For He 162 Experts: He 162 that went to the US

[Simon Schatz]

Hi Walt!

Edit: Checked again my sources. Don't look like 120077. Camouflage is not original german. It's overpainted. Looks like "White "23"

Roger, "Yellow 6" is 100% sure a plane built by Junkers Bernburg! So W.Nr. starts with 310XXX.

Cheers, Simon

[Peter D Evans]

My initial thoughts that it was "White 23" too Simon... but the lack of camo along the length of the engine nacelle doesn't match any of the images of "White 23" I have access too.

In fact, the only image I can find comes anywhere near matching the engine nacelle scheme are post-war shots of FE-489/T2-489. However, other aspects of FE-489's scheme don't match with Walt's photo. War Prizes actually states on a caption for a colour picture taken in 1970, that FE-489 retained its original colour scheme, but this is shown as being incorrect when you look at the period images of this He162 on page 111 of "Heinkel He162 Spatz" by R.Forsyth & E.Creek [Classic, 2008] where the nacelle is a solid colour and not anything like later images of WNr.120077... if I were a betting man, I'd go with it being a post war mid-repaint image of WNr.120077...

@ Walt/everybody - do we know from where the image is reproduced from?

Cheers
Peter D Evans
LEMB Administrator

[vzlion]

The same image, but showing the tail with Wnr 120222, appears in the Japanese "Aireview's German Military Aircraft In The Second World War". Copyright 1958. I'm reasonably certain it was taken in the US. The first few pages are all of aircraft with FE numbers except for the Heinkel. There are several other photos of this aircraft. It was in the German Aircraft Exhibit in Washington DC, in 1946(?).

Walt

[Roger Gaemperle]

That photo shows "White 23". A photo that shows its right fuselage side shows a very distinctive larger dark spot just in front of the gun trough which is also visible on the photos of "White 23" before all or part of the camouflage was repainted.

I once had a photo in my collection (unfortunately no longer and I didn't make any scans) of a He 162 at an exhibition in the US with a long yellow arrow. This must have been the real 120222 ("Yellow 7") as "White 23" ended at NASM partly in original camouflage and "Red 1" at Planes of Fame (I think it its repainted scheme but without yellow arrow).

Cheers,
Roger

[Peter D Evans]

The "White 23" in mid-repaint post-war makes sense especially as there is a lack on number too... just as well I'm not a betting man!

Cheers
Peter D Evans
LEMB Administrator

[O.Menu]

Most of those smaller airplanes which came by trains and many spare parts were loaded aboard of the liberty ship 0419 ‘Richard J. Gatling’. From the 26th of June 1945, ‘Richard J. Gatling’ load list we found: three complete but dismounted He 162 + one not complete + many tails and BMW 003 jet engines shipped aboard. This ship was planed to left Cherbourg for Le Havre to load-up troops on the 12th of July and then to reach New-York around 1st of August.
At Cherbourg there was also the British air carrier ‘HMS Reaper’ that left the French harbor for the U.S.A. on 19th July 1945 loaded with 41 German airplanes and helicopters, most of them airworthy under a protective "shrink wrap" made of “eronel” to protect them from the sea spray on the deck. The ‘HMS Reaper’ inventory shows only one He 162, which made the travel very probably inside the boat since it is not visible on the deck’s pictures. (Cf 39/45 N°261)


The three clearly pictured He162 in the U.S. are ‘w 23’, ‘w7’ and ‘red 1’. Strangely we don’t have any photos showing any of them at Kassel, probably simply because they don’t stop long enough at Kassel on their way to Cherbourg. It is believed that the fourth one (W.Nr.120017?) left not pictured in the U.S. cause of it’s use as spare parts. Got no information about the fifth not complete one (fuselage only ?).

IMHO it's very doubtful that yellow 6 found it's way to the USA since we have some pictures showing it partly disable so at a pretty late time to what be believed to be Kassel area.