Heinkel He-162 Salamander Red 1
The Air Museum’s Heinkel HE-162 was built in February of 1945 at the Heinkel aircraft factory at Rostock Marienehe a.k.a. Heinkel North. 120077’s first assignment was in April 1945 to II/JG-1 “Oesau” based at Leck airfield in Holstein, Germany, being assigned squadron identifier “Red 1”. One of Red 1’s known pilot’s was Gerhard Hanf.
Red 1
In May 1945, Red 1 was captured at Leck Air Base and subsequently went to Cherbourg, France to be shipped to the United States aboard H.M.S. Reaper in July 1945 arriving shortly after in Newark, New Jersey. Red 1 was then transferred to Freeman field in Indiana was assigned the captured aircraft code FE-489 which was later changed to T-2-489 and the aircraft was extensively evaluated.
n 1946, Red 1 was transferred to Muroc Dry Lake Test Base, currently Edwards Air Force Base, and was flown one time by Air Force pilot, then Lt. Bob Hoover. Hoover was later quoted as saying about the Heinkel162, “ It was a very remarkable airplane from the viewpoint of non-strategic materials”. “It went about 350 m.p.h.. and it took both hands to fly it because they didn’t have any boost in those days and the aerodynamic forces would stiffen up the controls to where you were hardly maneuverable but it would go like heck”.
“Nerve stealer”
At some time in its history, Red 1 received the nickname “ Nervenklau” which in German slang translates to “nerve stealer”.
In 1947, after testing was completed by the Air Force, Red 1 went to the University of Kansas at Lawrence, Kansas where it stayed for a year before being acquired by Eddie Fisher of Kansas City, Kansas in 1948. In the 1950’s Red 1 was obtained by Ed Maloney for The Air Museum Planes of Fame and was displayed in Claremont, Ontario and finally at the museums current location in Chino, California. Red 1 may be viewed in the Tom Friedkin hangar in the Planes of Fame facility in Chino, California.
