Enemy at the Gates: Panic Fighters of the Second World War

Description

When the Nazis started to threaten the world with their efficient machine of propaganda, the main concern of European governments was the overwhelming reaction of panic that the expected bombing of the Luftwaffe might cause within the civil population. During the Munich Agreement in 1938, the democracies were defended by old biplanes and a bunch of modern fighters: 50 Hurricanes, 20 Morane-405 and 5 Fokker D.XXI. France and Great Britain took up the production of USA airplanes and cancelled exports to small countries, which were forced to design and build their own PANIC FIGHTERS with the intelligence and skill that desperation provides. When nothing seemed able to contain the German advance, France, Great Britain and the USSR developed several programs of emergency fighters, as did Australia, to face the Japanese expansion. At the time the course of events switched, it was the Axis powers that had to create their own PANIC FIGHTERS, some of them suicidal. The present book includes several last resource designs of fighters that are practically unknown and that were developed in times of tribulation by Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Japan, Yugoslavia, Latvia, Netherland, Poland, Romania, Sweden and Switzerland.

Born with the B-52, this tech drawer and Spanish Air Force Museum advisor uses advanced drawing methods to rebuild historical aircraft, starting from original parts. Historian specialized in German Secret Weapons; he usually works in the twilight zone between rational engineering and Nazi esotericism, without letting himself being dragged by the dark side of the force. His research has helped to deconstruct several myths on the flying saucers and the Hitler A bomb. Justo has published six books and thirty monographs on aeronautical subjects. He lives in Madrid with his wife Paula, journalist at Reuters and co-author of his works.

"For the historian, this book is a jumping board to learn about little-known airframes and then explore each airframe in depth on your own. For the modeler (mainly the kitbasher) this book is a roadmap for dozens of projects."-- "IPMS/USA"