Messerschmitt Bf 108 Taifun (Yellow Series) Paperback – December 19, 2012

The book mostly covers the "B" version. The 3views are great, Mushroom Publishing has kept their standard up which includes a history of the aircraft, plenty of photos of all angles, colour profiles, and the 1:48/1:72 drawings. A must for anyone who enjoys the technical details of the aircraft.

The BF-108 story has not been told to any depth. The aircraft had cutting edge engineering that was transferred to most of Messerschmitt's subsequent designs. I have a number of publications on the 108 and this is the best.

Book thoroughly covers the subject from a model builders point of view, Lots of detailed photos. If you want ti build the Eduard kitthis is the book to have.

The Bf 108 Taifun (German for Typhoon) was the first Messerschmitt design to be put into volume production. Designed in 1934 the Bf 108 was far ahead of its time featuring stressed skin, all metal construction and of low wing monoplane design. It also had a retractable landing gear, almost unheard of for a light plane in those days. It would not look unusual on a civilian airport today. It was fast, 200+ mph with a fairly small engine. The book says that the engine used was a Hirth HM 5U, which I think is a mistake, as other sources say it was an HM 8U or HM 508. Of course it might have been an engine with some special version of this engine to suit the way Messerschmitt wanted them. Anyway this is an inverted V-8 engine with the cylinders pointed down. Just one of the features that was carried over to the more famous Bf 109. The Bf 108 looks a lot like a Bf 109, and during the war planes flown by the RAF were sometimes mistaken for 109s. A lot of movies such as The Longest Day, The Great Escape, 633 Squadron, Von Ryans Express and probably some others have used Bf 108 aircraft as stand ins for Bf 109s.The book follows the format developed by this publisher of numerous photographs, some original from World War Ii days, others more recent taken of planes exhibited in museums. It then uses high quality printing on good quality paper to show off these photographs. Text gives the history of the development of the plane along with a description of its several versions and models.

This is the 32nd book (No. 6132) in MMP Books long running Yellow Series. The book is a square bound, 160 page card cover in European B5 (6-1/2" x 9") format with color throughout. There is an unbound foldout so make sure this is included if buying second hand.The book is quite comprehensive. The text covers the design and development history of the aircraft, its civil and military service in prewar and wartime Germany, and its continued production and development in postwar France. There is a detailed technical description. There is a section detailing the aircraft's history in other nations worldwide. The text is supported by tables, photographs (color and black and white), line drawings, drawings from contemporary technical literature, many color profiles (and some plans), and detailed, up close color photos of preserved (and flying) examples. I learned a great deal about this aircraft.Complaints are minor and few. Photo captions mention a "Hirth HM 5U" engine which I think is a typo for the "Hirth HM 8U" engine. Also, it might have been mentioned that the HM 8U became the HM 508 when the Nazis came to power and standardized aeronautical nomenclature. Beyond this, I wish there had been more details about the relationship between the 108 and 109. Were they developed in sequence or parallel?This book is highly recommended. I can't think of any previous book in English devoted to this aircraft so its appearance is very welcome.