Meticulously researched and presented at the pilot-versus-pilot level, the true nature of aerial combat and the claiming accuracy of the world's leading aces are brought to light over the Hungarian skies.

Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52) was the most successful and highest-scoring fighter unit, not just in Germany's World War 2 Luftwaffe, but in the entire annals of aviation history. No other fighter group has ever come close to matching its staggering total of around 9000 enemy aircraft shot down in combat. And yet, because much of that combat took place over the tractless wastes of the Russian front, very little has been written in English about the exploits of this charismatic unit. This book provides a full combat history of JG 52 and its members, including the three top-scoring aces of all time, who claimed a total of 900 victories between them.

In this exciting book Mike Spick shows how the Luftwaffe's leading fighter pilots were able to outscore their allied counterparts so effectively and completely during the Second World War. When the records of the Jagdflieger pilots became available after the war, they were initially greeted with incredulity _ the highest claim was for 352 kills, and more than 100 pilots had recorded more than 100 victories. However postwar research proved that these claims had in fact been made in good faith and confirmation had only been given after rigorous checking. To discover the secret of this success, aviation history expert Mike Spick examines the exploits of these aces and sets out the context in which it took place. Every major theater is covered in detail including the conditions peculiar to each: climate, relative numerical and qualitative strengths, the presence or absence of radar and other measures, and the relative merits of the planes being flown. He focuses on the methods and tactics used by individual aces and uses firsthand sources wherever possible to put the reader right alongside the pilot in the cockpit.

A history of Nazi Germany’s air force along with details of some of its most successful pilots. World War II’s air battles were fought ferociously and with extraordinary skill and courage on both fronts. The fighter pilots of Luftwaffe, the jagdflieger, in fact outscored their Allied counterparts by some margin and were some of the highest scoring fighter pilots of all time. More than a hundred recorded a century of aerial successes with two going on to surpass an astonishing 300 victories. In the end, the vast effort required by the Luftwaffe to maintain the air war on so many fronts proved too much. Few jagdflieger survived the last days of the Reich. But their ability was beyond question, and the names of some will live on in the annals of air warfare with their extraordinary achievements never to be surpassed. In Aces of the Luftwaffe, Peter Jacobs examines the many campaigns fought by the Luftwaffe, from its fledgling days during the Spanish Civil War to its last days defending the Reich, and recounts the exploits of Erich Hartmann, the highest scoring fighter pilot of all time; Hans-Joachim Marseille, the Star of Africa; Werner Mölders, the first recipient of the Diamonds; and Adolf Galland, perhaps the most famous of all.

Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52) was the most successful and highest-scoring fighter unit, not just in Germany's World War 2 Luftwaffe, but in the entire annals of aviation history. No other fighter group has ever come close to matching its staggering total of around 9000 enemy aircraft shot down in combat. And yet, because much of that combat took place over the tractless wastes of the Russian front, very little has been written in English about the exploits of this charismatic unit. This book provides a full combat history of JG 52 and its members, including the three top-scoring aces of all time, who claimed a total of 900 victories between them.

A great guide for modelers JG 52 Aces over Eastern Front is the first title in Kagero s new series named Units . They have focused on one chosen unit and made a detailed monograph of it. This first volume focuses on one of the most successful units fighting during World War II: the JG 52. The JG 52 claimed a total of more than 10,000 victories during World War II and included the top three scoring Fighter aces of all time. The unit is brought to life in this fascinating monograph.

Pure fighter par excellence, shared with the Focke Wulf 190 the first line of the Luftwaffe throughout the second world war. Continuously updated and upgraded, it represented an irreplaceable element in the Luftwaffe's arsenal, staying in line with the Battle of England until the last day of war. The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is the best-known German WWII fighter. He served between 1937 and 1945 and was confronted with an incredible series of increasingly aggressive opponents, who were faced with continuous changes and improvements, far exceeding the limits of the original project; in the end he doubled the weight and tripled the original power, whose inevitable price was a decidedly reduced autonomy compared to the first series. It was an extremely versatile aircraft: its latest versions even included a high-altitude fighter with a pressurized cabin. It was produced after the war in Czechoslovakia and Spain, and a total of about 35,000 were built: one of the greatest productions of all time. In books and magazines it is also sometimes called Me 109, from the contraction of the manufacturer's name. The abbreviation Bf indicates instead the name of the production factory (Bayerische Flugzeugwerke AG) which in July 1938 changed its name to Messerschmitt AG. The planes designed from then on assumed the name Me, while those designed previously (including variants) continued to be called Bf. limits of the original project; eventually he came to double.