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Thread: The Heinkel He 162 Volksjäger (German, "People's Fighter") a close up

  1. #1

    Default The Heinkel He 162 Volksjäger (German, "People's Fighter") a close up

    Attachment 131159Attachment 131171Attachment 131170Attachment 131169Attachment 131168Attachment 131167Attachment 131166Attachment 131165Attachment 131164Attachment 131163Attachment 131162Attachment 131161Attachment 131160Attachment 131172 As you guys already know, the (Salamander) plane made primarily of wood as metals were in very short supply, this plane is now on display in RAF Hendon, Northwest London, The official RLM Volksjäger design competition parameters specified a single-seat fighter, powered by a single BMW 003, a slightly lower-thrust engine not in demand for either the Me 262A nor the Ar 234B front-line aircraft already in service. 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. Specifications included a weight of no more than 2,000 kg (4,410 lb), when most fighters of the era were twice that. Maximum speed was 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). Armament was specified as either two 20 mm MG 151/20 cannons with 100 rpg, or two 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 108 cannons with 50 rpg. The Volksjäger needed to be easy to fly. Some suggested that even glider or student pilots should be able to fly the jet effectively in combat, and indeed had the Volksjägerprogramm aircraft design competition and its winning design got into full swing, that is precisely what would have happened. After the war, Ernst Heinkel would say "[The] unrealistic notion that this plane [The He 162] should be a 'people's fighter,' in which the Hitler Youth, after a short training regimen with clipped-wing two-seater gliders like the DFS Stummel-Habicht, could fly for the defense of Germany, displayed the unbalanced fanaticism of those days."[1] The clipped-wingspan DFS Habicht models had varying wingspans of both 8-metre (26 ft 3 in) and 6-metre (19 ft 8 in), used also to prepare more experienced Luftwaffe pilots for the dangerous Messerschmitt Me 163B Komet rocket fighter — the same sort of training approach would also be used for the Hitler Youth aviators chosen to fly the jet-powered Volksjäger.

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    One of my faves - I've got a resin wreck of one of these on the beach in my fish pond !

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    This one is well down my list . . . but it is on it!

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    Could be an interesting plane; too fast even for the fast cards, though.
    Wouldn't mind some Luft '46 action
    Karl
    It is impossible for a man to begin to learn what he thinks he knows. -- Epictetus

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    Nice design, but I always have the feeling that the two 20 mm MG 151/20 cannons were a too light weight armament to intercept the heavy bombers.



    What I'm doing here in the UK wing...
    Voilà le soleil d'Austerlitz!

  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by Marechallannes View Post
    Nice design, but I always have the feeling that the two 20 mm MG 151/20 cannons were a too light weight armament to intercept the heavy bombers.
    By late '44 and spring '45, that's probably true. IIRC, there was a option for the 30mm Mk.103 mounted.
    Quote Originally Posted by Marechallannes View Post
    What I'm doing here in the UK wing...
    Looking at neat German plane.....just like me
    Karl
    It is impossible for a man to begin to learn what he thinks he knows. -- Epictetus

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    It was a good looking machine and it was an interesting concept but I cannot seeing it working in practice. You cannot go straight from a glider to flying a 470 mph jet.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Naharaht View Post
    It was a good looking machine and it was an interesting concept but I cannot seeing it working in practice. You cannot go straight from a glider to flying a 470 mph jet.
    You can, once! : )

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    Quote Originally Posted by Naharaht View Post
    It was a good looking machine and it was an interesting concept but I cannot seeing it working in practice. You cannot go straight from a glider to flying a 470 mph jet.
    Quote Originally Posted by clipper1801 View Post
    You can, once! : )
    Ouch!

  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by Marechallannes View Post
    Nice design, but I always have the feeling that the two 20 mm MG 151/20 cannons were a too light weight armament to intercept the heavy bombers. What I'm doing here in the UK wing...
    I'd put them up against plexi-glass any day Sven !

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    I was looking at this craft a week ago while visiting the museum in Hendon. The very first impression was how small the plane really is. Smaller than Bf 109, standing by it.
    <img src=http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/image.php?type=sigpic&userid=2554&dateline=1409073309 border=0 alt= />
    "We do not stop playing when we get old, but we get old when we stop playing."

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    I have one of these in 1/144 scale, by F-Toys. Its tiny in comparrison to other fighters of the era.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Naharaht View Post
    It was a good looking machine and it was an interesting concept but I cannot seeing it working in practice. You cannot go straight from a glider to flying a 470 mph jet.
    You try lots of things when you're desperate, and some even weirder things when your not!
    Karl
    It is impossible for a man to begin to learn what he thinks he knows. -- Epictetus



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