Some enlarged and 'tweaked' photos of He 162s

[Karoband]

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1848

70. This cropped photo of the far end of the right side of the line-up shows the twelfth He 162, next to "Red 1", to be "Yellow 4", identified by Wollenweber, p. 138, and Franks, p. 18, as W.Nr. 120076.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1850

71. W.Nr. 120076 was allocated Air Ministry number "59" and arrived at RAE Farnborough on 15 June 1945 by surface transport. One of the earliest He 162s to arrive, it was given RAF serial VH523 on 19 June and began flight tests on the 29th of that month. This is a photo of W.Nr. 120076 on the taxiway at Farnborough.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1849

72. In this photo, VH523 is seen at Farnborough on 2 August 1945 when Bell's chief test pilot, Jack Woolam, flew it to RAF Brize Norton, where it was put into storage by No. 6 MU.
Note that at Leck, the "Yellow 4", wappen and German national markings were painted out and RAF roundels and fin flashes added. As an A-2, the upper dark camo tapers to points under the wing, and the MG 131 cannon muzzle protrudes in the gunport.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1851

73. W.Nr. 120076, "Yellow 4" of 3./JG 1 was shipped to Canada aboard SS Manchester Commercein the summer of 1946, arriving at Montreal on 9 September. Eventually brought to the Canadian Aeronautical Collection at RCAF Rockcliffe (Ottawa, Ontario), it was repainted as an A-1 with its upward sweep of the dark camo to the wing's leading and aft edges. Note the "Wolf's head" wappen of 2./JG 1.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1852

74. This is a close-up of the repainting done by the Canadians on the tail of 120076. In December 2006, "Yellow 4" was traded for a Bristol Freighter, G-AANW, to Aero Vintage in the UK. In 2009, the He 162 was moved to the Deutsches Technikmuseum in Berlin.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1853

75. This is a view of the fuselage and nose during disassembly in preparation for shipment to Germany.


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76. W.Nr. 120076 is extant and now on display in Germany.

[Stig Jarlevik]

Hi Jim

Is there a date attached to photo No 73?

Cheers
Stig

[egbert]

Thank you for a wonderful and interesting thread

[Karoband]

Thank you, Egbert.

Hi Stig,

Sorry, no, I have no date for the photo. Franks, p. 20, says, "...but since 1964 this aircraft has been with the Canadian National Aeronautical Collection...". If it helps, I personally saw it at Rockcliffe in the summer of 1968.

Jim

[Stig Jarlevik]

Thanks Jim

So 1960s seems to be a fair decade then.....

Cheers
Stig

[Karoband]

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1857

77. Wollenweber, on p. 138, identifies the He 162 A-1 beside "Yellow 4" as W.Nr. 310003, "Yellow 5" and on p. 22 of his book, Franks concurs. In this poor cropping of the line-up on the right side, the yellow "5" can just be made out. The gunport has black surround and the dark upper camo extends out to the nose tip which is typical for the A-1 310xxx werknummer series. Curiously, the tarp has been removed from the cockpit canopy of this particular aircraft.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1858

78. Again, a poor cropping from the opposite angle, the port side of "Yellow 5" shows the bare canopy and the upper camo extending to the nose tip.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1859

79. This photo shows the fuselages of He 162 A-1s, W.Nr. 310003 "Yellow 5" and W.Nr. 310005 "Red 7" without wing or tail modules on flatbed railway carriages on their way to the Armée de l'Air facility at Nantenne, France in February 1946.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1860

80. This cropping of the above photo shows the unusual wappen of a combination, left to right, of the "Devil in the Clouds" of I. Gruppe, the "Lion of Danzig" of 3. Staffel and the "Winged '1' " of the Geschwader. As an exception to the rule, this yellow numeral has a black surround.
Franks made this comment in a caption on p. 22: "This airframe was never rebuilt to fly, being one of the A-1 series airframes used for spares to keep the A-2s flying [in France]. It is presumed to have been scrapped.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1861

81. This photo of the line-up on the right side shows that the fourteenth He 162 next to "Yellow 5" has nose rings starting with a black cap.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1862

82. This poor cropping shows a "Yellow 21" with white surround and the nose rings of a Geschwaderstab aircraft. It has the characteristics of a later manufactured A-2. The muzzle of the MG 131/20 cannon can be seen protruding from the gunport which has gunpowder residue in front of it. Unlike W.Nr. 120015 "Yellow 21" which has a high camo demarcation, this He 162 has the camo pattern of the later 120xxx series. Note the hark upper camo on top of the nose and under the cockpit canopy extending back to a point under the wing.
Wollenweber, p. 138, mistakenly identifies this fourteenth airframe with nose rings as an A-1, "White 21", W.Nr. 310021. Franks, also, identifies it as "White 21" allocated Air Ministry number "58", but correctly gives the werknummer as 120221 on p. 21 of his book. Phil Butler, in his War Prizes, (Crecy edition, 2022), has identified "AM58" as, 'Arrived at Farnborough via the 'Return Ferry Service' o 16th June 1945. It was allocated RAF serial VH526 on 19th June 1945, but there is no record of this aircraft being flown at RAE. The aircraft was used as a source of spares for other flyable He 162s and was in the scrap area by 15 December 1946."
I have yet to see another photo of W.Nr. 120221.

[Karoband]

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1863

83. Both Wollenweber, p. 138, and Franks, p. 22, identify the fifteenth He 162 in the line-ups, beside "Yellow 21", as W.Nr. 120093, "White 2". This, too, was shipped by train to France in February 1946.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1864

84. In this cropped photo of the SNCAC facility at Boulogne-Billancourt in March 1946, it can be seen that W.Nr. 120093 is virtually intact except for its engine and nacelle. Note that in examining the aircraft, French technicians left an identifiable small whie "donut" on the fuselage in front of the tailplane joint.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1865

85. It is likely that it was at Boulogne that the three airworthy He 162 A-2s in France got their identities as "No.1", "No.2" and "No.3". Here, W.Nr. 120093 is identifiable as "No.3".


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1867

86. As "No.3", W.Nr. 120093 was shipped by train to the SNAC flight test facility at Orleans-Bricy and began flight tests in April 1947. That summer, the three airworthy He 162s were shipped by rail to the CEAM airfield at Mont-de-Marsan where flight tests recommenced in September 1947.


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87. Flight tests continued until the fatal crash of "No.1" on 23 July 1948, at which both survivors were grounded and put into storage.


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88. It was decided that "No.3" in 1949 would be sent to the École de l'Air at Salon-de-Provence where mechanics could learn how to ground run the BMW oo3 jet engine. "Once the engine ceased to operate any more, the air frame was relegated as a training airframe for the Base's fire brigade ... until it disappeared at some stage in the mid-1950's," Franks, p. 24.

[Karoband]

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1863

89. Wollenweber, p. 138, identifies the sixteenth and numberless He 162 next to "White 2" as W.Nr. 120086. Franks, p. 20 says it had been allocated to II./JG 1 before being captured at Leck. This photo shows the camo pattern of a later 120xxx model with a simple black balkenkreuz and hakenkreuz, without a number on the port side nor a red arrow. If you look closely, there is gunpowder residue in front of the gun port but the tape covering the nose joint has been removed and the upper camo repainted.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1869

90. Photographed at Leck in the field across from "White 3" in the background, this view confirms that W.Nr. 120086 did not have either a numeral code nor a red arrow.
"Allocated Air Ministry number '62'; To RAE Farnborough via surface transport 22nd August 1945, then onwards to No. 6 MU, RAF Brize Norton for storage the same day," Franks, p. 20. In being allocated "AM 62" at Leck, the German markings would have been painted out with appropriate RLM paints and RAF roundels and fin flashes would have been added there.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1870

91. Taken out of storage, W.Nr. 120086 was repainted, given bogus German markings, to be displayed in Hyde Park, London, from 17 September 1945. The ground crew did a good job painting out the roundel, but in covering the fin flashes, they couldn't quite match the RLM 76, overspraying also the top of the werknummer. Note the tilt to the spurious balkenkreuz and the tarps on the ground. The wheel chocks identify the unit of the ground crew.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1871

92. This view of the starboard side at Hyde Park hardly shows the white surround added to the hakenkreuz. However, please note that a red arrow has been added to the nose and extends almost to the tip. The gunpowder residue divided by the removed tape is visible and the crew is just removing the tarp. Also note the white tip common to the muzzle ends of MG 131/20 cannon found on He 162s and Me 163s.
"Home Census of Aircraft on 21 March 1946 shows it back in storage with No.6 MU, Brize Norton; Moved to No.47 MU, RAF Sealand [near Liverpool] on 29th May 1946 for crating for shipment to Canada; Departed Salford Docks on SS Manchester Commerce on the 26th August 1946; Arrived at Montreal on the 9th September 1946...", Franks, p. 20. To be continued next week.

[Karoband]

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1872

93. For what it's worth, I remember as a teenager in the late 1950s an article and picture in the Toronto Star of an He 162 discovered in a dilapidated condition in a 'barn' in Gimli, Manitoba. There are two possible explanations for it being there. Me 163, W.Nr 191914, also arrived at Montreal aboard SS Manchester Commerce on 9 September 1946. It was sent to RCAF Rockcliffe (Ottawa) to be reassembled but was then sent to RCAF Winnipeg, Manitoba, for storage. On the other hand, a week previous, two crated Me 262s had arrived at Montreal aboard SS Manchester Shipper. "AM 52" was sent to RCAF Downsview (Toronto) with graffiti from 47 MU, but "AM 80" was sent to Portage La Prairie, Manitoba for cold weather static engine trials.
Whatever the reason, this photograph shows He 162 W.Nr. 120086 in very poor condition. The flat tires, broken nose cone and missing engine indicates neglectful storage. Note the tilt of the balkenkreuz and the "47MU" graffiti on the nose. But this nose is different! It has a recessed red arrow unlike the one seen at Hyde Park.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1873

94. This photo corresponds to the one above taken in the same building. The recessed red arrow and darker upper cannon the nose are apparent indicating it is a replacement.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1874

95. This is what the fuselage looked like while in storage at Rockcliffe's Canadian Aeronautical Collection. Note the black "3" added by 47 Maintenance Unit at RAF Sealand and the tilted balkenkreuz.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1875

96. These photos were taken on 28 September 2025 at what is now called the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa, Canada. W.Nr. 120086 seems to still have its camouflage as of its time with 47 MU in England in 1946. While the upper Camo on the fuselage may be original the lower "RLM 76" has covered the original demarcation line and is of British origin. As well, all the German national markings are spurious and the engine nacelle does not match. The upper wing RAF roundel can just be made out under the bogus balkenkreuz and overspray.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1876

97. The "RLM 76" paint job and crude balkenkreuz under the wing were done in England. Note the handwritten label for plane number "3" added by 47 MU.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1879

98. Parts of the paint on the tail are authentic. The werknummer still has tops showing the overspray from Hyde Park when the RAF fin flashes were erased by No.6 MU. the upper colour and opposite inside fin may be the original RLM 76. Note the remains of the black tape used to secure the rudder from moving during shipment.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1878

99. For me, the most interesting discovery is the replacement nose. Duct tape has been used to secure the detached part. The gap at the joint of the nose to the fuselage has not been retaped and shows the mismatching of these two modules by the British. Not only is the red arrow receded but the overpainting has not hidden what appears to be nose rings.

[Karoband]

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1863

100. The seventeenth He 162 in the line-up, beside the numberless W.Nr. 120086, was "Yellow 3", identified by both Wollenweber, p. 138, and Franks, p. 18, as W.Nr. 120072. Note the replacement white nose, the protruding cannon and dark camouflage below the canopy going back to a point under the wing indicating a later A-2 aircraft of the 120xxx series.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1880

101. In his Thunder over the Reich, (Crecy, 2014), on p.125, Wolfgang Wollenweber captions this photograph as, "An untouched original photo of 'Yellow 3', werknummer 120072 with my briefcase resting on the nose cone in front of the windscreen. The lion badge of 3.staffel was not introduced until the last days of the war and was carried by only a few machines." In the background is "Yellow 7", W.Nr 120222.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1881

102. In his flugbuch, Wollenweber records an einsatz (mission) in ".3" on 20 April 1945 between 12:05 and 12:35 hrs. in which he encountered four "Thunderbolts" (Tempests) near Hüsum. Unfortunately, his later notation misidentifies "3" as "120074" which was "Yellow 11".


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1882

103. Allocated Air Ministry number "61" at Leck, the British had the German ground crew paint out German national markings, wappen and aircraft numerals using appropriate RLM paints. The "Yellow 3" can just be made out but now the distinctive white nose had a red arrow added. Note the gunpowder residue and the RAF roundel under the wing. W.Nr. 120072 arrived at RAE Farnborough by surface transport on 31 July 1945.


http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1883

104. This photo shows W.Nr. 120072 at Farnborough in British markings with its white nose and over-painted "Yellow 3". It made four flights in October and November 1945 before November 9th when RAE Fl./Lt. Robert A. Marks was killed in a crash at RAF Aldershot while demonstrating this He 162 to personnel of the Staff College at Camberly. Strangely, Neither Franks nor Butler mention any RAF serial being assigned this aircraft.