Heinkel He 162 “Volksjager”
Last-Ditch Effort by the Luftwaffe

by Peter Muller

Published by History Facts

Reviewed by Glen Porter

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Very few reference books give you so much information on the military and political situation which led to the design and production of the subject, but thats how this one begins. Under the heading of “Wartime Backdrop”, there are chapters on the Military situation, Economic enviroment, Developments in 1944, Ernst Heinkel Aircraft Works and Prodution. These chapters also include many photos, documents and diagrams to illistrate the text.

This is followed by “Project “Kleinst Jager” (Midget Fighter)” commissioned by the RLM and covers development work by Heinkel and competing companies. “Volksjager” (People's Fighter) is next with sub-headings of Selection process and Contract placed with Heinkel. Involving nearly 40 pages, these two sections are heavy on official documents and a sprinkling of photos and diagrams.

“Development of the He 162” is where the real nuts and bolts of this volume begins, under the headings of Construction description of the production model 162, Prototype Heinkel He 162 V1 and Construction of prototypes and pilot series. Again, this section is heavy in reproduced official documents but also dicusses all the individual prototypes including several crashes, causes and consequences.

“Manufacturing the He 162” with sub-headings of Environment, Series production, Production output and Delivered aircraft. This covers such diverse subjects as forced labour, the transport situation and even has a diagrm of how they stacked a dissassembled aircraft on to a specially designed trailer for delivery.

“The He 162 in action”. Although very few aircraft actually reached operational statis, some did. There are no cofirmed kill claims credited to the He 162 although several were shot down by Allied aircraft. This is all discussed under the sub-headings of Operational instructions for pilots (reproduced in full), Test Detachment 162, Fighter Wing 1 “Oesau” and Allied spoils of war, which includes many black and white photos of the period.

After a short section titled “Conclusions”, are the “Appendices”. Versions of the He 162 (side elevations 1:72), Four-elevation views of the He 162 in 1:48th scale, Colour schemes, markings and other illustrations, Propulsion units, Armaments and many more, all relevent and interesting to both the Modeller and Historian.

I have many aircraft reference books. Some are just text, a set of plans and some colour profiles. Others tend towards “Walk-arounds” and technical diagrms. This one has the lot and is a darn good read to boot. In the conclusion, the auther states that the He 162 was of more benefit to the Allies that to the Nazis and after reading this I would have to agree.

Thanks to History Facts for the review sample.

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