HE-162Z VOLKSZWILLING
Spring 1946:
Upon arrival at the newly re-formed ZG-1, Major Emil Demuth (formerly of JG-1) strolled around his new mount thinking to himself that this was a beast of an aircraft for two engines. The possibility of one engine flight in this monster was doubtful at best, even though the BMW 003 had finally had most of the bugs worked out of it.
He did, however, like the looks of the upgraded main armament. He had always felt that the He-162 A series was too lightly armed to be much use in the bomber attack mission. This was especially the case when the USAAF Convair B-36s first appeared over the continent.
On more than one occasion, he had run out of ammunition for his twin MG-151s while raking the B-36s from tail to nose with apparently null effect on the lumbering monster.
The He-162Z's four MG-151and two MK-108 armament would even the odds considerably. Speed was now on the side of the Zerstörer squadrons, as the introduction of jets into the niche made up for the aircrafts’ former lack of maneuverability.
It was this lack of maneuverability, which saw ZG-1 decimated by single-engine escort fighters in late 1944.
The He-162Z had proven itself to be faster and more maneuverable than the contemporary Gloster Meteor II, although the pilot had to have his wits about him if a Lockheed P-80B were encountered. Jet escort fighters were not a concern at the present moment, as they still had insufficient range to escort the B-36's from
As Major Demuth completed his walk-around, a Kette of He-162Z's scrambled to intercept the B-36's inbound from their
He would be joining them soon………
~ Text correction and modification by Rob Arndt
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