Towards the end of World War Two, the German aircraft industry was probably at the forefront of technology. However, stupidity on the part of leadership and the inability to settle on just one or two types combined with the incessant bombing of facilities meant that several very promising designs never flew before the end of the war. The He-343 is one of those types.

Designed by Ernst Heinkel, the 343 was supposed to be a medium/long range jet bomber and to replace the twin-engined Arado Ar-234 that was then just in the flight testing stages. One thing led to another and the 343 was never destined to reach prototype stage. There were several reasons for this, some of them listed in the preceding paragraph. Additional development of the Ar-234 also made the He-343 redundant. After the war, many Heinkel engineers worked on various Russian designs, one of which was strikingly similar to the He-343.

This is the second book by Messer's Jonhson and Sabatini. As great as the first book was, this one surpasses it in many respects. As in the last book, this one is full of all those great computer generated images created by the genius of Daniele Sabatini. An example of this is the front cover. In addition, there are some equally superb front quarter overhead images of several variants of the 343 that add a lot to the book. What has been added from the last edition are a number of doctored images where other aircraft have been replaced by the He-343. A very nice addition and one that makes the book much more fun to read.

Also as with the EF.128 issue, there are three pages of side views of the different variants of the 343 that would have entered service. Once again, the creativity of the authors in coming up with the various schemes is amazing as all the schemes are quite believable. You can see some of these schemes in the montage shown at left.

Newly added to the book are a number of three views of the proposed variations of the He-343. These are all very well done and in 1/100 scale. The authors offer these in the various modeling scales; information on ordering them is included with the book. Also included as an additional bonus is a paper model of the 343 along with instructions on how to assemble the model. This seems like a good place to comment on the packaging of the book. It arrived in its own plastic envelope along with a cardboard page to prevent damage in shipping. A thoughtfulness that is very much appreciated.

Also new to this edition is a full history of the He-343 from initial concept through to the end of the war. There are pages with photos of the design models as well as engines and armament that would be used by the 343 in operations. A full data summary is included showing different models and projected performance of each subtype. What is not in this edition is the story that was with the EF.128 book, and nice though that was, it really isn't missed that much. Finally, there is a page devoted to various model kits of the He-343.

If you get the impression that I liked the book, you are right. The addition of more color pages, a well researched aircraft history, the new three view pages, and those thought-provoking computer generated photos make this a 'must have' book for any Luftwaffe '46 enthusiast. This book is currently only available direct from the authors. You can get your copy from Dan Johnson by visiting his Luftwaffe '46 website for more information. Tell him you saw a review on Modeling Madness.

Review copy courtesy of Dan Johnson. Please visit his website for more information. 

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