Britain's top test pilot reveals the German wartime aircraft's rapid innovation and enduring influence.

In 1945 Eric Brown led the team from the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough which scoured the British Zone of Occupation in post war Germany for captured Luftwaffe aircraft and aeronautical installations. They uncovered an Aladdin's cave of aviation riches and amazed by the advanced level of technology and production they found, brought back over a hundred aircraft for detailed testing and analysis. Of particular interest were the high-speed wind tunnels, which had allowed the Germans to develop such ground-breaking aircraft as the rocket powered Me 163B and the first production jetfighter, the Me 262. The information gathered by this small group of aviators and scientists has influenced aircraft design to this day.

Wings of the Luftwaffe is a unique and definitive appraisal of the background and characteristics of all the major German aircraft of World War II, written by probably Britain's most outstanding test pilot and the only pilot to have flown them all.

Covering 11 manufacturers and 33 types, this new edition with over 250 photographs, colour profiles, cockpit layouts and sectional drawings provides an in-depth assessment of the contribution made to the annals of military aviation in the late 1930s and early 1940s by the innovative German aircraft industry.