Heinkel He-162 “Salamander” While easy to disregard as just another of the last-minute jet projects undertaken by the Nazis as the Allies closed in, the Heinkel He-162 “Salamander” was no jury-rigged disaster like some of the other Utopian German projects. [13] Both prototypes were equipped with two 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 108 cannons in the He 162 A-1 anti-bomber variant; in testing, the recoil from these guns proved to be too much for the lightweight fuselage to handle, and plans for production turned to the A-2 fighter with two 20 mm MG 151/20 cannons instead while a redesign for added strength started as the A-3. On 6 May, when the British reached their airfields, JG 1 turned their He 162s over to the Allies, and examples were shipped to the U.S., Britain, France, and the Soviet Union for further evaluation. All JG 1's aircraft were grounded on 5 May, when General Admiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg signed the surrender of all German armed forces in the Netherlands, Northwest Germany and Denmark. Göring and Speer got their way, and a contract tender for a single-engine jet fighter that was suited for cheap and rapid mass production was established under the name Volksjäger ("People's Fighter"). A number of small changes were made instead, including adding lead ballast to the nose to move the centre of gravity more to the front of the plane, and slightly increasing the size of the tail surfaces. The He 162 first saw combat in mid-April 1945. [21] One experienced Luftwaffe pilot who flew it called it a "first-class combat aircraft." The He 162 airframe design featured an uncomplicated tricycle landing gear, the first such landing gear system to be present from the very start in any operational Axis Powers single-engined fighter design, that retracted into the fuselage, performed simply with extension springs, mechanical locks, cables and counterweights, and a minimum of any hydraulics employed in its design – a window in the lower forward cockpit area, between the rudder pedals, allowed for visual checking of the nosegear's retraction operation. As far as I know there have been a number of claims for the He 162, however from what little I've read these claims don't seem to match up with any known Allied losses. Meanwhile, the single-engine aircraft like specially equipped Fw 190As added armor to protect their pilots from Allied bombers' defensive fire, allowing them to approach to distances where their heavy weapons could be used with some chance of hitting the bombers. Save 10% on all books with exclusive promotional code ‘AVGEEK10’! All rights reserved. Launched in 2016 by Dario Leone, an Italian lifelong - aviation geek, this blog is the right place where you can share your passion and meet other aviation enthusiasts from all over the world. Given the mention of an He 162 powered by pulsejets in connection with Junkers EF 126 ‘Elli’ in January however, it would appear that the project had been under way for several months beforehand. Two days later, I./JG 1 moved to an airfield at nearby Ludwigslust and, less than a week later, moved again to an airfield at Leck, near the Danish border. However, with the plane supposed to enter production within weeks, there was no time to change the design. [2] Specifications included a weight of no more than 2,000 kg (4,400 lb),[3] with maximum speed specified as 750 km/h (470 mph) at sea level, operational endurance at least a half hour, and the takeoff run no more than 500 m (1,640 ft). [11] The Heinkel firm's previous experience with designing flightworthy, retractable tricycle undercarriage-equipped airframes extended as far back as late 1939[12] with the Heinkel He 280 jet fighter prototype, and further strengthened with the unexpectedly successful Heinkel He 219A night fighter, which also used a tricycle undercarriage. [22] Brown had been warned to treat the rudder with suspicion due to a number of in-flight failures. Sammel ("Collection"). The 8th Air Force responded with a change of its own, after Major General Jimmy Doolittle had ordered a change in fighter tactics earlier in 1944, amounting to an air supremacy entry into German airspace far ahead of the bombers' combat box formations – when at the end of April, Doolittle added additional directives allowing the fighters, following the bombers' flight back home to England, to roam freely over Germany and hit the Luftwaffe's defensive fighters wherever they could be found. Dario Leone, Via Mazzini 45, 27030, Langosco (Pavia), VAT IT 02787650189, This website uses cookies to improve your experience. According to the Royal Air Force Museum website, by September 1944 the Western Allies and the Russians were closing in on the borders of German homeland and in a desperate attempt to reverse their defeats the Germans began a frantic search for a war-winning ‘wonder weapon‘. Deliveries began to Luftwaffe units in February 1945 but only two victories were claimed for the type during its short service life and both were unconfirmed. The official RLM Volksjäger design competition parameters specified a single-seat fighter, powered by a single BMW 003,[1] a slightly lower-thrust engine not in demand for either the Me 262 or the Ar 234, already in service. Welcome to The Aviation Geek Club, your new stopover aviation place. On 19 April, Feldwebel Günther Kirchner shot down a Royal Air Force fighter, and although the victory was credited to a flak unit, the British pilot confirmed during interrogation that he had been downed by an He 162. ®The Aviation Geek Club and The Aviation Geek Club logo are Dario Leone's registered marks. The former showed the He 162 with the large As 044 mounted on its back while the latter showed the aircraft with a pair of As 014s side by side on its back. These versions also included – as possibly the pioneering example of their use on a production-line, military jet aircraft – small, anhedraled aluminium "drooped" wingtips, reportedly designed by Alexander Lippisch and known in German as Lippisch-Ohren ("Lippisch Ears"), in an attempt to cure the stability problems via effectively "decreasing" the main wing panels' marked three degree dihedral angle. Smith, J. Richard and Creek, Eddie J. Erwin Steeb ejecting from his 162 the following day. Immediately after take-off, the trolley would be jettisoned, and the Mistel would then fly to within strike range of the designated target. The amount of fuel required may be completely housed in the fuselage and wing, making external tanks superfluous. "Heinkel He 162". He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviation Geek Club” one of the world’s most read military aviation blogs. The main structure of the Volksjäger competing airframe designs would use cheap and unsophisticated parts made of wood and other non-strategic materials and, more importantly, could be assembled by semi- and non-skilled labor, including slave labor. Instead, they suggested that a new design be built – one so inexpensive that if a machine was damaged or worn out, it could simply be discarded and replaced with a fresh plane straight off the assembly line.