Dan Sharp Books

There are many myths surrounding the development of the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter. Its unparalleled performance is beyond doubt; easily able to outpace its opponents and possessing the firepower to shred them in seconds. Yet immediately after the Second World War, rumors abounded that official indifference, technical shortcomings and interference from the Führer himself had crippled the Me 262’s progress and delayed its appearance on the front line until it was far too late.Begun as a series of design concepts during 1938, the fighter would not enter mass production until the spring of 1944. Even then it failed to make any notable impact until the closing weeks of the war, when Me 262s began destroying USAAF bombers at an alarming rate. Exactly what happened to cause this apparently late start and who was responsible has until now been largely a matter of conjecture.Grounded in research involving thousands of wartime documents spread across archival collections in three countries, Messerschmitt Me 262 Development & Politics finally sweeps aside the myths and provides a clear understanding of the real history. Sharp examines the aircraft’s technical development in unparalleled detail as well as analyzing the ongoing discussions surrounding the Me 262 at the highest levels within the Messerschmitt company, the German Air Ministry and Adolf Hitler’s inner circle.

Hundreds of thousands of classified documents were captured from Germany’s aircraft manufacturers and aviation ministry at the end of the Second World War, including details of ‘secret project’ aircraft designs created by firms such as Arado, Gotha, Blohm & Voss, Messerschmitt and Focke-Wulf.Ongoing new research in archives around the world has revealed dozens of previously unknown wartime plans and proposals for aircraft that were radical, revolutionary or just plain weird. In the sixth volume of his Luftwaffe series, historian Dan Sharp reveals a wealth of new discoveries - including never-before-seen drawings and designs for fighters, bombers, transports, rammers, ground-attack aircraft, flying boats and flying bombs. Secret Projects of the Third Reich profiles Focke-Wulf’s reluctant attempts to marry a Ta 152 airframe to a British Napier Sabre engine, Messerschmitt’s experimental Me 109 S with ‘blown’ flaps, four versions of Arado’s E 380 floatplane, Blohm & Voss’s asymmetrical P 171 stuka, Lippisch’s piston-engined Me 163, Germany’s three-step supersonic research programme, Focke-Wulf’s giant flying wings, the anti-submarine DFS Lotos glider, and many more ‘unknown’ designs.Hundreds of original and previously unseen documents have been used to compile this unrivalled look at some of Germany’s least-known Second World War project designs, featuring a host of new and period drawings, illustrations and photographs.

When it appeared in the skies over Europe in 1941, the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A was the best fighter in the world. It was more than a match for the best Spitfires the RAF could field and began shooting them down in ever-increasing numbers. Only the introduction of the Spitfire IX with its two-stage supercharged Merlin overturned its supremacy.Alongside the Messerschmitt Bf 109, the Fw 190 is the iconic fighter of the Luftwaffe during the Second World War. It was hugely adaptable and fought on nearly all fronts, proving to be a formidable opponent.The Fw 190 F and G fighter-bombers effectively replaced the Ju 87 Stuka in the ground-attack role in the west and provided the Luftwaffe with much-needed additional capability.The Fw 190 was used for the Mistel flying bomb combination and as a test aircraft for the Ruhrstahl X-4 wire-guided air-to-air missile, and in its Fw 190 A-8 and A-9 forms fought on the front line right until the bitter end.This book tells the story of the legendary fighter with previously unseen drawings and photos which shed new light on the aircraft’s origins.

The narrative explores the ambitious development of HOTOL, an aerospaceplane conceived as a reusable alternative to expendable rockets, initiated by Alan Bond and Bob Parkinson in the early 1980s. Supported by British Aerospace and Rolls-Royce, the project gained national attention but ultimately faced funding withdrawal in 1986, leading to its decline. The book provides an in-depth account of HOTOL's journey, featuring extensive illustrations and diagrams from the creators' archives, highlighting the project's innovative vision and its historical significance in space transportation.

The narrative delves into the intricate development programs of Germany's bombers during World War II, exploring the technological advancements and strategic decisions that shaped their aircraft. It highlights key figures involved in the design and production processes, as well as the impact of these innovations on warfare. The book provides insights into the challenges faced by engineers and the military, offering a detailed examination of how these programs influenced the course of the war and the evolution of aerial combat.

The history of the Luftwaffe's last minute single-jet fighter, the Heinkel He 162, is neither standard nor straightforward. Originally conceived as the jet fighter anyone could fly into combat, the He 162 was designed and built in under five months - an astonishing and unparalleled feat of engineering. But what emerged was not a simple jet fighter but a tricky 'widow-maker' which killed far more of its own pilots than it ever did those of the enemy. Going back to the original wartime documentation, author Dan Sharp examines the story of this remarkable aircraft in detail.

German aircraft manufacturers created a huge variety of weird, wonderful and not-so-wonderful prototypes and project aircraft designs during the Second World War. These ranged from vertical take-off fighters to fighters with forward-swept wings, gigantic ocean-spanning transports and rocket-powered rammers. German WW2 aircraft development researcher Dan Sharp steps back into the world of 'secret projects' for the latest installment of his Luftwaffe Secret series.

There was huge excitement when Argus engineer Günther 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.