The fighter Non-162 Salamander (Salamander) today causes many people to respect the incredible efforts that the German aircraft industry made in the conditions of the end of the Second World War, which were quite terrible for it. Only 69 days separated the beginning of the construction of the He-162 fighter from the flight of the first prototype of the machine, which took place in December 1944. Designed as a turbojet fighter-interceptor, the aircraft was built using wood to make it cheaper and easier to manufacture. Believe it or not now, the German industry was going to build up to 4,000 of these aircraft per month. Naturally, these numbers were utopian.
The history of the creation of this fighter is probably the most exciting of all combat aircraft ever created. The idea of building the so-called "Folksägere" - "people's fighter" was born in the mind of the head of a specially created "fighter headquarters" Otto Zaur, who was a protégé of the Minister of Armaments of Germany Albert Speer. It took only 90 days from the idea to build the first plane! The idea of a "people's fighter" involved the development of a cheap, simple fighter that would be suitable for mass production using low-skilled labor and cheap materials.
The reason for the birth of this idea was the weakness of the German air defense system, which by the fall of 1944 had become quite obvious for the leadership of the Third Reich. Taking this into account, the German Aviation Ministry adopted the idea of holding a competition for the development of a jet fighter, which was supposed to be produced in fairly large volumes - from 1000 to 5000 fighters per month. Competitive conditions were sent to all major aircraft manufacturing companies in the country and contained a list of the following tactical and technical requirements for the future aircraft:
Maximum speed up to 750 km / h
BMW-003 engine with a thrust of 800 kgf.
Specific wing loading no more than 200 kg / m2
The maximum flight time at the ground is 20 minutes.
Armament: 1 or 2 MK-108 cannons.
The maximum takeoff range of the aircraft is no more than 0.5 km.
The mass of the armor is not more than 50 kg., It was supposed to be used only in front
Take-off weight of the aircraft is not more than 2000 kg.
In addition, among the requirements indicated the simplicity of the equipment of the machine and the reduction in the cost of production, ease of piloting. It was also interesting that it was decided to use the tree in the construction of the wings.
The Heinkel company received all the documents necessary for this competition on September 8, 1944, and on September 24, a group of designers of the company, located in Vienna, began the design study of the future fighter, which received the designation He-162 and the factory designation "Salamander". Already by the beginning of November, they had prepared working drawings of the machine, while as soon as the drawings were ready, the production of individual units and units of the fighter was carried out. All this made it possible to complete work on the interceptor by December 6, 1944. On the same day, the first He-162 took off.
Description of construction
The Heinkel He-162 was a single-seat, single-engine fighter powered by a turbojet engine. It was a high wing of a mixed design with a spaced vertical tail and a tricycle landing gear, the front strut of which was steerable.
The front part of the fuselage up to the wing was detachable, of the monocoque type, the rest was semi-monocoque. Basically, the structure was metal, while the landing gear doors, nose cone, battery cover, weapon hatches, inner walls of the fuselage fuel tank compartment were made of wood. Above, behind the cockpit, a wing was mounted, and the engine nacelle was installed above it. The aircraft was distinguished by an unusual upper engine arrangement. The turbojet engine was attached to the ridge of the fuselage in front with 2 vertical bolts, behind - with 2 horizontal bolts.
The wing of the plane was made of wood. It was one-piece, trapezoidal and two-spar. Its working casing was 4-5 mm thick. and was plywood. Only the wingtips were Dyuralian, which deviated downward at an angle of 55 degrees. The wing was attached to the fighter fuselage with 4 bolts. There were 2 small fuel tanks located between the wing spars. The flaps and ailerons were also made of wood. The flap drive was hydraulic, and the aileron drive was mechanical.
The landing gear was three-pillar, retractable. The front landing gear in the retracted position was in a specially niche located under the dashboard. The front wheel size was 380 x 150 mm. Buna or Continental tires were used on the A-pillar. The main landing gear was of the console type and was attached to the fuselage of the vehicle and retracted into it back against the direction of flight. The wheels of the main chassis were 660 x 190 mm in size. The landing gear retraction drive was hydraulic, and their release - mechanical spring. The chassis was cushioned with oil. The chassis was equipped with drum brakes. The doors of the chassis niches were also made of wood, but were reinforced with duralumin elements.
The cockpit canopy was made of plexiglass and had two sections. The back of the lantern was folded back and up, in the open position it could be fixed with a stop and a lock. On the left side in the cockpit canopy there was a glazed round ventilation window. The cockpit was not airtight. A collimator sight of two types Revi 16A or Revi 16B was installed in the cockpit, which was mounted on a special bracket mounted above the dashboard. Navigation devices, engine control devices, radio equipment were located on the dashboard and partially on the side consoles. The pilot's seat on this fighter was ejectionable, it was adapted for stowing a parachute and used a powder charge. An armor plate was placed immediately behind the pilot's seat.
The fighter was equipped with a BMW-003E1 turbojet engine with a thrust of 800 kgf. The engine allowed the aircraft to reach speeds of around 900 km / h at altitude. The fuel supply was equal to 945 liters, of which 763 liters were in the fuselage tank, which was located immediately behind the flight seat, another 182 liters were in 2 wing tanks.
The armament of the aircraft consisted of 2 automatic cannons, which were different depending on the modification of the aircraft. In the He-162 A-1 modification, these were 30-mm Rheinmetall-Borsig MK 108 cannons with ammunition of 50 rounds per barrel, in the He-162 A-2 modification, two 20-mm Mauser MG 151/20 automatic cannons with ammunition in 120 rounds per barrel. In the process of firing, the liners and chain links were thrown out through special holes in the lower part of the aircraft fuselage. The reloading and triggering of the MG 151/20 guns was electric, while the MK 108 guns were electropneumatic.
Production and combat use
To ensure the production of He-162 fighters in the conditions of incessant Allied air raids, most of the enterprises were moved underground. So only in the abandoned gypsum mines in Mödling (near Vienna), the Allies discovered an assembly plant, in the shops of which, at various stages of readiness, more than 1000 He-162 fighters were found. Serial production of these aircraft was started only in January 1945, when the first 6 aircraft were assembled. In total, before the end of the war, enterprises transferred about 120 aircraft to Luftwaffe units, and more than 200 aircraft were undergoing factory tests at that time.
Despite its high performance characteristics, the Salamander never became a lifesaver for the Luftwaffe. There is no reliable data on the number of Allied aircraft shot down by them, but the count goes to a few. This was largely due to the fact that the "people's fighter" was not an aircraft for beginners. Not-162, due to the installation of the engine above the fuselage, had an unstable pitch. The fighter was not the most pleasant car to drive, which required the pilot to be very careful. It is no coincidence that the first rule for the pilots of these fighters read: "Always work smoothly with the control stick - no abrupt maneuvers, no abrupt movements!" Even experienced pilots needed substantial flight training in order to get used to the fighter, to develop the necessary "feel of the machine."
All this led to numerous accidents and disasters involving these aircraft. Many of them were due to design miscalculations, as well as manufacturing defects of the fighters. So only within 3 weeks from April 13 until the end of the war, the 1st squadron of the 1st squadron, which was armed with He-162 fighters, lost 13 fighters and 10 pilots. At the same time, only 3 fighters were shot down by the allies, the rest were attributed to non-combat losses. Thus, only in this squadron there was on average 1 accident for every 2 days.
Separately, it should be noted that all these results must be considered in the context of the total collapse of the armed forces and industry of Germany in the final months of the war as a result of the already actually accomplished defeat of the Reich. In the event that this fighter had reached the combat units at least a year earlier, the results of its combat use could have been completely different.
The performance characteristics of the He-162a-2
Dimensions: wingspan - 7, 02 m, length - 9, 03 m, height - 2, 6 m.
Wing area - 11, 1 sq. m.
Aircraft weight, kg
- empty - 1 664
- normal takeoff - 2 600
- maximum takeoff - 2 800
Engine type - 1 turbojet engine BMW-003, thrust 800 kgf.
The maximum speed at altitude is 900 km / h.
Practical range - 970 km.
Service ceiling - 12,000 m
Crew - 1 person
Armament: 2 × 20-mm MG-151/20 cannon with 120 rounds per barrel.
Sources used:
www.airpages.ru/lw/he162.shtml
www.pro-samolet.ru/samolety-germany-ww2/reaktiv/200-he-162-salamandra
www.airwar.ru/enc/fww2/he162.html
www.airx.ru/planes/he162/he162.html
