Attention Luftwaffe Experts... He162 Color Help needed

Crimea River · December 30, 2021

Getting back to the the original post regarding the colours of He162 White 4, The Roger Gaemperle book "Captured Eagles Vol. 1" has a good description of this particular bird as well as 4 photos that I have not seen posted online elsewhere. Some notes from that document:

- The assertion that 120067 was an "early" He162 would seem relative since the first flight of a Rostock-produced He162 was on January 14, 1945.

- 120068, a close sister to our subject bird, was flight tested on March 29, 1945 and was then ferried to I/JG1 at Ludwigslust on April 8. It's suggested that 120067 was ferried there at the same time.

- 120067 ended up in American hands after transfers from the British though how it got to Kassel, where many of the extant pics were taken, is not known. White 4, along with at least 4 other He162's had "probably been disassembled and then transported to Kassel by ground. When they were reassembled, White 4 received the wing and tail of one or two other He162s."

- Gaemperle says that White 4's wing was shipped to the US and then photographed on Yellow 7, W. Nr. 120222.

- The tail attached to White 4 was mostly natural metal with some portions primed only, probably in 02.

- Gaemperle acknowledges that colour variations are probable but that the camouflage of White 4 "appears to have been to a great extent in accordance with Oberflachenschultzliste 8-162." (i.e. 81/82 over 76)

- A photo of White 4 at Leck shows the "festooned" camouflage demarcation on the wingtips. Later photos at Kassel showed different wingtips.

- Two side profiles by Simon Schatz are provided. One is from the starboard side at Leck showing a Braunviolet 81 tail with a white 120067 W. Nr. The other profile shows White 4 as it appears at Kassel with the uncamouflaged tail and different wings.

- The right rear engine cowl, as seen at Kassel, had a crudely hand painted "120067", thought to have been placed there by Allied ground personnel prior to disassembly.

There is further discussion about the stenciling and the colours of the JG1 Wappen that I can get into if desired but, to summarize, Schatz's interpretation of the colours shows the fuselage painted in 82 over 76, the engine cowl in 81 Braunviolet. The wingtips appear to be 82 in both views. Presumably, the opposite wing in each case would be in 81 if the directive was closely followed. So, two versions of this bird are supported by photos - one as it appears at Leck with the known W.Nr on the tail and the other as it appears at Kassel after having been slapped back together with a mixture of parts.

Vonbraun · December 31, 2021

Here is a shot of a JG 1 machine in the US after the war...

Power egg looks to me like RLM 81, vertical fin and forward fuselage RLM 76, gear door 65? The upper fuselage could be RLM 71 or 71/ 81 combo or? Wing tip looks like RLM 71 or ?

Ben Brown · December 31, 2021

9 hours ago, Vonbraun said:

Power egg looks to me like RLM 81, vertical fin and forward fuselage RLM 76, gear door 65? The upper fuselage could be RLM 71 or 71/ 81 combo or? Wing tip looks like RLM 71 or ?

I've read in at least one source that the gear doors could be RLM 65.

Also, several sources say the ailerons were 81 on both sides, since they were interchangeable left and right. White 23 looks like the undersides are painted the same as the undersides of the wings. I haven't found any photos where the lower sides of the ailerons appeared to be anything but 76.

Ben

Jochen Barett · January 2, 2022

Another offer found her http://memorial.flight.free.fr/He162uk.html (looks a little like Leck, 1st on the left line of the line-up, Werk-Nr almost discernable, red arrow darkish):

http://memorial.flight.free.fr/gallery/he162/nb.jpg