During the prototype He 162A-0’s second test flight in December, this flaw caused the ailerons to fly off, leading to a fatal crash. However, the cheap acidic glue holding the components together tended to eat through the plywood components. However, to cut manufacturing costs, the so-called Volksjäger -“People’s Fighter”-used primarily wooden components, designed to be simple enough to assemble using unskilled and slave labor. It was the first operational jet fighter to feature an ejection seat, using an explosive cartridge under the pilot’s chair to blast him out of the cockpit, as well as the the only single-engine Axis plane that had tricycle landing gear (a third wheel under the nose). Unconventionally, a single BMW-003E axial-flow turbojet motor was mounted on top of the fuselage, level with the wings. The bubble-canopied He 162 was actually an appealing-looking plane, built low to the ground like a racer, with both its stubby wings and twin-finned horizontal tail planes canted upward. In just a month in a half, it managed to produce a prototype-slated to begin production just one month later! Though Heinkel was most famous in World War II for its He 111 bombers, the firm had in fact built the first operational jet plane ever, the He 178, as well as an unsuccessful competitor to the Me 262, the He 280. However, in October 1944, the Heinkel He 162 was selected for production. There were also bizarre “miniature fighters” deployed from bombers, in which the pilot had to lay on his belly. Others exhibited a wanton disregard for the pilot’s life, including several expendable manned rockets launched from vertical rails like a missile. Many of the proposals submitted to the program reeked of desperation, such as using towed gliders to attack bomber formations.
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