Heinkel He 162 Volksjaeger, Salamander
Type: German Luftwaffe jet fighter and interceptor.
History: Popularly called Heinkel 162 Volksjager (People's Fighter), this incredible aircraft left behind so many conflicting impressions it is hard to believe the whole programme was started and finished in little more than six months.
To appreciate the almost impossible nature of the programme, Germany was being pounded to rubble by fleets of Allied bombers that darkened the sky, and the aircraft industry and the Luftwaffe's fuel supplies were inexorably running down. Experienced aircrew had nearly all been killed, materials were in critically short supply and time had to be measured not in months but in days.
So on 8 September 1944 the RLM issued a specification calling for a 750km/h jet fighter to be regarded as a piece of consumer goods and to be ready by 1 January 1945.
An example of Hitler's 'last-ditch' attempts to re-equip Luftwaffe squadrons with jet fighters: a Heinkel 162 Volksjaeger of 3./JG1.
Huge numbers of workers were organised to build it even before it was designed and Hitler Youth were hastily trained in primary gliders before being strapped into the new jet. Heinkel, which had built the world's first turbojet aircraft (He 178, flown 27 August 1939) and the first jet fighter (He 280 twin-jet flown on its jet engines 2 April 1941) won a hasty competition with a tiny wooden machine with its engine perched on top and blasting between twin fins.
The attractive Heinkel 162 Volksjaeger with unorthodox appearance was built largely of wood and other non-strategic materials. Under the high priority given to fighter programmes in 1944-45, manufacture of the Heinkel He 162, under the code name Salamander, was assigned to numerous underground factories. It was planned to produce 2,000 a month by May 1945 and 4,000 a month ultimately.
At one of the Heinkel underground factory plants an still unpainted He 162 Volksjagger sits with canopy shattered after the surrender in May 1945.
Drawings were ready on 30 October 1944. The prototype flew in 37 days . Despite extreme difficulties because of the transportation situation in Germany at these times, 300 of various sub-types had been completed by the end of WW2, with 800 more on the assembly lines.
I/JG1 was operational at Leck, though nearly without fuel. But it managed to shot down two Allied planes at the end of April, one of them a Hawker Tempest.
Despite many bad characteristics the Heinkel 162 Volksjaeger was a fighter of a futuristic kind, created in quantity far quicker than other aircraft are even drawn on paper.
Users: Germany (Luftwaffe).
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Heinkel He 162 A-2 Salamander (Volksjaeger) |
| Type |
jet fighter, interceptor |
| Power plant |
One 1,764 lb thrust BMW 003E-1 or E-2 Orkan single-shaft turbojet
|
| Accommodation |
1 |
| Wing span |
23 ft 7.5 in |
| Length overall |
29 ft 8.3 in |
| Height overall |
8 ft 6.4 in |
| Wing area |
120.13 sq/ft |
| Weight empty |
3,876 lb |
| Weight loaded |
6,184 lb |
| Max. wing loading |
51.48 lb/sq ft |
| Max. power loading |
3.51 lb/lb st |
| Maximum speed |
562 mph
at 19,685 ft
(490 mph at sea level)
|
| Initial climb |
4,613 ft/min |
| Service ceiling |
39,500 ft |
| Range |
434 miles
(at full throttle)
|
| Armament |
Two 20mm Mauser MG151/20 [720 rpm, velocity 1,920 ft/sec] with 120 rounds each
(early He162A-1 versions: two 30mm MK108 [650 rpm, velocity 1,705 ft/sec] cannon with 50 rounds each)
|
| First flight |
6 December 1944 |
| First delivery |
January 1945 |
| Final delivery |
May 1945 |
| Total production figure (all) |
Total: 300
(+800 in factories, 2,000 a month by May, 4,000 a month from June 1945)
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3d model Heinkel He 162 Volksjaeger
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