Heinkel He 162 upper wingcolour Mystery

[Simon Schatz]

Hi Guys!

During research for the He 162 I found this pics:

http://www.aviation.technomuses.ca/d...ages/20459.jpg
http://www.aviation.technomuses.ca/d...ages/20461.jpg
http://www.aviation.technomuses.ca/d...ages/20462.jpg
http://www.aviation.technomuses.ca/d...ages/20475.jpg
http://www.aviation.technomuses.ca/d...ages/20646.jpg

That's the 120076 now under display in the Canada Aviation Museum in Ottawa.

My questions:

Has anybody ever seen a wartime pic of the He 162 having such a camouflage on the upper side of the wing?

I have no facts about the museum history of the 120076. Was there a restauration or is the plane in it's original condition from 1945?

More pics of the plane you will find here: http://www.aviation.technomuses.ca/c...&submit=Search


Cheers, Simon

[Stefan Vetteriek]

Hello, Simon,

a wartime picture of W.Nr. 120067 can be found on p. 374 in

SMITH, J. R.; CREEK, E. J. (2005): Jagdwaffe – Jet Fighters and Rocket Interceptors. Luftwaffe Colours Vol. Five Section 4. Ian Allan Publishing. Hersham.

or on p. 32 in

BALOUS, M., BILY, M. (2004):Heinkel He 162 Spatz (Volksjäger). MBI. Praha.

The Jagdwaffe reproduction is the better one.

The original camo differs from the museum pics in several aspects so the a/c must have been repainted.

HTH

Stefan

[Simon Schatz]

Hi Stefan!

W.Nr. 120076 not 120067!!!

Nevertheless thanks for the try of assistance.

Cheers, Simon

[Sergio Luis dos Santos]

Hi Simon,
I never saw an He 162 photo with splinter camo on wings or fuselage. The Salamander was the first one to use the simplified camo scheme without the splinter aplication, as can be seen on his factory camouflage scheme. The museum looks to me a badly done camo restoration... but?

[Simon Schatz]

Hi Sergio!

The "Spatz" not "Salamander" had wodden wings. They were produced by small carpenter companys. Maybe possible that they painted such camo on the wing????? The colours differ from the other colours of the plane.

Has anybody ever seen a official document for the painting instructions for the He 162? I haven't, I only know only all the well known publications showing the wings in RLM81 and 82. (One colour per side) I have never seen a wartime pic of the He 162 showing the upper side of the plane.

Cheers, Simon

[Stefan Vetteriek]

Hi, Simon,

sorry for mixing up the W.Nr. He 162 W.Nr. 120067 is a "yellow 4" too.

Let me have a second attempt:

On p. 28 of an older issue of the french modelling magazine "Replic" (only kept the pages of interest, issue # isn't noted) there is a color picture of W.Nr. 120076, according to the caption taken on the 2nd of august 1945. Again especially the demarcation line between upper and lower camo bears no resemblence to the musuem camo pattern. This once more leads to the conclusion that this aircraft must have been repainted.

Now I hope this REALLY helps!

Best regards

Stefan

[O.Menu]

Hi !

• 120067 « white4 » is an A-1 (30mm guns) with the “diving eagle” from 1./JG1 on portside. Photos from this one could be found in near every publications about He 162, late JG1 or Luftwaffe camo.

• 120076 “yellow4” is far less known. It’s an A-2 (20mm guns) with very probably “Danzig’s lion” emblem from 3./JG1 on port-side. Only two valuable photos are known from me. One (1) & (2), was taken during surrender at Leck and clearly show no emblem on starboard. The second (3) is in color and taken at Farnborough before 4th of August 45 shows a usual camo sheme with grey unpainted jet engine air entrance and British markings over the Germans one.

This airplane was later transferred to Canada on 9th September 46. There and before it’s public exposition in 1964 it was repainted with this probably unreal splinter camo as well as with the unexpected “Wolf head” from 2./JG1! Painted on both side as it was usually done for 2./JG1 airplanes only.

Cheers, Olivier.

Sources:
(1): Luftwaffe at war 10, German jets 44-45, M.Griehl, Greenhill
(2): Luftwaffe Profiles Series No.16, He 162, M.Griehl, Schiffer
(3): War Prizes, P.Butler, Midland Counties Pub., p156

[Simon Schatz]

It's me again!

Stefan, could you please send me a scan of the colour pic. I'm very interested to see that.

Olivier, thank you, but I think we are talking about some different planes.

Your source 1 (Luftwaffe at War series) only shows Yellow 4, W.Nr 120067 (Page 68 ) at Leck just before handed over to the allied trops.
Source 2 (Flugzeug Profile) shows Yellow or White 4, W.Nr. 120097 1./JG 1 (Page 17) at Kassel after surrender.

Your source 3 is not in my collection. Maybe possible to get a scan of that pic?

Cheers, Simon

[Stefan Vetteriek]

Hi, Simon,


if you send me your e-mail adress I will submit the scan you asked for.

My adress is vetteriek@foni.net.

Best regards

Stefan

[O.Menu]

Hehe!

Simon, both photos your are looking for (1) p68 & (2) p 17 are from the same "white4" but with different tails, even at Kassel White4 stay an A-1 and got the 1./JG1 diving eagle emblem on portside

If you want to see Yellow4, and i bet you want, you need to look to the third airplane in the row inside (1) p67 and (2) p31 (as i already told you it's the same photo inside both books). And you will see Yellow4 is an A-2 not an A-1