Heinkel He 162 Salamander

Heinkel · Germany · first flew 1944 · fighter

The Heinkel He 162 Salamander was a German single-engine jet fighter developed with extraordinary speed in the final months of World War II, intended to be built in large numbers using unskilled labour and non-strategic materials.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	Mid-mounted, swept
E — Engines	1 × turbojet, fuselage-mounted
F — Fuselage	Single BMW 003 jet mounted above the fuselage spine
T — Tail	Conventional

WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.

Spot it by:

Single BMW 003 jet mounted above the fuselage spine
Anhedral wingtips with twin endplate fins
Wooden construction emphasised due to aluminium shortage

The jet engine mounted on top of the fuselage spine aft of the cockpit is unique and instantly identifying; the anhedral wingtips with small twin fins give a very distinctive planform; the wooden-construction fuselage pod is compact and lightweight-looking.

Specifications

The Heinkel He 162 Salamander has a length of 9.05 m (30 ft).
It has a wingspan of 7.2 m (24 ft).
Its maximum speed is 840 km/h (522 mph).
Typical crew: 1.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

From design freeze to first flight took less than 90 days — an astonishing feat. It first flew in December 1944 and entered limited service with JG 1 in early 1945. Structural problems and the collapse of German logistics prevented it from having any meaningful impact on the war.

Variants

The He 162A-2 was the primary production version; the A-1 had different cannon; numerous proposed variants with different engines and configurations were never built.

Where you'll see it

Saw very limited operational service with JG 1 in the final weeks of the war; surviving examples were seized by the Allies and evaluated extensively postwar.

Related aircraft

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