Jet I.

This is coolbert:

From that era of the Second World War [WW2] this combat warplane of which I was only vaguely familiar.

Single-engine German jet combat warplane seen as an alternative to the more complicated and sophisticated dual-engine jet Me-262.

I had thought this aircraft ONLY in the R & D stage of development but NO! Was a production model and employed for a very brief and illustrious period in combat.

The Heinkel He-162. Additionally referred to by a variety of names. "Salamander", "Sparrow", Type 162, "People's Fighter", 1-TL.

 

Intuitively and instantaneously my reaction is that the He-162 is not an airworthy warplane! That jet engine mounted above the fuselage seems too ponderous in relation to the size of the fuselage. That power of the jet engine producing stresses that would shake the "Salamander" apart?

A quick and dirty solution to the problem of the allied strategic bomber offensive. Daylight raids [American] of massed thousand bomber formations wreaking havoc for which the jet warplane provided a possible counter. Luftwaffe again ascendant, those American heavy bomber combat boxe formations vulnerable to attack by the superior technology as offered by the He-162.

The He-162 also considered by military planners to be a warplane pilots of whom were relative novices could fly effectively into combat. A plane thought to be almost disposable in manner. Such as was the rocket plane from the same period, the "Natter".

"Salamander" that type of warplane as a concept favored by Nazi fanatics! 

"[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 . . . could fly for the defense of Germany, displayed the unbalanced fanaticism of those days." - - Heinkel.

Brown the English test pilot however having flown the He-162 and deemed the plane as too difficult for an inexperienced pilot.

"delightful to fly, although the very light controls made it suitable only for experienced pilots"

Rather the He-162 in addition should be understood as another instance of German dissipated and unfocused war effort. A concentration of resources to produce a combat jet lacking, numbers of such aircraft not available until the absolute very end of the war, the proverbial too little too late.

coolbert.