Here is the impression of the He 162 flown by Captain Eric Brown from "Wings of the Luftwaffe" ...the aircraft had excellent directional snaking characteristics making it a good gun platform. From this aspect it was the best jet fighter of it's time, and I was certainly in a position to judge, having flown every jet aircraft then in existence. A check on the rate of roll at 400 mph revealed the highest that I had ever experienced outside of the realm of hydraulically-powered ailerons, and the stick force demanded to produce these exhilarating gyrations was delightfully light. Leveling off at 12,000 feet I settled down to another spell of the pleasures of the phenomenal roll rate of this delightful little aeroplane ... I had never met better flying controls ... Even if somewhat underpowered it had a good performance - it could certainly have run rings around the contemporary Meteor. I was to fly the little aeroplane quite frequently.
I believe E. Brown's assessment. After all, it was designed to behave like a glider and it wasn't encumbered by a vibrating propeller drive. Also, it carried only minimal armament and no real armour. A high-quality specimen would surely have been a very good fighter. Obviously, since most fighter doctrines both sides of the divide, favoured heavier, more potent craft, it would have not fared well in the long run. Still, one of my absolute favourite aircraft! Thanks for covering it with a live visit!
If the factories weren't bombed that much I think they could have produced well over 3000 a month. Those jet engines once developed were dirt cheap. Because they didn't have heat resistant metals in high numbers they had to work around it with steel and very thin heat resistant plates. The result was an engines which you could throw away after 30 hours but could use any fuel( including the one made from coal), it was dirt cheap to make so you can produce thousands a month and you were faster than anything everyone was flying. That was a deadly combo both for the Pilots and their enemies
A single jet aircraft had been under discussion by the RLM (German Air Ministry) for years. I believe the Messerschmitt Me-262 - the first jet fighter to enter regular combat service - was seen by them as a kind of stopgap measure while early gas turbines like the Jumo 004B and the BMW 003 were not terribly reliable and did not produce enough thrust to be used in a competitive single jet aircraft. However they were much cheaper to produce than a high performance piston engine like the DB-605 or BMW-801 and they could burn a wide range of fuels other than the standard German B4 or C2 avgas needed for piston engines. A single engine jet fighter was not only desired because of its superior performance but because the unit cost would be lower so more could be built. Something else that is often overlooked was that Germany's wartime engineering and production resources - including engineers and jig makers - were pretty much exhausted. If you were going to put engineers on the He-162 project, they would have to be taken from R+D or production of something else. An example of that was Heinkel's Siegfried Gunther having to request to Generalluftzeugmeister Erhard Milch that Heinkel cancel the He-280 jet fighter (a competitor to the Me-262) because engineers on He-280 development were desperately needed to help salvage the He-177A heavy bomber project which was in serious trouble. General Galland strongly opposed the Volksjager because he was concerned that He-162 production would likewise compromise output of the Me-262, an interceptor he believed could counter Allied bombing raids in spite of their new escort fighters. In the end, lots of Heinkel single jet concepts resulting from years of back and forth between them, Arado, Messerschmitt, Blohm und Voss, Focke-Wulf and the RLM hurriedly congealed into the He-162, which was to skip much of the usual wind tunnel and development flights to get it rapidly into service. It would be cheap, fast and use a minimum of scarce aluminium. The all wooden wings were always an unknown risk as the only German factory able to make a decent glue for laminated wood panels had been bombed and available alternatives were unreliable, sometimes leading to catastrophic failure. As operational problems were found, they were to be dealt using retrofit fixes to aircraft already in service. This got the He-162 to the Jadgdwaffe quickly but combat pilots had good reason to feel less than confident about it - they were also its test pilots! Another consequence of early jet engines was they burned fuel prolifically. In order to meet even short combat range requirements, every effort was made to keep the weight of the He-162 down to allow for more fuel. That included minimizing armour. The He-162 had a short range even for a defending fighter. The notion of rapidly training teenage boys from the Hitler Youth in gliders then expecting them the fly the He-162 in combat was utter madness - worse, it was blatant murder. Poorly trained, scared kids were being rushed into combat in the FW-190D - one of the world's most advanced and capable fighters but their service life against better trained an experienced enemies in overwhelming numbers was being measured in days. Captain Eric Brown praised the performance of the He-162 as a fighter, but he also mentioned it was rather a handful with a tendency to invert. Not something to be flown by trainees, it needed a very experienced pilot, but they were in short supply for the Luftwaffe by 1945. The entire Volksjager concept was bogus. Desperation on wings. Personally I think the He-162 could have developed into quite a formidable short range interceptor given time. It might have been powered by the upcoming Jumo 004C and 2700 lb static thrust HeS-011 engines. However, time was not on its side. Rushed into service, in the end very few of the thousands that were hoped to be built each month were produced and the He-162 had virtually no impact on the war. I've seen the RAF Museum's He-162 and the other one which IWM Duxford is restoring. I've also seen one at the Planes of Fame Museum in Chino California, the National Air and Space Museum in Washington. A fascinating - even rather attractive - little aircraft, the product more of politics and panic than good aero engineering practice, one that never reached its full potential IMHO. Ejection seat or not, I don't think I'd want to have to bail out of one!
Um, are the videos real he162 footage?? If they are, I am very amazed. I've been searching high and low on the web and couldn't find any other than one rolling for takeoff.
3:20 I’ll need a citation for that one... and the airplane did see service. Not incredibly much but it did. Otherwise i really liked the format of the video. Where did you source the background footage? He-162 flying video footage seems rather hard to find online at least!
Also, what is meant by operational service is that it was not officially in service, although what does 'officially' mean in Nazi Germany by April 1945. Fact is that no squadron had fully converted to the He 162 and the couple of missions that were flown were really individual pilots trying out their new mounts. It did shoot down a Tempest, as you no doubt know.
4:05 This is of course not 100% true. The design was already finished and completely developed as the Heinkel P1073, the difference being the P1073 had 2 engines like the Me 262.
Just imagine the Germans had their second generation Jet-Fighter already in Series production when actually noone in the rest of the world had this as a raw concept.
You can see the beginning's and inspiration for the USAF A 10 warthogs designs twin rudder twin high mounted engines and the top mounted engine nacelle on the 162 same set up as the cirrus Vision SF50 jet .The winglets enable smaller wings and more lift as it eliminates dirty air on the tip of normal wings . Its saves fuel as well thats why airliners use them now . It's how eagles fly they turn up the feathered tips wen in flight to minimise drag and create more lift .
Great video...Three things : I've just realized how small that jet fighter really is.... Second, I knew it was built by concentration camp prisoners in more than inhumane conditions but I had no idea these were meant to be flown by the Hitlerjugend teenagers... Probably as suicide missions... And lastly I didn't know it had an ejection seat...If it was flown by more experienced more valuable pilots no doubt... Fascinating little machine though...
If they entered service just in time they would have caused the Allies to send in F-80 Shooting Star 558 mph max🇺🇸 and Gloster Meteor 🇬🇧 to escort the bombers. For the engine it became the SNECMA Atar because the French government and Military managed to obtain the designer of the engine before the Russians did
Thank you for making this video with the canopy open. It was very interesting to see the cockpit.
You are welcome. The original plan was to sit inside, but alas...
Here is the impression of the He 162 flown by Captain Eric Brown from "Wings of the Luftwaffe"
...the aircraft had excellent directional snaking characteristics making it a good gun platform. From this aspect it was the best jet fighter of it's time, and I was certainly in a position to judge, having flown every jet aircraft then in existence. A check on the rate of roll at 400 mph revealed the highest that I had ever experienced outside of the realm of hydraulically-powered ailerons, and the stick force demanded to produce these exhilarating gyrations was delightfully light. Leveling off at 12,000 feet I settled down to another spell of the pleasures of the phenomenal roll rate of this delightful little aeroplane ... I had never met better flying controls ... Even if somewhat underpowered it had a good performance - it could certainly have run rings around the contemporary Meteor. I was to fly the little aeroplane quite frequently.
I believe E. Brown's assessment. After all, it was designed to behave like a glider and it wasn't encumbered by a vibrating propeller drive. Also, it carried only minimal armament and no real armour. A high-quality specimen would surely have been a very good fighter.
Obviously, since most fighter doctrines both sides of the divide, favoured heavier, more potent craft, it would have not fared well in the long run.
Still, one of my absolute favourite aircraft! Thanks for covering it with a live visit!
If the factories weren't bombed that much I think they could have produced well over 3000 a month. Those jet engines once developed were dirt cheap. Because they didn't have heat resistant metals in high numbers they had to work around it with steel and very thin heat resistant plates. The result was an engines which you could throw away after 30 hours but could use any fuel( including the one made from coal), it was dirt cheap to make so you can produce thousands a month and you were faster than anything everyone was flying. That was a deadly combo both for the Pilots and their enemies
Interesting to see inside the cockpit
I like videos about a specific aircraft. I hope these become a regular feature
A single jet aircraft had been under discussion by the RLM (German Air Ministry) for years. I believe the Messerschmitt Me-262 - the first jet fighter to enter regular combat service - was seen by them as a kind of stopgap measure while early gas turbines like the Jumo 004B and the BMW 003 were not terribly reliable and did not produce enough thrust to be used in a competitive single jet aircraft. However they were much cheaper to produce than a high performance piston engine like the DB-605 or BMW-801 and they could burn a wide range of fuels other than the standard German B4 or C2 avgas needed for piston engines. A single engine jet fighter was not only desired because of its superior performance but because the unit cost would be lower so more could be built.
Something else that is often overlooked was that Germany's wartime engineering and production resources - including engineers and jig makers - were pretty much exhausted. If you were going to put engineers on the He-162 project, they would have to be taken from R+D or production of something else. An example of that was Heinkel's Siegfried Gunther having to request to Generalluftzeugmeister Erhard Milch that Heinkel cancel the He-280 jet fighter (a competitor to the Me-262) because engineers on He-280 development were desperately needed to help salvage the He-177A heavy bomber project which was in serious trouble. General Galland strongly opposed the Volksjager because he was concerned that He-162 production would likewise compromise output of the Me-262, an interceptor he believed could counter Allied bombing raids in spite of their new escort fighters.
In the end, lots of Heinkel single jet concepts resulting from years of back and forth between them, Arado, Messerschmitt, Blohm und Voss, Focke-Wulf and the RLM hurriedly congealed into the He-162, which was to skip much of the usual wind tunnel and development flights to get it rapidly into service. It would be cheap, fast and use a minimum of scarce aluminium. The all wooden wings were always an unknown risk as the only German factory able to make a decent glue for laminated wood panels had been bombed and available alternatives were unreliable, sometimes leading to catastrophic failure. As operational problems were found, they were to be dealt using retrofit fixes to aircraft already in service. This got the He-162 to the Jadgdwaffe quickly but combat pilots had good reason to feel less than confident about it - they were also its test pilots!
Another consequence of early jet engines was they burned fuel prolifically. In order to meet even short combat range requirements, every effort was made to keep the weight of the He-162 down to allow for more fuel. That included minimizing armour. The He-162 had a short range even for a defending fighter.
The notion of rapidly training teenage boys from the Hitler Youth in gliders then expecting them the fly the He-162 in combat was utter madness - worse, it was blatant murder. Poorly trained, scared kids were being rushed into combat in the FW-190D - one of the world's most advanced and capable fighters but their service life against better trained an experienced enemies in overwhelming numbers was being measured in days. Captain Eric Brown praised the performance of the He-162 as a fighter, but he also mentioned it was rather a handful with a tendency to invert. Not something to be flown by trainees, it needed a very experienced pilot, but they were in short supply for the Luftwaffe by 1945. The entire Volksjager concept was bogus. Desperation on wings.
Personally I think the He-162 could have developed into quite a formidable short range interceptor given time. It might have been powered by the upcoming Jumo 004C and 2700 lb static thrust HeS-011 engines. However, time was not on its side. Rushed into service, in the end very few of the thousands that were hoped to be built each month were produced and the He-162 had virtually no impact on the war.
I've seen the RAF Museum's He-162 and the other one which IWM Duxford is restoring. I've also seen one at the Planes of Fame Museum in Chino California, the National Air and Space Museum in Washington. A fascinating - even rather attractive - little aircraft, the product more of politics and panic than good aero engineering practice, one that never reached its full potential IMHO.
Ejection seat or not, I don't think I'd want to have to bail out of one!
Um, are the videos real he162 footage?? If they are, I am very amazed. I've been searching high and low on the web and couldn't find any other than one rolling for takeoff.
Indeed, it belongs to the RAF Museum, recently discovered footage.
3:20 I’ll need a citation for that one... and the airplane did see service. Not incredibly much but it did. Otherwise i really liked the format of the video.
Where did you source the background footage? He-162 flying video footage seems rather hard to find online at least!
That footage belongs to the RAF Museum and was only recently discovered!
Also, what is meant by operational service is that it was not officially in service, although what does 'officially' mean in Nazi Germany by April 1945. Fact is that no squadron had fully converted to the He 162 and the couple of missions that were flown were really individual pilots trying out their new mounts. It did shoot down a Tempest, as you no doubt know.
4:05 This is of course not 100% true. The design was already finished and completely developed as the Heinkel P1073, the difference being the P1073 had 2 engines like the Me 262.
Just imagine the Germans had their second generation Jet-Fighter already in Series production when actually noone in the rest of the world had this as a raw concept.
Will this channel be similar to the bovington tank museum channel but for planes?
Let's hope we make it better ! :)
wonder weapon lol looks like a glider with a hair dryer bolted on
I will never look at the Heinkel the same way :D
Nice. I love the design of this plane.
You can see the beginning's and inspiration for the USAF A 10 warthogs designs twin rudder twin high mounted engines and the top mounted engine nacelle on the 162 same set up as the cirrus Vision SF50 jet .The winglets enable smaller wings and more lift as it eliminates dirty air on the tip of normal wings . Its saves fuel as well thats why airliners use them now . It's how eagles fly they turn up the feathered tips wen in flight to minimise drag and create more lift .
This is cool.
Maybe the series could be called "plane speaking"?
That's a good one ! We will keep that in mind !
Great video...Three things :
I've just realized how small that jet fighter really is....
Second, I knew it was built by concentration camp prisoners in more than inhumane conditions but I had no idea these were meant to be flown by the Hitlerjugend teenagers... Probably as suicide missions...
And lastly I didn't know it had an ejection seat...If it was flown by more experienced more valuable pilots no doubt...
Fascinating little machine though...
It would be interesting to hear why this plane was considered to be good. What elements in it dedign makes it good airplane...
Hello Sir, someone called DataWaveTaGo
posted a quote from Winkle Brown's book. Have a read. :)
3.53 Arado Ar234.
no combat active missions for the he XD
I kinda wanna fly one that is made of Aluminum. Not gonna be as fast as one made of wood but atleast I have no risk of the plane erupting into flames.
If they entered service just in time they would have caused the Allies to send in F-80 Shooting Star 558 mph max🇺🇸 and Gloster Meteor 🇬🇧 to escort the bombers. For the engine it became the SNECMA Atar because the French government and Military managed to obtain the designer of the engine before the Russians did