar 234 is also a testimony on the existence of such technical documentation that supposedly does not exist.

[Morten Jessen]

Hej Adriano, I do some technical comparisons with the Hs 123 and other types as I agree that they are interesting. As you state; test reports and test pilot diaries are extremely rare, and that is indeed the case with Hs 123. However, I will cover the development and test history of the Hs 123 with the material that I have found. As for flight characteristics I asked several pilots who flew the Henschel, what they thought of it and got some nice answers. But that hardly qualify as the technical and fact oriented information you are looking for.

As for your question about manuals, there are a few technical Handbücher available on the Hs 123 A and B with technical drawings and specs reproduced several times in various publications. I do not see the sense in blindly reproduce that in my book. So in case you or Jukka are interested, I'd suggest you find them somewhere on the net and download them.

One place to buy them is here: LINK

Cheers
Morten