“Unknown! #5”

a series of magazines by J. Miranda & P. Mercado

Reichdreams

Reviewed by Rob Baumgartner

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Undeniably “Luftwaffe ‘46” remains the most popular of the “what if” genre but there were many other countries that also came up with interesting designs.

Justo Miranda investigates all of these with his “Unknown” series of magazines. He plans to give life to 124 subjects and this latest issue presents another nine.

The sixty A4 size pages are an interesting mixture of English text and technical drawings. These are spiced up with excellent general arrangements in 1:32, 1:24, and 1:5 scales.

Issue 5 reveals a few Luftwaffe topics to start proceedings with a look at the Horten Schnellbomber. This covers the earliest drawing of the H IX, the H VII “Schnell-Kampflugzeug”, and the Ho 229 C.

R4M “Orkan” rockets are discussed next and the author investigates this weapon and its use on aircraft of the period.

John Baxter gives us Part 1 of a two part story on the evolution of the CAC Boomerang into the CA-15 Kangaroo. He also treats the reader to a fictitious combat where pilot “Farnham” makes “Ace” in his “Kangaroo”.

Space travel makes an appearance with Dr Kraft Ehricke’s “Outpost” lifeboat. It was designed to carry a four man crew and primarily spy on the former USSR.

Ever wondered what would happen if the Kyushu Shinden Kai took on the Curtis-Wright CW 24-C? The confrontation of these two canard fighters is explored next.

The bizarre Blackburn B-44 was a seaplane with retracting floats. It also comes under the spotlight as does the elusive Reggiane Re 2006 R, Re 2007 and Re 2008 series of fighters.

When flying wings are mentioned, one country that immediately comes to mind is Germany. However, the French also played with these tailless designs and a few of them are represented here.

The imagination of John Baxter concludes this edition with a WWII attack on the Panama Canal. Japanese Ohka 43A flying bombs are the weapon of choice in this story and the author does an excellent job of bringing such an event to life.

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Back issues are available and the following headings give you an idea of the content.

Issue 1 - P.Z.L. P56 A/B “Kania” (Poland), Renard R.40 (Belgium), Nakajima Ki.62 (Japan), North American F.T.B. “Mustang” (USA), Reggiane Re 2006 (Italy), V.L. Pyörremyrsky (Finland), Skoda-Kauba V5 (Germany), Arsenal VG 60 (France), Nikitin-Shevchenko IS-4 (USSR), SAAB J27 (Sweden), Hawker P.1027 “R.R. Eagle II/Tempest” (Great Britain).

Issue 2 – Ikarus LVT-1, Koolhoven F.K. 58 + DB 600, Focke Wulf projects, Campini fighters, Tail sitters, Golovin “IVS”/”ISF”, Panic fighters, German Submarine Air Force, Sud-Est S.E. 582, Martin-Baker unknown projects.

Issue 3 – Horten Ho X, Gluhareff “Dart”, Morane Evolution, Renard R-42, Hawker P.1009 “Sea-Phoon”, Panzerschreck!, Jet Thunderbolt, Caproni Ca 183 bis, Ohka Evolution, Target Panama.

Issue 4 – Horten Ho XIII B, Henschel P.75, Panzerblitz, German Flying Belt, Curtis-Wright P-248-01, Twin-engine Curtis P.40, “Manta” fighter, Blackburn B-37 “Firebrand”, Fiat G.50 V, Kawanishi “Baika”, French flying guns in WWII, French baby fighters.

These eye opening magazines prove that it isn’t just the German designs of WWII that can capture the reader’s imagination.

The author explains the projects in an easy to understand style, without the technical jargon that can often creep into articles of this nature. The illustrations are excellent and the accompanying technical data is enlightening.

Recommended to all dreamers of experimental aviation.

Thanks to Reichdreams for the review sample

Review Copyright © 2008 by Rob Baumgartner
This Page Created on 15 February, 2008
Last updated 15 February, 2008

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