Heinkel definitely profited as an aviation business from the early use of slave labor and from the subsequent increased productivity of the Oranienburg complex. Slave labor also solved several problems associated with the German workforce. While in early 1942 the firm...
The most obvious solution to the manpower shortage was to recruit non–German workers. Although Germany’s general manpower crisis came to a head after Stalingrad, the aviation industry started looking for alternative workforce long before the 6th Army was lost. The manpower...
Although in 1939 the German aviation industry possessed large unused production capacity in terms of production machinery and floor space, it suffered from an acute manpower shortage. By definition, the highly modern aviation industry relied on quite narrow and professional manpower...
Technological, industrial and organizational aspects of the German aviation industry has stood so far at the focal point of this research, but now it is time to turn to some social issues. One of the most striking features of late-war German...
While preparing these aircraft for production, German designers started working on the next generation of military aircraft. Among them were—again—numerous variants of the Me 262 and the Ar 234, but also a host of futuristic designs. One of the most popular...
“Big Week” turned out to be the most traumatic event experienced by the German aviation industry in its history. The concentrated attacks caused great alarm in the German leadership and made it turn its full attention to the problems of aircraft...
The development of such a cutting-edge technology was a protracted process, which was aggravated by shortages of exotic metals required for the manufacture of some parts operating under extremely high temperatures and strong mechanical forces. German metallurgists managed to reduce their...
The deep changes caused by the “Big Week” trauma happened at a time when German aviation technology stood on a historical watershed. In 1944 several German scientific and technological breakthroughs matured and became ready for series production. Transforming such projects into...
While the grinding air campaign on the Eastern Front continued, the failures of the Luftwaffe enabled the western Allies to strengthen their strategic air campaign against Germany. In 1943 Allied air power started to target aviation production facilities directly. The RAF...
Developments in the air struggle over Europe in 1939–1944 influenced the German aviation industry in direct and indirect ways. On the one hand the aviation industry supported the war effort of its own air force by providing it the hardware it...
