Heinkel He 162 A-1 Volksjäger

[-]

G8M8N8@reddit

The only “weird” thing in my mind is that they wanted everyday civilians to fly them

[-]

Zebidee@reddit

This is just like a smaller Cirrus SF50.

Compared to the piston planes of the same era, it was probably easier to fly.

[-]

MaJ0Mi@reddit

It had a reputation to be hard to fly, didn't it?

[-]

LightningFerret04@reddit

I guess in some ways it could be considered somewhat simple as in it has a single engine with no special equipment like superchargers and its throttle was essentially just a “go” lever

But flightwise, it had stability issues and Lippisch was against new pilots flying the design. The type also had to contend with unreliable engines, poor gliding characteristics, and structural glue failures

[-]

Flyingtower2@reddit

Jet engines without FADEC can actually be damaged rather easily if you don’t know what you are doing. Once had a pilot add a lot more fuel when he had a hung start. That was expensive…

[-]

Termsandconditionsch@reddit

A jet fighter mostly made of wood and at least initially terrible glue is also a bit weird.

[-]

speedyundeadhittite@reddit

It worked for Mosquito..

[-]

Termsandconditionsch@reddit

Sure, but the Mosquito was not designed for 800km/h.

Though the main issue was that the plywood/adhesive factory got bombed.

[-]

AceArchangel@reddit

And it ended up being more complicated than they intended haha

[-]

speedyundeadhittite@reddit

Well, the arrow should have simplified things, jusdt point that towards the bomber and you're done.

[-]

RandoDude124@reddit

Kids for that matter too.

[-]

incidel@reddit

It's landing characteristics were awfully close to the F-104...

[-]

PerfectionOfaMistake@reddit

Its Volksjäger its Jagt Volks.

[-]

Quowe_50mg@reddit

Volkskäger is a craazy name for a german ww2 plane

[-]

Wulfrank@reddit

Thank goodness there's a big red arrow to let us know which direction it's supposed to fly in. Otherwise, I'd have no clue.

[-]

BriocheTressee@reddit

But for real what is the purpose of the arrow ?

[-]

Furaskjoldr@reddit

It was to show the direction of the jet intake and mark it clearly for ground staff to see.

In the early days people were not as used to jet engines as we are now, and there were a lot of issues with people getting too close and items/people getting sucked into the intake. Because they didn't have any obvious external moving parts, in the early days many who were inexperienced/untrained with the engines would accidentally wander too close.

It was even more of an issue with the He162 as the engine was mounted on the top above the fuselage which was pretty unconventional and also made it less likely you'd subconsciously notice it as it wouldn't necessarily be in your eyeline or at body height like the engines on the 262.

[-]

waldo--pepper@reddit

I am sorry I do not mean to be overly confrontational. If it were true that the arrow was a safety/hazard warning of some sort we might expect it to be on other Luftwaffe jet aircraft. Like the Me 262. Yet it is only on the He 162.

I do not think your theory is true. Can you supply evidence or a source to support your ideas?

I have read an explanation for the arrow and other markings of the nose of the He 162. But I really want to hear your source please.

[-]

waytosoon@reddit

I'm with ya. Thats ridiculous. Maybe the pitot as someone else as suggested, but that felt like bs. I was expecting it to end with in "1998 when Mankind something something hell in the cell"

[-]

lavardera@reddit

but the arrow is on the nose, the jet intake is above and behind the canopy.

Its probably more about the pitot tube sticking out of the nose of the plane, so somebody does not walk into it.

[-]

RLoret@reddit (OP)

Yeah, I definitely think it’s that pitot tube.

[-]

BriocheTressee@reddit

Thank you for your explanation :p

[-]

lavardera@reddit

but the arrow is on the nose, the jet intake is above and behind the canopy. Its probably more about the pitot tube sticking out of the nose of the plane, so somebody does not walk into it.

[-]

BriocheTressee@reddit

Makes sense too. Dual purpose arrow !

[-]

Phosphorus444@reddit

To be fair, I'm not sure anyone involved knew either.

[-]

DerekWylde1996@reddit

I love this last ditch piece of shit.

Yeah its engine may love to overheat, and the glue may have been next to worthless, and it may have been top heavy and hard to fly for the 15 year old conscripts it was designed for, but it has a certain elegant beauty to me that even beats out the 262. I blame Blazing Angels 2.

[-]