 Junkers
Ju 188
Black Cross Volume 1
By Helmut Erfurth
Midland Publishing, ©2004
ISBN 1-85780-172-5
Softbound, 64 Pages
Available from Specialty Press
for $14.95
This new series from Midland Publishing imitates their well-established
Red Star line, but rather than focus on Russian aircraft, these books
will be looking at the aircraft of the Luftwaffe. The first title covers
the Junkers Ju 188, which hopefully will set a precedent for this series
in covering some of the lesser-known Luftwaffe types.
After a short overview of the bomber failures during the Battle of Britain,
this book jumps right into the development phase of the Ju 188. Built
off of the existing Ju 88 bomber, the Ju 188 came about from extensive
wind tunnel testing. Every aspect of the original Ju 88 design was evaluated
and design changes implemented, which ultimately led to the distinct shape
of the Ju 188. Following the chapter on the development of the plane comes
a detailed breakdown of the construction of the plane.
No book on the Ju 188 would be complete without at least some mention
of its operational record, so there is a chapter on Ju 188 operations.
This is by no means a comprehensive history, though, but rather a general
overview that covers the highlights. Hopefully someone will come out with
a detailed history of Ju 188 operations in the future to complement what
is presented here.
Throughout the book are plenty of photos as well as lots of drawings
and reproductions of original German documents. The latter include many
detail drawings that will be of particular interest to modelers. Finally,
at the end of the book is a section on models, with several different
built-up examples of the various available Ju 188 kits. Overall, this
is a great start to the Black Cross series and I look forward to future
titles.
My thanks to Specialty Press
for the review copy. Visit their website for the entire Black Cross series
of books.
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