DONE +++ 1:72 Heinkel He 162 C-0 (P.1073); "VN+DA/M48" (1st prototype), May 1945

Dizzyfugu · July 21, 2020, 06:15:31 AM

What would a Prototype GB be without "something German"? So I'll add a little project, a model of the more or less real He 162 C, an evolution of the He 162 A "Spatz" with swept wings and a butterfly tail - and actually with a longer fuselage and a better engine, but, as a prototype for the new aerodynamic layout, it will be based on a modified He 162 A airframe.

The basis is the very simple Hobby Boss He 162 A, which received new wings (from a Revell G.91, with a gull wing kink added and the landing gear well filled) and a butterfly tail (consisting of a pair of stabilitzers from an N.A. FJ-3 Fury). Some WiP impressions so far:

1:72 Heinkel He 162 C-0 (P.1073); aircraft "VN+DA (M48)" (1st prototype), Deutsche Luftwaffe; Salzburg (Austria), May 1945 (Whif/Luft '46/Hobby Boss kit conversion) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Heinkel He 162 C-0 (P.1073); aircraft "VN+DA (M48)" (1st prototype), Deutsche Luftwaffe; Salzburg (Austria), May 1945 (Whif/Luft '46/Hobby Boss kit conversion) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The fuselage is more or less massive plastic, and the cockpit only a rough simulation. The little available internal space is filled with lead beads, the cockpit's sparseness will be hidden by a pilot figure under a closed canopy...

1:72 Heinkel He 162 C-0 (P.1073); aircraft "VN+DA (M48)" (1st prototype), Deutsche Luftwaffe; Salzburg (Austria), May 1945 (Whif/Luft '46/Hobby Boss kit conversion) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

With wings attached, the He 162 C looks pretty futuristic!

1:72 Heinkel He 162 C-0 (P.1073); aircraft "VN+DA (M48)" (1st prototype), Deutsche Luftwaffe; Salzburg (Austria), May 1945 (Whif/Luft '46/Hobby Boss kit conversion) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Even more so with the butterfly tail:

1:72 Heinkel He 162 C-0 (P.1073); aircraft "VN+DA (M48)" (1st prototype), Deutsche Luftwaffe; Salzburg (Austria), May 1945 (Whif/Luft '46/Hobby Boss kit conversion) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Landimg gear attached, painting can start soon:

1:72 Heinkel He 162 C-0 (P.1073); aircraft "VN+DA (M48)" (1st prototype), Deutsche Luftwaffe; Salzburg (Austria), May 1945 (Whif/Luft '46/Hobby Boss kit conversion) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

PR19_Kit · July 21, 2020, 06:28:00 AM

Yes, that's VERY 'German'.

NARSES2 · July 21, 2020, 06:40:03 AM

I do like where this is going

The Wooksta! · July 21, 2020, 08:45:03 AM

You'll need to shorten the legs. The Hobbyboss kit is a copy of the Dragon one, the legs are a direct copy but the wells themselves aren't deep enough so it consequently sits too high and looks... well, spindly.

The Hobbyboss 262 has similar issues, being a copy of the Revell one and that has some serious sit issues to start with.

Dizzyfugu · July 22, 2020, 03:26:52 AM

Painting... I settled for a makeshift livery, inspired by a real He 162 A and the idea that the wings made from glued wood might not have been painted for a prototype?

1:72 Heinkel He 162 C-0 (P.1073); aircraft "VN+DA (M48)" (1st prototype), Deutsche Luftwaffe; Salzburg (Austria), May 1945 (Whif/Luft '46/Hobby Boss kit conversion) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

ChernayaAkula · July 22, 2020, 02:18:16 PM

Oooh, that's looking good.

Also the metal cockpit section with the green putty lines... nice!

Dizzyfugu · July 23, 2020, 12:01:02 AM

Yes, I wanted something unusual - or at least something you would probably not see on a service aircraft. The bare metal section with the greenish filler and the wooden wings give the aircraft a quite different look.

Just doing finishing touches, got the He 162 C-0 finished this morning.

1:72 Heinkel He 162 C-0 (P.1073); aircraft "VN+DA (M48)" (1st prototype), Deutsche Luftwaffe; Salzburg (Austria), May 1945 (Whif/Luft '46/Hobby Boss kit conversion) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

NARSES2 · July 23, 2020, 06:12:50 AM

Neat wood effect

Dizzyfugu · July 24, 2020, 12:14:17 AM

At least at first glance...

Dizzyfugu · July 24, 2020, 03:43:04 AM

1:72 Heinkel He 162 C-0 (P.1073); 1st prototype "Musterflugzeug 48/VN+DA" (s/n 390635), Deutsche Luftwaffe; Salzburg (Austria), during flight trials, May 1945 (Whif/Luft '46/Hobby Boss kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Some background:
The Heinkel He 162 Volksjäger ("People's Fighter"), the name of a project of the Emergency Fighter Program design competition, was a German single-engine, jet-powered fighter aircraft fielded by the Luftwaffe in World War II. It was designed and built quickly and made primarily of wood as metals were in very short supply and prioritised for other aircraft. Volksjäger was the Reich Air Ministry's official name for the government design program competition won by the He 162 design. Other names given to the plane include Salamander, which was the codename of its construction program, and Spatz ("Sparrow"), which was the official name given to the plane by Heinkel.

The official RLM Volksjäger design competition was issued 10 September 1944 and its parameters specified a single-seat fighter, powered by a single BMW 003, a slightly lower-thrust engine not in demand for either the Me 262 or the Ar 234, already in service. The main structure of the Volksjäger competing airframe designs would use cheap and unsophisticated parts made of wood and other non-strategic materials and, more importantly, could be assembled by semi- and non-skilled labor. Specifications included a weight of no more than 2,000 kg (4,400 lb), with maximum speed specified as 750 km/h (470 mph) at sea level, operational endurance at least a half hour, and the takeoff run no more than 500 m (1,640 ft). Armament was specified as either two 20 mm (0.79 in) MG 151/20 cannons with 100 rounds each, or two 30 mm (1.2 in) MK 108 cannons with 50 rounds each. The Volksjäger needed to be easy to fly. Some suggested even glider or student pilots should be able to fly the jet effectively in combat, and indeed had the Volksjäger gone into full production, and that is precisely what would have happened.

1:72 Heinkel He 162 C-0 (P.1073); 1st prototype "Musterflugzeug 48/VN+DA" (s/n 390635), Deutsche Luftwaffe; Salzburg (Austria), during flight trials, May 1945 (Whif/Luft '46/Hobby Boss kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Heinkel He 162 C-0 (P.1073); 1st prototype "Musterflugzeug 48/VN+DA" (s/n 390635), Deutsche Luftwaffe; Salzburg (Austria), during flight trials, May 1945 (Whif/Luft '46/Hobby Boss kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Heinkel He 162 C-0 (P.1073); 1st prototype "Musterflugzeug 48/VN+DA" (s/n 390635), Deutsche Luftwaffe; Salzburg (Austria), during flight trials, May 1945 (Whif/Luft '46/Hobby Boss kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The basic designs had to be returned within 10 days (!!!) and large-scale production was to start by 1 January 1945. Because the winner of the new lightweight fighter design competition would be building huge numbers of the planes, nearly every German aircraft manufacturer expressed interest in the project, such as Blohm & Voss, and Focke-Wulf, whose Focke-Wulf Volksjäger 1 design contender, likewise meant for BMW 003 turbojet power bore a resemblance to their slightly later Ta 183 Huckebein jet fighter design. However, Heinkel had already been working on a series of projects for light single-engine fighters over the last year under the designation P.1073, with most design work being completed by Professor Benz, and had gone so far as to build and test several models and conduct some wind tunnel testing.

Although some of the competing designs were technically superior, with Heinkel's head start the outcome was largely a foregone conclusion. The results of the competition were announced in October 1944, only three weeks after being announced, and to no one's surprise, the Heinkel entry was selected for production. In order to confuse Allied intelligence, the RLM chose to reuse the 8-162 airframe designation (formerly that of a Messerschmitt fast bomber) rather than the other considered designation He 500.

Heinkel had designed a relatively small, 'sporty'-looking aircraft, with a sleek, streamlined fuselage. Overall, the look of the plane was extremely modernistic for its time, appearing quite contemporary in terms of layout and angular arrangement even to today's eyes. The BMW 003 axial-flow turbojet was mounted in a pod nacelle uniquely situated atop the fuselage, just aft of the cockpit and centered directly over the wing's center section. Twin roughly rectangular vertical tailfins were perpendicularly mounted at the ends of highly dihedralled horizontal tailplanes – possessing dihedral of some 14º apiece – to clear the jet exhaust, a high-mounted straight wing (attached to the fuselage with just four bolts) with a forward-swept trailing edge and a noticeably marked degree of dihedral, with an ejection seat provided for the.
The He 162 airframe design featured an uncomplicated tricycle landing gear, that retracted into the fuselage, performed simply with extension springs, mechanical locks, cables and counterweights, and a minimum of any hydraulics employed in its design. Partly due to the late-war period it was designed within, some of the He 162's landing gear components were "recycled" existing landing gear components from a contemporary German military aircraft to save development time: the main landing gear's oleo struts and wheel/brake units came from the Messerschmitt Bf 109K, as well as the double-acting hydraulic cylinders, one per side, used to raise and lower each maingear leg.

1:72 Heinkel He 162 C-0 (P.1073); 1st prototype "Musterflugzeug 48/VN+DA" (s/n 390635), Deutsche Luftwaffe; Salzburg (Austria), during flight trials, May 1945 (Whif/Luft '46/Hobby Boss kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Heinkel He 162 C-0 (P.1073); 1st prototype "Musterflugzeug 48/VN+DA" (s/n 390635), Deutsche Luftwaffe; Salzburg (Austria), during flight trials, May 1945 (Whif/Luft '46/Hobby Boss kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Heinkel He 162 C-0 (P.1073); 1st prototype "Musterflugzeug 48/VN+DA" (s/n 390635), Deutsche Luftwaffe; Salzburg (Austria), during flight trials, May 1945 (Whif/Luft '46/Hobby Boss kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The He 162 V1 first prototype flew within an astoundingly short period of time: the design was chosen on 25 September 1944 and first flew on 6 December, less than 90 days later. This was despite the fact that the factory in Wuppertal making Tego film plywood glue — used in a substantial number of late-war German aviation designs whose airframes and/or major airframe components were meant to be constructed mostly from wood — had been bombed by the Royal Air Force and a replacement had to be quickly substituted, without realizing that the replacement adhesive was highly acidic and would disintegrate the wooden parts it was intended to be fastening.

The first flight of the He 162 was fairly successful, but during a high-speed run at 840 km/h (520 mph), the highly acidic replacement glue attaching the nose gear strut door failed and the pilot was forced to land. Other problems were noted as well, notably a pitch instability and problems with sideslip due to the rudder design. None were considered important enough to hold up the production schedule for even a day. On a second flight on 10 December, the glue again caused a structural failure. This allowed the aileron to separate from the wing, causing the plane to roll over and crash, killing the pilot.

An investigation into the failure revealed that the wing structure had to be strengthened and some redesign was needed, as the glue bonding required for the wood parts was in many cases defective. However, the schedule was so tight that testing was forced to continue with the current design. Speeds were limited to 500 km/h (310 mph) when the second prototype flew on 22 December. This time, the stability problems proved to be more serious, and were found to be related to Dutch roll, which could be solved by reducing the dihedral. However, with the plane supposed to enter production within weeks, there was no time to change the design. A number of small changes were made instead, including adding lead ballast to the nose to move the centre of gravity more to the front of the plane, and slightly increasing the size of the tail surfaces.

1:72 Heinkel He 162 C-0 (P.1073); 1st prototype "Musterflugzeug 48/VN+DA" (s/n 390635), Deutsche Luftwaffe; Salzburg (Austria), during flight trials, May 1945 (Whif/Luft '46/Hobby Boss kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Heinkel He 162 C-0 (P.1073); 1st prototype "Musterflugzeug 48/VN+DA" (s/n 390635), Deutsche Luftwaffe; Salzburg (Austria), during flight trials, May 1945 (Whif/Luft '46/Hobby Boss kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The third and fourth prototypes, which now used an "M" for "Muster" (model) number instead of "V" for "Versuchs" (experimental) number, as the He 162 M3 and M4, after being fitted with the strengthened wings, flew in mid-January 1945. These versions also included small, anhedraled aluminium "drooped" wingtips, reportedly designed by Alexander Lippisch, in an attempt to cure the stability problems via effectively "decreasing" the main wing panels' marked three degree dihedral angle. Both prototypes were equipped with two 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 108 cannons in the He 162 A-1 anti-bomber variant; in testing, the recoil from these guns proved to be too much for the lightweight fuselage to handle, and plans for production turned to the A-2 fighter with two 20 mm MG 151/20 cannons instead while a redesign for added strength started as the A-3. The shift to 20 mm guns was also undertaken because the smaller-calibre weapons would allow a much greater amount of ammunition to be carried.

Various changes had raised the weight over the original 2,000 kg (4,410 lb) limit, but even at 2,800 kg (6,170 lb), the aircraft was still among the fastest aircraft in the air with a maximum airspeed of 790 km/h (427 kn; 491 mph) at sea level and 839 km/h (453 kn; 521 mph) at 6,000 m (20,000 ft).
While still trying to optimize the basic He 162 A for production and frontline service, Heinkel was already working on improved variants, slated for production in 1946. Among these were the He 162 B, powered by Heinkel's own, more powerful 12 kN (2,700 lb) thrust Heinkel HeS 011A turbojet, with a stretched fuselage to provide more fuel and endurance as well as increased wingspan, with reduced dihedral which allowed the omission of the anhedral wingtip devices. Another, even more radical variant, was the He 162 C. It was based on the B-series longer fuselage and was to carry the stronger Heinkel HeS 011A engine, too, but it had totally different aerodynamic surfaces: swept-back, anhedraled outer wing panels with slats formed a gull wing and a new swept V-tail stabilizing surface assembly replaced the original twin-tail. The armament was also changed and was to consist of upward-aimed twin 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 108s as a Schräge Musik weapons fitment, located right behind the cockpit, with the option to add a 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon in an external fairing under the fuselage.

1:72 Heinkel He 162 C-0 (P.1073); 1st prototype "Musterflugzeug 48/VN+DA" (s/n 390635), Deutsche Luftwaffe; Salzburg (Austria), during flight trials, May 1945 (Whif/Luft '46/Hobby Boss kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Heinkel He 162 C-0 (P.1073); 1st prototype "Musterflugzeug 48/VN+DA" (s/n 390635), Deutsche Luftwaffe; Salzburg (Austria), during flight trials, May 1945 (Whif/Luft '46/Hobby Boss kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Heinkel He 162 C-0 (P.1073); 1st prototype "Musterflugzeug 48/VN+DA" (s/n 390635), Deutsche Luftwaffe; Salzburg (Austria), during flight trials, May 1945 (Whif/Luft '46/Hobby Boss kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

In order to test the new aerodynamic layout, a He 162 C prototype was converted from airframe 220023, the He 162 A prototype M35, which had been damaged through Allied bombings. The resulting He 162 C-0, how this interim type was called, received the new serial number 390635 and retained the short He 162 A airframe and its forward-firing armament, as well as the weaker BMW 003 engine (the HeS 011A turbojet was still on the horizon, after all).
To carry the new swept "C-wing", the fuselage was structurally altered and the wing attachment points were moved forward. The wings, which were still manufactured mostly from wood, were still held only by four bolts apiece. As a novelty, the new wings featured, thanks to a thicker profile, additional tanks inside of their inner portions which held some 325 litres (86 US gal), feeding by gravity into the main fuselage tank. Slats were also added for better staring and landing handling and to improve agility at lower speeds. The tail cone was also modified in order to carry the new butterfly tail, but the fuselage structure as well as the cockpit and the landing gear were taken over from the He 162 A.

The first He 162 C-0 (registered with the Stammkennzeichen VN+DA and designated "M48") made its successful maiden flight at Heinkel's production facility at Salzburg in Austria on 7th of May 1945. The initial flight tests, which only lasted two weeks, were positive. Esp. the handling and directional stability had improved in comparison with the rather trappy He 162 A, and despite the higher weight due to more fuel and the bigger wings, the He 162 C-0's performance was better than the He 162 A's. Beyond the better handling characteristics, top speed was slightly higher (plus 20 km/h or 15 mph) and the aircraft's endurance was almost doubled. Plans were made to replace the He 162 A soon on the production lines, but with the end of hostilities the He 162 C program was prematurely terminated. Two more prototypes (M49 and 50) were under construction at Salzburg when the Red Army arrived, and all airframes including the project's documentations were destroyed - probably by German engineers who tried to prevent them to fall into Allied hands.

1:72 Heinkel He 162 C-0 (P.1073); 1st prototype "Musterflugzeug 48/VN+DA" (s/n 390635), Deutsche Luftwaffe; Salzburg (Austria), during flight trials, May 1945 (Whif/Luft '46/Hobby Boss kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Heinkel He 162 C-0 (P.1073); 1st prototype "Musterflugzeug 48/VN+DA" (s/n 390635), Deutsche Luftwaffe; Salzburg (Austria), during flight trials, May 1945 (Whif/Luft '46/Hobby Boss kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

General characteristics:
Crew: 1, pilot
Length (incl. pitot): 10, 73 m (35 ft 1 1/2 in)
Wingspan: 8,17 m (26 ft 9 in)
Height: 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in)
Wing area: 16.4 m2 (177 sq ft)
Empty weight: 1.980 kg (4.361 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 3.500 kg (7.710 lb)
Fuel capacity of 1,020 litres (270 US gallons)

Powerplant:
1× BMW 003E-1 axial flow turbojet, rated at 7.85 kN (1,760 lbf)

Performance:
Maximum speed: 810 km/h (503 mph) at normal thrust at sea level;
865 km/h (537 mph) at 6000 m; using short burst of extra thrust
Range: 1.800 km (1.110 mi)
Service ceiling: 13.000 m (42.570 400 ft)
Rate of climb: 1.650 m/min (5.400 ft/min)

Armament (as flown):
2× 20 mm MG 151/20 autocannons with 120 RPG

1:72 Heinkel He 162 C-0 (P.1073); 1st prototype "Musterflugzeug 48/VN+DA" (s/n 390635), Deutsche Luftwaffe; Salzburg (Austria), during flight trials, May 1945 (Whif/Luft '46/Hobby Boss kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Heinkel He 162 C-0 (P.1073); 1st prototype "Musterflugzeug 48/VN+DA" (s/n 390635), Deutsche Luftwaffe; Salzburg (Austria), during flight trials, May 1945 (Whif/Luft '46/Hobby Boss kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

A nice and simple what-if/Luft '46 project, done in less than a week. And for the attempt to create a model of a paper project (beyond pure fantasy), I am happy with the result, the model comes pretty close to the drawings, even though noone can tell what a real prototype might have looked like.

PR19_Kit · July 24, 2020, 05:15:49 AM

Very nice indeed Thomas, and as you said, very 'German'.

zenrat · July 24, 2020, 05:19:54 AM

Nice work Dizz.
I might have made the woodgrain more obvious (using transfers maybe) but yours works well (at least, as you say, at first glance).
The contrast between the wooden wings and the metal/putty sections also works well.

NARSES2 · July 24, 2020, 06:49:28 AM

Quote from: zenrat on July 24, 2020, 05:19:54 AM
Nice work Dizz.
I might have made the woodgrain more obvious (using transfers maybe) but yours works well (at least, as you say, at first glance).
The contrast between the wooden wings and the metal/putty sections also works well.

That is really nice

I to particularly like the contrast between the wooden wings and the metal/putty sections. You can get "wood" transfers, particularly for WWI Albatross's but I think they are 1/48/1/32 scale. I can't find mine to check.

Dizzyfugu · July 24, 2020, 07:52:25 AM

Thanks a lot!

ChernayaAkula · July 24, 2020, 09:11:57 AM

Very nice!

You could put that in a display of actual Luftwaffe prototypes and very few would spot it as a what-if. I, for one, would've swallowed it hook, line and sinker, but I guess you could fool even people more into Luftwaffe stuff.