Heinkel He 162 Volksjäger

Heinkel He 162 Volksjäger Known as the peoples Fighter, named after the Volksstrum was a single-engine, jet-powered fighter aircraft built by Germany for the Luftwaffe at the end of World War Two. Designed and built quickly, and made primarily of wood as metals were in very short supply and prioritized for other aircraft, the He162 was nevertheless the fastest of the first jets that flew in the Luftwaffe and faster than the first Allied jet fighters. Volksjäger was the Reich Air Minstrys official name for the He162. The He162 was also well known by another name - the Salamander, which was the codename of its construction program, and Spatz (Sparrow), which was the name given to the plane by the builders Heinkel. In February 1945 the He162 began operations with deliveries of the He 162 to its first operational unit, I./JG 1 The He 162s only had 30-minute fuel capacity which caused problems, as at least two of JG 1s pilots were killed attempting emergency landings after exhausting their fuel.