WHEN talk of national service returned to public conversation, there was a measure of excitement that teenagers and young adults would be doing military-derived activities.
Having said that, it would be safe to think that flying jet aircraft would not be something included in any modern-day national service programme anywhere in the world.
However, it has been claimed over the years that the Germans once came up with a state-of-the-art jet fighter with the aim that it could be flown by 18-year-old youths with a minimum of training.
Is this true?
VERDICT:
TRUE
Yes, this is actually true.
The aircraft in question is the Heinkel 162 Volksjager - which means “people's fighter” - and the reason why 18-year-old Hitler Youth members were being considered as pilots for what was then the very latest in aviation technology was sheer desperation.
As stated in the explanation of the aircraft by the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, the Volksjager's specifications were laid down by then-Nazi Germany's Reich Air Ministry in Sept 1944 as an “emergency, lightweight fighter” powered by a single jet engine.
Indeed, the Museum adds that “National Socialist ideology profoundly influenced another design criteria. The jet had to be so simple to operate that teenage Hitler Youth pilots could fly into combat after rudimentary training.”
This is something remarkable as up to this point jet engine-powered aircraft were generally reserved for combat veterans, especially elite aces – even those with wings made of wood like the Heinkel 162.
With that said, did teenagers get into the cockpits of these emergency, lightweight fighters to stem the tide and stop the oncoming Allied armies? The answer is no, and the Air and Space Museum explains why.
“Numerous technical and design problems were apparent and the prototype crashed four days later. Pilots mastered some of its nasty habits but the jet would always be a difficult, even dangerous, aircraft to fly, even for experienced pilots,” it said.
“Had the Luftwaffe fielded Hitler Youth squadrons flying the He 162, takeoff and landing would have killed as many pilots as combat. One of the central concepts of the program thus proved illusory,” added the Museum.
SOURCES:
https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/heinkel-he-162-2-spatz-sparrow/nasm_A19600321000
https://warisboring.com/the-wooden-nazi-jet-designed-to-be-flown-by-teenagers/
