The He-162 Volksjaeger has long been a popular model subject with great kits in all popular scales from Tamiya to Revell to Trimaster. It is an interesting plane and now we have an excellent book documenting the development to deployment to the end of the small jet fighter. Written by Robert Forsyth and Eddie J. Creek, this is a wonderful book with great profiles, pictures and information on the He-162.

The chapter breakdown is as follows:

• Chapter One - A Shot in the Dark
  • Volksjaeger- the Peoples Fighter
• Chapter Two - Blitz! Blitz!
  • From Drawing Board to Deployment
  • Flying the He-162
  • Anatomy of the He-162
• Chapter Three - Deployment
  • The He-162 and Jagdgeschwader 1- February to May 1945
  • Line-Up at Leck- May 1945
• Chapter Four - Eleventh Hour Exotica
  • Pulsejet Engines, Special Weapons and Mistel Projects
• Chapter Five - Falling Leaf
  • Allied Testing, Assessment and Further Development
• Appendix 1 - Specification and Performance Tables
• Appendix 2 - Identified He 162 Werk Number List

As you can see, this book covers the soup to nuts. I found the initial history of the plane being planned as a last gasp with higher speed than the Me-262 up to 0.94 Mach and flyable with quickly trained Hitler youth. None of this is realistic but fanaticism can do that and the discussion around this is fascinating.

The Blitz chapter is an in-depth coverage of the production of the plane including assembly line methods, plants the parts would be made in, and various trials though, such as forward swept wings, a V-tail and others. There are stories of the test pilot including dramatic footage of Lt. Kudicke’s plane coming apart in midair on a test flight. There are lots of detail pictures of the gun sight, cockpit plus the anatomy of the entire plane. This is great for modelers.

Chapter Three on deployment covers many profiles of specific planes and actual pictures of those planes. These are great tools for modelers also - there are color schemes that can be duplicated. There are also great airfield shots as well as the pilots.

Chapters Four and Five cover the end of the line for the little fighter. The plans for the exotic were even more panicky than the plane itself. Things like pulse jets (due to shortages of jet engines), rockets instead of guns, and other bizarre things. Chapter Five covers after the end including captured aircraft and review.

This is a fantastic book and great for collectors and modelers alike. It covers everything you need to know and illustrates it extremely well. Most highly recommended. My thanks to Classic and Casemate for making the book and providing the review sample.