Why is this Book Special?

Research

I have spent five years travelling all over the world to secure original documents from the Second World War and the 1930`s, to write a book about piston engine development “in their own words”.

Two thirds of the materials in the book is quotes from original letters, memos and technical reports, many of which have never been seen before, and hundreds of primary archival sources are referenced.

Archives I have used to research this book include:

  • Bundesarchiv Militärarchiv – Freiburg, Germany
  • Daimler-AG, Corporate Archives, Germany
  • Farnborough Air Sciences Trust, Farnborough, UK
  • Institute of Mechanical Engineers, London, UK
  • Imperial War Museum, UK
  • NASA – Langley Research Centre, Virginia
  • MAHLE Powertrain
  • RAF Historical Branch, UK
  • Ricardo, Shoreham, UK
  • Rolls-Royce, Derby, UK
  • Technikmuseum Hugo Junkers, Dessau, Germany
  • The National Air and Space Museum – Washington DC
  • The National Archives – Washington DC
  • The National Archives – London, UK

Background Knowledge

A book like this cannot be sucessfully written by most historians as it is highly technical in nature and very specialised. One of the goals of the book is to analyse why certain difficulties occured in the engines of the fighter aircraft over the skies of Europe in WW2, and without a professional background in piston engine design such a book would be impossible. Having this background as well as a reasonable level of technical German makes this possible.

For more information on my background see the other sections of my website.