Bachem Ba 349 Natter (X-Planes, 8)

German military aviation during the Second World War was impressive for its innovations. Fortunately for the Allies, the innovations were not always timely or practical. One such might-have-been was the Bachem Ba 349 Natter, a manned rocket interceptor intended to provide point defense against the fleets of Allied bombers that pummeled the German homeland in the final years of the war.Author Robert Forsyth follows the concept of a manned rocket interceptor from its roots in German inter-war aviation. The Natter project took definite shape in 1944. The testing process was a race against time to demonstrate the concept and field an operational weapon. The narrative has plenty of technical detail, which the author appears to have gone to some effort to reconstruct. The book includes a fascinating selection of period photographs and technical drawings, along with a few modern illustrations and some interesting closing analysis. Recommended to students of the conflict and its aviation innovations.

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The Natter was a desperate project born out of desperate times. Every day American bombers appeared in the sky and every night the British would pound targets all over Germany. The Natter concept was a point-defense rocket interceptor. It was mostly wood, and was constructed by industries not otherwise involved in aviation production (so it would not take away resources from conventional fighters) so it seemed like the perfect solution.Up close, however, the weapon was less than idea. Designed and tested in a matter of just a few months, the Natter was found to be almost as dangerous to ground crew as it would be to enemy planes. The only time it went up with a pilot the test ended in a fatal accident.Nevertheless, the aircraft was nearing operational status when the plant where production was taking place was overrun. The story presented by Robert Forsyth and illustrated by Adam Tooby tells more about this aircraft, which was doomed never to intercept and enemy plane and was rapidly made obsolete by surface-to-air missiles following the end of WWII. Very well illustrated and written; it tracks the development of the project from initial concept to (on paper) a formidable weapon system.

A topic rarely covered but nicely summarised here

Lots of, to me, new material. Very satisfied.

Was soll ich groß schreiben..?? Die X-Planes-Reihe von Osprey ist wie alle anderen Reihen auch, hervorragend recherchiert, bietet gutes bis sehr gutes Bildmaterial und viele Anregungen für den ambitionierten Modellbauer...Einfach Perfekt...!!!

Great book on the history of the natter . I’ve been pouring over this book since I got it .

A leur manière, les auteurs décrivent avec force détail les derniers soubresauts d'un projet monstrueux à l'image du régime nazi. La tragédie humaine est évoquée à travers les portraits des protagonistes, mais les auteurs oublient de rappeler l'emploi de la main d'œuvre issue des camps de concentration fournie par les ss. Même les soviétiques n'ont osé tester cette machine infernale avec un pilote.