Some enlarged and 'tweaked' photos of He 162s

[Karoband]

In this and the following weekly series of posts, I will be first examining the identities of the He 162s captured at Leck, using photographs to compare with information mainly found in Richard A. Franks, Airframe Album 13: The Heinkel He 162, (2018), and in Wolfgang Wollenweber's Thunder over the Reich, (Hikoki edition, 2014), especially referring to his diagram of the line-up on p. 138.

The capitulation of German forces in Germany and Denmark was effective as of 08:00 hours on the morning of 5 May 1945, but it took a few days for British forces to occupy all of the northern states of Germany. The British reached the perimeter of Flugplatz Leck on the evening of 6 May "and on the 8th took possession of the whole airfield", Franks, p. 16. Possibly on British instruction, moveable He 162s were lined up on both sides of the taxiway to Runway 11 (Wollenweber, p. 138) in preparation for a formal surrender the next day. In today's post, it is clear from the spit and polish of the officer's uniforms that they were waiting for the formal arrival of the British. According to captions on the backs of some photos, these pictures were taken on 9 May 1945.

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1748

1. Hptm. Heinz Künnecke, staffelkapitan of 1./JG 1 as of 1 May, checks his timepiece whilst walking down the taxiway at Leck. On each side, the twenty-two serviceable He 162s were lined up for surrender to the British. They had not been destroyed as ordered.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1749

2. Here, the Staffelkapitane of JG 1, as of 1 May 1945, wait to surrender. From left to right are: Hptm. Wolfgang Ludewig, 2./JG 1; Maj. Bernd Gallowitsch, 4./JG 1; Oblt. Emil Demuth, 3./JG 1; and Hptm. Künnecke, 1./JG 1. With them, to the right, was Ltn. Rudolf Schmidt, who had claimed a "Typhoon" on 4 May 1945 while flying an He 162.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1750

3. As the wait continued, Künnecke, Demuth and Ludewig conversed on the taxiway with nine He 162s lined up along the left side.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1751

4. In this photo, many of the He 162s on the right side can be seen. From left to right are: Künnecke, I. Gruppe Kommandeur Major Werner Zober, and Demuth. To the right are Ludewig and Gallowitsch.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1752

5. Joining the Gruppe are the staff officers of Stab/JG 1. From left to right: Zober, Kommodore Oberst Herbert Ihlefeld, Künnecke, Demuth, adjutant Hptm. Ekke-Eberhardt Reinbrecht, Hptm. Gerhard Strasen and Gallowitsch.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1753

6. This is a view of the line-up at the top far end of the right side. in all, twenty-two He 162s were arranged to impress the British. At least four other He 162s were found at Leck, not in the line-up, that were undergoing repairs.

[egbert]

Enjoying already the first of hopefully many to come posts about the He162 in Leck

[Karoband]

Thanks, Egbert.

Not all of the He 162s captured at Leck were in the line-ups along the taxiway. There are two photos of two aircraft on jacks outside of a hangar at Leck.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1754

7. He 162 W.Nr. 120230 "23" is one of probably five He 162s that had double-digit numerals. All but one of these five also had the distinctive nose rings seen here. Some researchers have ascribed these nose rings as signifying the personal aircraft of commanding officers. Wollenweber, on p. 174 of his book, incorrectly captions this photo as, "Kommodore Ihlefeld's 'White 23' originally had the Werknummer 120230. After its tail was damaged, it was given the tail unit of the cannibalised 'White 7' and henceforth carried Werknummer 120222." In this photo of the port side, note that the bottom of the upper dark camo is significantly lower at the rear than on the front of the fuselage.
At the left, the tipped tail of W.Nr. 120233 can be seen.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1755

8. This is the other view of "23" taken at Leck with its nose on a jack, showing clearly its werknummer. Hidden behind it, at the right, is W.Nr. 120233. "23" was among the allotment of He 162s given to the Americans. It was disassembled into modules, shipped by train, then by sea, to the USA.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1756

9. Richard A Franks, on p.28 of his book, suggests that it was at Freeman Field, Indiana, that it "received the vertical fins from W/Nr. 120222". This colour photo, taken in the USA, confirms the identity as being "Yellow 23" with a thin white surround. It is my contention that all of the He 162 airframes with double-digit identities beginning with "2" had this shade of yellow with a black surround that in black and white photos caused viewers to mistake them for white numerals. In this photo of the starboard side, the bottom of the upper dark camo is significantly lower at the rear than at the front of the fuselage, which makes me think this is the original paint job.
This yellow seems to be a lighter variation of RLM27.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1757

10. Franks, p. 28, makes no mention of it being flight tested. This photo shows that it was repainted in fake camo pattern without the "23". In January 1955, it was transferred to the Smithsonian Institute storage facility at Silver Hill, and is now in storage at the Udvar-Hazy Center at Dallas Airport.

[he219research]

Originally Posted by Karoband

... In January 1955, it was transferred to the Smithsonian Institute storage facility at Silver Hill, and is now in storage at the Udvar-Hazy Center at Dallas Airport.

That would be at Dulles Airport, just outside Washington DC (instead of Dallas Airport).

[Karoband]

Originally Posted by he219research

That would be at Dulles Airport, just outside Washington DC (instead of Dallas Airport).

Thank you for catching what was my mistake. Named after John Foster Dulles.

[Revi16]

https://airandspace.si.edu/collectio...m_A19600321000

[Karoband]

Thanks, Revi,

It is interesting to see that Americans repainted this He 162 in a spurious camouflage pattern, especially the engine nacelle and the upper dark camo bending up to meet the wing root as in the 310xxx series, and then adding a fake "White 23" over top of it.

Jim

[Karoband]

forum.12oclockhigh.net/album.php?albumid=73&pictureid=1758

11. This cropped photo of "Yellow 23" at Leck shows that to its starboard side is the tilted tail of W.Nr. 120233. Franks, on p. 62, comments: "Nothing is known about this airframe other than it was found by British forces at Leck in May 1945, presumed scrapped as it was not shipped to the UK."


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1759

12. This is another cropped image of "Yellow 23" under repair at Leck showing W.Nr. 120233 in the background. Note what appears to be rings on the nose, which would mean that the arrow would have been moved back from the tip of the nose. This also suggests it would have had a double-digit identity.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1760

13. For what it is worth, this is a photo of a "White 8" under repair outdoors whose stenciled numeral is on an overpainted area wide enough to suggest that there had been a double-digit beneath. I believe that I can make out the first covered digit, a "2", but the other is hidden by the "8". Moreover, the arrow, in relation to the upper camo pattern, indicates that it is displaced back from the tip of the nose. This implies that this airframe had nose rings.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1761

14. This drawing, made in 1999 by French researcher Jean Claude Mermet, shows his interpretation of the fuselage of "White 8". He also places the arrow back from the nose tip and suggests the identity was "Rote 22" of Stab/JG 1.

[Karoband]

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1762

15 The first aircraft in the line-up of the left side is He 162 A-2 W.Nr. 120067 "White 4". Like other German aircraft makers, Heinkel Flugzeugwerke built their He 162s in modules and assembled the parts to create a complete aircraft with tail, wings, fuselage, engine and nose easily disassembled for maintenance or replacement. Like the other He 162s of the 120xxx series that were assembled at the Heinkel Werke at Rostok, This A-2 had a pair 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon whose long muzzles protruded from its gun ports. Note the thick black surround and the gunpowder residue on the nose in front.
Also, as a fully-camouflaged He 162 bearing a white numeral, this fuselage has a thin black surround to the numeral that is especially visible on the RLM 76 white/blue under surfaces.
Due to instability in flight, downward, anhedral, wingtips nicknamed "Lippisch ears" after designer Alexander Lippisch, who suggested a remedy to the problem, were added. Note the distinctive scalloped edges of the dark upper camo on the Lippisch ear of "White 4". Barely noticeable is the RLM 23 Red on the intake cowl of the BMW 003 jet engine nacelle. RLM 23 had been the colour of JG 1's RVT band on its piston aircraft. JG 1 also added a distinctive RLM 23 red arrow to each side of the nose of its He 162s.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1763

16.Instead of flying the He 162s out of Leck, the easily disassembled airframes were taken apart for shipment by train and divided up among the western Alles. Those given to the Americans were first sent to its collection point in Kassel, Germany. For a static display there, a Frankenstein He 162 was assembled from parts using the fuselage of "White 4" as the base.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1767

17. This view shows that the wings and tail are components from unknown aircraft that do not match the original airframe. Carefully scratched into this Lippisch ear is "10 ADC-1" of the American unit that assembled it.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1765

18. This poor port-side view shows the protruding MG 151/20 cannon of an A-2 and JG 1's "Diving Eagle" wappen commonly found on the port side of its He 162s.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1766

19. The wing component of W.Nr. 120067 ended up in the United States being attached to the fuselage of W.Nr. 120222, "Yellow 7". With the exception of "Yellow 3", yellow numerals, like the one here, did not have the thin black surround which is especially absent on the lower RLM 76 camouflage. Instead it was a thin white surround.

[Karoband]

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1773

20. From this photo, taken on 9 May 1945, we see that the second He 162 in the line-up on the left side is a "20" but has none of the nose rings seen on other double-digit aircraft. In the background is a "Red 7" with a "fox-head" wappen on its starboard nose.
Wolfgang Wollenweber in Thunder over the Reich, p. 138, identifies the second aircraft as "White 20", W.Nr. 120095 and "Red 7" as W.Nr. 310012. However, Richard A. Franks, in his book, p. 18, while also identifies "White 20" as W.Nr. 120095, on p.22 gives "Red 7" as W.Nr. 310005.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1774

21. This photo of He 162s at Leck was taken after the arrival of the British, but note the changes. The taxiway is missing, the lack of shadows to the left indicates it is not beside "White 4" and the He 162 next to "20" is not "Red 7". Franks, on p. 15, incorrectly identifies this one as W.Nr. 120321 (copied by Kurmark-Antik), but it is indeed W.Nr. 120231, unpainted "White 6", as id'ed by the putty streaks on the nose below the tarp.
In this photo, note the clear view of the red cowl on the BMW 003 nacelle.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1770

22. This photo is almost identical to the one above. Note the lack of black surround usually seen on white numerals. To my eye there is a white surround to a yellow centre in these numerals making it "Yellow 20".


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1771

23. "Yellow 20" is seen in this photo to be in a hangar at Leck just before it was disassembled. It was allocated the Air Ministry number "63" and shipped overland by train and then by ship to RAE Farnborough in England, arriving on 10 August 1945.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1772

24. Seen here at the Birmingham Civic Centre in September 1945, British markings have been replaced by fake German ones. "At No. 6 MU for Home Census of Aircraft on the 21st March 1946; struck off charge at No. 6 MU 14 August 1947 (scrapped)", Franks, p. 21.