If it can be said that adversity generates creativity, then the story of the Heinkel He 162 jet fighter is testimony to such a precept. From the summer of 1944, the adversity facing the leadership of the Third Reich was formidable. Ironically however, the very existence of such adversity prompted many inventive and radical designs for the prosecution of the air defence of the Reich on a determined and even manic scale.In the closing months of the war, at a time the Allies had assumed that they had mastered the Luftwaffe jet menace, the combined efforts of a leading German aircraft manufacturer - Ernst Heinkel AG - and a small team of dedicated civilian and military specialists achieved an almost unbelievable feat: the production of a new, jet-powered interceptor from concept, through development and testing, to operational readiness in just six months. The accomplishment of the so-called Volksj-r (the `People''s Fighter'') project was - and still is - regarded as a `miracle of producti
