Heinkel He 162 Volksjäger
A hastily built wooden jet fighter fielded late in World War II.
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The Heinkel He 162 Volksjäger—German for "People's Fighter"—was a single-engine jet fighter that entered Luftwaffe service near the end of World War II. It came out of the Emergency Fighter Program and was built fast, mostly from wood, because metal was scarce and already reserved for other planes. The Reich Air Ministry officially called the design competition the Volksjäger, and Heinkel’s entry won. The aircraft also went by two other names: Salamander, the codename for its wing construction, and Spatz ("Sparrow"), the name Heinkel itself gave it.
The He 162 was small. It was about as long as a Messerschmitt Bf 109, but its wingspan was much shorter—7.2 meters versus the Bf 109’s 9.9 meters. Its engine sat on top of the fuselage, a distinctive feature that, combined with low landing gear, made maintenance easy. That placement, however, made bailing out tricky: pilots risked hitting the engine.
To address this, the He 162 became the first operational single-engine aircraft fitted with an ejection seat. The plane’s compact size left little room for fuel, and its inefficient engine gave it very low endurance—roughly 20 minutes. It carried only two autocannon, making it underarmed compared to other fighters of the era.
Prototypes
Flight testing began on 6 December 1944. A string of fatal crashes forced a series of fixes, which delayed the program. Production lines were set up and deliveries started in early 1945, but by then Germany’s defeat made the effort pointless. Of nearly 1,000 aircraft on assembly lines, only about 120 reached airfields, and most of those never flew, usually because of shortages in parts, fuel, or pilots.
A small number saw use in development squadrons and saw combat in a few cases during April 1945. The He 162 proved dangerous to its own pilots: its tiny fuel load caused many to crash off-field, and structural failures claimed others. Production was still running when the war ended in May 1945. Allied forces captured many aircraft and large stocks of spare parts from the factories.
Operational history
After the war, leading British test pilot Eric Brown flew a He 162. He said it could have been a first-rate fighter in experienced hands, but he also believed it was unsuitable for novices because it required careful handling. Several He 162s survive today in museum collections worldwide.
By 1943, the Luftwaffe and the U.S.
Lore & Background
Through 1943, the U.S. Eighth Air Force and German Luftwaffe entered a period of rapid evolution. By early 1944, the Luftwaffe faced a sudden increase in irreplaceable losses, and logistics became a serious problem. Two camps developed: one, led by General Adolf Galland, demanded increased production of the Me 262; the other proposed a new design so inexpensive that damaged machines could simply be discarded. Göring and Speer supported the latter, and a contract tender for a single-engine jet fighter suited for cheap and rapid mass production was established under the name Volksjäger.
The official RLM design competition specified a single-seat fighter powered by a single BMW 003 turbojet, using cheap wood and non-strategic materials. Performance requirements included a maximum weight of 2000 kg, maximum speed of 750 km/h at sea level, operational endurance of at least a half hour, and takeoff distance no greater than 500 m. Armament was specified as either two 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon or two 30 mm MK 108 cannon. The aircraft needed to be easy to fly; some officials suggested even glider or student pilots should be able to fly it.
Flight testing began on 6 December 1944. A series of fatal accidents required refinements that delayed the program. Production lines were set up and deliveries began in early 1945, but the impending defeat of Germany made the effort pointless.
Of nearly 1,000 aircraft on the assembly lines, only about 120 were delivered to airfields, and most never flew due to shortages of parts, fuel, and pilots. Small numbers saw combat during April 1945. The He 162 proved dangerous to its own pilots: its tiny fuel load led to crashes off field, and additional losses were attributed to structural failure.
Reader's Guide
The He 162 Volksjäger represents the extreme of the 'throwaway fighter' concept born from Germany's desperate logistical situation in late World War II. Its design prioritized cheap, rapid mass production using wood and non-strategic materials, and it was intended to be flown by minimally trained pilots. However, the aircraft's small size left little room for fuel, resulting in very low endurance of about 20 minutes, and it was relatively underarmed for the era with only two autocannon. The top-mounted engine and low landing gear made maintenance easy but made bailing out difficult without hitting the engine, leading to the first operational ejection seat in a single-engine aircraft.
Despite production lines being set up and deliveries beginning in early 1945, the effort was rendered pointless by Germany's impending defeat. Of nearly 1,000 aircraft on assembly lines, only about 120 were delivered, and most never flew.
The He 162 saw limited combat in April 1945 but also caused losses among its own pilots due to fuel shortages and structural failures. After the war, British test pilot Eric Brown flew a captured He 162 and stated it could have been a 'first-rate' fighter in experienced hands, but was unsuitable for novice pilots because of the careful handling required. Several He 162s have been preserved in museum collections around the world.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Heinkel He 162 Volksjäger (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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