Casemate Publishing

Heinkel HE-162 "Volksjäger" Last-Ditch Effort by the Luftwaffe

by  Peter Müller

Reviewed By  Floyd S. Werner, Jr., IPMS# 26266

MSRP: $89.00 ISBN: 3-978-3-952-2968-1-3 Website: www.casematepublishing.com The He-162 Volksjäger was developed late in the war and in such a hurry that it is amazing that it was ever produced considering the chaotic war situation. This hardbound book features 430 pages of the history, development and basically everything He-162. The book is written from the historical perspective and when capable provides copies of the actual war time documents for you to look over. This is great unless, like me, you don't read German. English translations are provided for the most helpful documents. The primary focus is on the development, procurement and manufacture of the Heinkel utilizing original documents and statements. This provides a unique glimpse into the war time attitude and capability of the armament industry inside of Germany. It is interesting to see the progress of the development of the He-162 from a drawing board to the final production version and beyond. The text is easy to read and because of the inclusion of the original documents is quite fast. The 140 photos are well produced, if somewhat small. There are some new photos, especially from the production standpoint. Also included are 30 color plates showing the wide variety of paint schemes in Brown Violet (RLM 81) and Dark Green (RLM 82) applied to the Heinkel. Of especially interest is the one segmented paint scheme that I had never seen before.

There is a chapter devoted to the He-162 in action. I've heard of the one claim but I was unaware that there were at least two He-162s shot down. In this section the pilot's manual is also included. The He-162 pilot had very little information and a pilot nowadays would be able to fly the He-162 provided they could get someone to loan them one. There are 50 scale drawings which cover every aspect of the He-162 including the prototypes and the proposed versions. These are represented in 1/72nd scale so they will be particularly helpful for the modeler. The book while well written is designed primarily for the historian. The model builder will find really good information and the color plates are quite nice. The question will come down to the cost. If you love the He-162 or are a Luftwaffe historian I'd say yes, definitely worth it. As a model builder I think there are less expensive resources available. Recommended. Thanks to Casemate for the review copy. You can receive your copy by contacting them at http://www.casematepublishing.com/ . Let them know you read about it here at IPMS/USA.