He 162A-2 Volksjager
2/JG 1 at Leck, May 1945

The Heinkel HE-162A, known variously as the “Spatz” (Sparrow), “Salamander”, and “Volksjager” (People’s Fighter), was a last-ditch effort to produce a simple, high performance air superiority fighter for the German Air force in WWII. The major components were made of wood and other non-strategic materials. The major variant was the He-162A-2 which was armed with two 30 mm MK 108 cannons. Only 116 HE-162A’s were produced by the end of the war and about 800 incomplete air frames were captured by advancing Allied forces in various stages of assembly. Just after Germany surrendered, a large group of HE-162A’s was discovered by British troops lined up at Leck airfield. Many were shipped back to England, France, and the United States, and some were flight tested. At least one was found by the Russians at Vienna, and this was taken to the Soviet Union for flight tests. While not officially cleared for combat, it is believed several kills were scored by aircraft on "training" missions being flown by experienced pilots.

I used the decals for “Red 1” (w/nr 120077) of 2/JG 1 based at Leck in May 1945. Its pilot is unknown. This aircraft was captured at Leck, and was shipped to the U.S. for evaluation after being examined by Col. Watson’s “Whizzers” (teams collecting secret German technology). It was flown only once, by Bob Hoover. Eventually, the plane was acquired by Ed Maloney, who restored it and exhibited it in his Planes of Fame Museum at Chino Airport, California. It is still there.

This was a typical DML kit which provided a small PE fret for landing gear, instrument panel and engine details. The cockpit is nicely detailed. There are a lot of parts and they are bit fiddly to work with. My decals were slightly yellowed so I substituted the insignia decals. The underside black crosses were from the kit (I did not have thin black line crosses) and they did silver a little.