Secret German Aircraft of WW2

Research projects conducted in Germany through the course of the second world war. Most of the aircraft were paper projects only. The others that were under development were constructed of non strategic materials, such as wood and composites. As the fall of the Third Reich approached in 1945 the projects take on an ever increasing air of desperation, which is reflected in the extremely non conventional nature of the aircraft designs. The engineers and scientists working on these research projects were. to use a modern phrase "thinking outside of the box". The flight testing aspect of these radical designs was extremely dangerous busyness for the flight crews, who incidentally in some cases were women. Most of the experienced male test pilots were engaged in operational duties and could not be spared for test pilot duties. Many of the projects were destroyed in bombing raids by the quickly advancing Allied forces and their existence would have been obliterated from history had it not been for the teams of engineers and scientists who were tasked with gathering information by interviewing the personnel who had worked on these projects. The art work is from Luft 46 an organization of aviation history enthusiasts.