Futuristic Heinkel

Air Classics, Jul 2002 by O'Leary, Michael

CRUDELY BUILT AND DUBBED THE "PEOPLE'S FIGHTER," THE HEINKEL HE 162 COULD HAVE BECOME A POTENT WEAPON FOR THE NAZIS

Volksjaeger -- People's Fighter -- was a term that showed just how badly the war was going for the Nazis. The Germans reasoned that if a simple jet-powered fighter could be built by the thousands, the planes could be flown against the Allied bomber streams by barely-trained pilots, thus providing the Germans some breathing room. Heinkel, who had built the first jet aircraft, had come up with a new design that had a higher Mach number than the Messerschmitt Me 262 - the P.1073. This aircraft had a swept wing and a V-tail. Numerous problems had been caused by long intake and exhaust ducts on the new engines so the powerplants were mounted in pods above and below the fuselage.

However, time was running out for the Germans and instead of having more technologically advanced jets, they wanted a simple aircraft that would have a maximum speed of 466 mph, operational endurance of 30 minutes, and a takeoff run of less than 550 yards. The specification was dated 10 September 1944 and issued to Arlo, Blohm and Voss, Focke-Wulf, Fieseler, Heinkel, Junkers, and Siebel.

Messerschmitt refused to submit a Volksjaeger design and issued the statement, "The Me 262 must form the backbone of the Luftwaffe air defense in the deciding battles of the spring of 1945. The Me 262 is a reality, the Volksjaeger only a hope. I cannot understand the need to develop a further aircraft when we already possess a superior machine. Our present jet superiority will not last. The enemy has proved that he is capable of overwhelming us given his massive resources. He has already flown jet aircraft, and they will go into service in the spring. We must also reckon with the possibility that he will engage us with jet aircraft this winter too, and these could even be superior to the Me 262."

Heinkel greatly revised the P.1073 design, eliminating the swept wing and turbojet under the fuselage. The Jumo planned for the upper unit was replaced with a BMW 003. A straight wing was adopted along with similar horizontal tail surfaces. Armament would consist of two cannons. The Heinkel design made the most sense and the whole Volksjaeger concept was greeted with enthusiasm by Hermann Goring who is said to have shouted, "Thousands! Umpteen thousands! Until the enemy has been chased back beyond the German borders." High-ranking aces such as Adolf Galland were against the concept and lobbied for dropping the program. Somehow, Heinkel managed to produce detailed drawings for the new design by 5 November 1944 and it was designated He 162 with the name Spatz (Sparrow). The new fighter would have a wooden wing, mixed construction tail, and semimonocoque aluminum fuselage. The BMW 003 was fitted above the fuselage and the tricycle gear was hydraulically operated while the pilot had a cartridge-fired ejection seat.

The He 162 was given top priority by the Nazis and production moved at a very fast pace with the intention of producing 530 He 162s and 1000 Me 262s per month by October 1945. Component manufacture for the He 162 was spread through many woodworking firms. Some of these companies had never built anything remotely aeronautical and there was virtually no quality control. With increased Allied bombing, many firms were moved underground into chalk and salt mines.

Even with almost insurmountable supply problems, the prototype He 162 went into the air on 6 December 1944 from Vienna-Schwechat with Flugkapitan Gotthold Peter at the controls. Following a 20-minute flight, the pilot reported few problems with engine performance being excellent but one of the poorly-built landing gear doors tore away. A few days later, the aircraft made a high-speed pass for Luftwaffe and Nazi officials but a wingtip tore off and Peter was killed in the crash. An investigation showed that there was a great deal of stress around the aileron and this caused the breakup.

Pilots were now not very pleased about being assigned to testing the He 162 so Heinkel offered insurance to the aviators. Instability problems continued and Dr. Alexander Lippisch devised a wingtip that canted down at a 45-degree angle and this seemed to get rid of the problems. Also, enlarged tail surfaces were added.

Aircraft were now starting to roll from the factory and by 12 February 1945, 103 test flights had been completed. Problems continued with shoddy workmanship and of getting fuel from the tanks to the engine during high G operations.

Galland continued his opposition to the Volksjaeger concept and was fired as General of the Fighters by Goring during January 1945, being replaced by Oberst Gordon Gollob.

As testing progressed, it was obvious that the craft could be handled by experienced fighter pilots but certainly not by hurriedly trained Hitler Youth. Production lines at Rostock and Vienna began supplying aircraft. On 24 February, the General of Fighters ordered 2./JG1 and 3./JG1 to re-equip from the Fw 190 to the He 162. On 4 March, the units started to receive aircraft - albeit with the restriction not to fly longer than 15 minutes or faster than 311 mph above 9843 feet. Even with a few aircraft available, there were major and minor accidents.