In 1937, Dornier obtained a patent for a plane with two engines in the fuselage, driving the pull and push propellers. The design was marked P.59, and its concepts were refined in 1939 in the P.59-05 variant, after which the design was put in a drawer. This type of plane was not needed at the time. Nevertheless, limited experimental work was carried out, the result of which was a small Goppingen Go-9 plane, with an aerodynamic system obtained from P.59, as well as three-support landing gear with a front wheel and an engine driving a push propeller through a long shaft. The results of these experiments were used when designing the P.231 aircraft in several variants - also combining piston and jet propulsion. When in 1942 the RLM announced the requirements for a high-speed multipurpose aircraft, the equivalent of the British Mosquito, Dornier proposed the P.231 as a rather unusual answer. Despite the risks posed by the different P.231 concept, Dornier was commissioned to build several prototypes.

The Focke-Wulf Ta 154 Moskito was a fast twin-engined German night fighter aircraft. The German Ta 154 night fighter which supposed to be an answer to the British Mosquito.

In 1936 the D-513 fighter designed by Emil Dewoitine made its first flight. It was supposed to be the successor of the slightly outdated D-500 and D-510 models, and built according to modern trends: with a closed cabin and a retractable undercarriage. Unfortunately, the tests turned out to be very disappointing. At the same time, as a result of the nationalization of the aviation industry, Dewoitine's industries were absorbed by the SNCAM. Dewoitine, however, did not give up on the project and, in cooperation with his engineers, developed a new model - the D-520.

As the first functional jet engines became available, the RLM published a requirement for a reconnaissance aircraft capable of long-range patrols over Britain, all the way up to Scapa Flow. The task to build the machine was given to Arado, who put Rudiger Kosin in charge of the design team. The initial E370 project was gradually tweaked and modified until it evolved into its final form as a single-seat aircraft powered by two jet engines in underwing pods, designated Ar 234. In order to maximize the aircraft's range, Arado's design team embarked on a radical weight-shedding crusade. Among the components eliminated from the design was the conventional landing gear, which was replaced with a jettisonable three-wheel trolley used for take-offs and retractable skids mounted under the fuselage for landings. These design features were incorporated into the first A series prototypes, powered by Junkers Jumo 004A engines. The B-2 was a bomber version, with a maximum bombload of 1,500 kg and the B-2/N a night fighter version. The C-3 was the multi-purpose version, armed with two 20 mm MG 151/20 cannons beneath the nose.

Although the German Me 163 Komet rocket fighter was created as a remedy for the mass air raids of the Allied air force on Germany, its origins date back to 1938. Alexander Lippisch then began work at the DFS factory on a tailless rocket-propelled aircraft, designated as DFS 194. At the beginnings of 1939 the project was handed over to the Messerschmitt factory and there it developed into the Me 163A. Two prototypes of this aircraft - V4 and V5 - were completed in 1941 and flown as gliders. Then the V4 received a Walter HWK R.II rocket engine with a thrust of 7.5 kN, and on October 2, 1941 H. Dittmar achieved a speed of 1003 km/h on mentioned plane. Thirteen Me 163As were built for training.

This book is the latest in a new reference series for aircraft modellers called "Spotlight On" and is a showcase for the superb aviation artwork created for the publisher by the remarkable Polish aviation artist Marek Rys. The book contains 20 specially-commissioned colour plates showing 20 famous aircraft depicted in the air and on the ground. Marek Rys has illustrated either to contents or the covers of dozens of previous books for Mushroom Model Publications; this is the first to showcase his work exclusively.

Horten Ho 229 is the first ever "flying wing" jet. The machine was built at the very end of World War II in the German Gotha factory. Today, the best-known structure of this type is the American strategic bomber Northrop B-2 Spirit, but the two planes are separated by a difference of 44 years of technological development. It was a very unusual structure, not only due to the shape of the airframe, but also the materials it was made of - it was largely plywood and wood, not only duralumin and steel. The plane was powered by two Junkers Jumo 004B jet engines. The Horten Ho 229 was flown in January 1945. It was armed with two powerful 30mm MK 108 cannons, and the performance exceeded all Allied planes at that time. Nevertheless, the Ho 229 was planned to be used as a bomber.