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Description
In 1944, an increasingly insecure and desperate Nazi Luftwaffe created the Emergency Fighter Program to develop new fighter planes to intercept Allied bombers over Germany. To the extent that any of these planes succeeded, the most successful design was the Heinkel He 162 Volksjaeger (people's fighter), a single-engine jet fighter. It was designed and built in only three months, first tested in December 1944, and accepted into service in early 1945. The top-mounted BMW 003 jet engine could theoretically take the Volksjaeger to 550 miles per hour, but problems with the German aircraft industry and the construction quality of the airframes made the plane prone to breaking down or disintegrating in flight, and only 200 planes were actually built. The Volksjaeger saw very limited use with the fuel-starved Luftwaffe, only scoring two unconfirmed kills. He 162A-2 "Red 2," which was armed with two 20mm cannons, was surrendered from fighter wing JG 1 "Oesau" to the Royal Air Force in May 1945. Registered by the Air Ministry as VN679, Red 2 is now on display at the RAF Hendon Museum in London.

Description
In 1944, an increasingly insecure and desperate Nazi Luftwaffe created the Emergency Fighter Program to develop new fighter planes to intercept Allied bombers over Germany. To the extent that any of these planes succeeded, the most successful design was the Heinkel He 162 Volksjaeger (people's fighter), a single-engine jet fighter. It was designed and built in only three months, first tested in December 1944, and accepted into service in early 1945. The top-mounted BMW 003 jet engine could theoretically take the Volksjaeger to 550 miles per hour, but problems with the German aircraft industry and the construction quality of the airframes made the plane prone to breaking down or disintegrating in flight, and only 200 planes were actually built. The Volksjaeger saw very limited use with the fuel-starved Luftwaffe, only scoring two unconfirmed kills. He 162A-2 "Red 2," which was armed with two 20mm cannons, was surrendered from fighter wing JG 1 "Oesau" to the Royal Air Force in May 1945. Registered by the Air Ministry as VN679, Red 2 is now on display at the RAF Hendon Museum in London.