From the summer of 1944, the adversity facing the leadership of the Third Reich was formidable. Ironically, the very existence of such adversity prompted many inventive designs for the air defense of the Reich on a determined and even manic scale. The pinnacle of these accomplishments was the so-called Volksjäger (the 'People's Fighter') project, which was, and still is, regarded as a miracle of production. Created in desperation by the Nazi leadership in mid-1944, and powered by a BMW turbojet, the He 162 was known to its pilots as the 'Spatz' (the 'Sparrow'). It represented an unprecedented aeronautical and engineering achievement, with the aircraft going from drawing board to prototype flight in just three months, often at considerable human cost.
In this book, aviation historians Robert Forsyth and Eddie J. Creek draw on hundreds of previously unpublished Heinkel company papers to offer a unique insight into the workings of the Nazi production system in the late-war period, as well as other German and Allied documents. Their work is supported by many rare photographs, line drawings, facsimile documents, and highly detailed color artwork by He 162 specialist Simon Schatz. This is the first major history of the Heinkel He 162 Spatz published in the English language.

From the summer of 1944, the adversity facing the leadership of the Third Reich was formidable. Ironically, the very existence of such adversity prompted many inventive designs for the air defense of the Reich on a determined and even manic scale. The pinnacle of these accomplishments was the so-called Volksjäger (the 'People's Fighter') project, which was, and still is, regarded as a miracle of production. Created in desperation by the Nazi leadership in mid-1944, and powered by a BMW turbojet, the He 162 was known to its pilots as the 'Spatz' (the 'Sparrow'). It represented an unprecedented aeronautical and engineering achievement, with the aircraft going from drawing board to prototype flight in just three months, often at considerable human cost.
In this book, aviation historians Robert Forsyth and Eddie J. Creek draw on hundreds of previously unpublished Heinkel company papers to offer a unique insight into the workings of the Nazi production system in the late-war period, as well as other German and Allied documents. Their work is supported by many rare photographs, line drawings, facsimile documents, and highly detailed color artwork by He 162 specialist Simon Schatz. This is the first major history of the Heinkel He 162 Spatz published in the English language.