Heinkel He 162 Volksjäger: Books - History and Deployment

Thunder Over the Reich : Flying the Luftwaffe's He 162 Jet Fighter

First Lieutenant Wolfgang Wollenweber's WWII odyssey, from combat operations in the Me110 over Russia with the 'Arctic Sea Hunters', to pitting the extraordinary He 162 jet fighter against Allied fighters over Germany, and flying possibly the final Luftwaffe mission of WWII, may be the last great 'untold' story from a WWII Luftwaffe pilot.
Posted to the Arctic front in 1943, Wollenweber flew Me 110s on escort missions and ground attack, shooting down several Soviet aircraft in the process, for which he was awarded the Iron Cross First Class. As the fortunes of the war turned against the Third Reich, Wollenweber volunteered for defence duties and soon found himself training to fly the lethal Me 163 Komet rocket fighter, before being transferred to the innovative 'wonder weapon' - the He 162 Jet Fighter.

The He162 'Volksjäger' (People's Fighter) was meant to be capable of being flown by members of the Hitler Youth with only rudimentary flying experience, but instead turned out to be an unforgiving machine in untrained hands and whilst Wollenberger himself became one of the most experienced He162 pilots, he witnessed the brutal human toll it exacted on the unwary or unlucky. And as one of the few pilots to have flown the He162 in combat, he finally settles the vexed question of whether the He162 ever shot down an Allied aircraft.
Wollenweber describes in his own words the shocking truth of the last desperate days of the Third Reich, and does not shy away from describing the horrors he witnessed and naming the corrupt and incompetent individuals he came across. This is a vividly told story and an important inside account not just of the revolutionary He162, but also the changing fortunes of the Luftwaffe - from happy hunting on the Russian front to its final disintegration over a destroyed homeland. Includes Pilot's Notes for the He 162.

Heinkel He 162

This book describes the operational and technical history of the Heinkel He 162, Germany's World War II jet fighter aircraft. Volume 16 in the Luftwaffe Profile Series.

Heinkel He 162

Over 200 images, including three-view drawings, comprise this one of a kind photo album on the He 162. Included are photos of the He 162 in wartime service with JG 1, and the later surrender of at least thirty-one flight ready He 162s to British ground forces at Lech on 8 May 1945.
Subsequent test flights of He 162s in post-war England, USSR, South Wales, Australia, and the United States are also covered. No other aviation publication has ever assembled this large a quantity of images of the He 162 in a single volume.

He 162 Volksjäger Units

With the Third Reich on the brink of defeat Hitler's instructions to his designers were clear. He wanted a Volksjäger - a People's Fighter that was quick to produce and used minimal quantities of strategic materials.

Heinkel rose to the challenge with the He 162, a fighter constructed of wood and metal that was designed, built and flown in the staggeringly short time of ten weeks. Professional pilots were in short supply, and so the Luftwaffe was ordered to man the He 162 with hastily trained members of the Hitler Youth - a flawed plan that fortunately never came to fruition.

Detailed aircraft profiles and never before seen photographs perfectly complement the analysis of the revolutionary Heinkel He 162 as author Robert Forsyth traces its entire history, from the early design and production through to its limited combat experience.

Contents:
Chapter 1: Development of the Peoples' Fighter
Chapter 2: Testing Setbacks
Chapter 3: Pilot Training
Chapter 4: Production
Chapter 5: Into Service
Appendices: Technical specification and performance tables for He 162, Selected Bibliography.