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History[]

Heinkel He-162 A-2, Werk Nr 120077, was built in February/March of 1945 at the Heinkel Aircraft Factory at Rostock/Marienehe. The He-162 was then assigned in April 1945 to II./JG1 "Oesau" at Leck Airfield in Holstein, Germany and was assigned the code number "Red 1".

In May 1945, "Red 1", along with the rest of JG1's aircraft was captured by the British forces at Leck Airfield. "Red 1" was among the three He 162's that were selected by Col. Watson for Operation LUSTY and the three subsequently went to Cherbourg, France to be shipped to the United States. They were then loaded aboard the liberty ship "Richard J. Gatling",[2] along with a large amount of captured German material and shipped to the United States, arriving at New York Harbor sometime in late July/early Aug. 1945. Shortly after arriving in Newark, New Jersey, "Red 1" was transferred to Freeman Field in Indiana and assigned the captured aircraft code number FE-489.[3] and the aircraft was extensively evaluated.

By 24 July 1946, it had been refurbished and transferred from Freeman Field to Muroc Flight Test Base (currently Edwards AFB) for flight test, where it was flown in 1946 as T2-489.

After testing was completed by the Air Force, "Red 1" went to the University of Kansas, Lawrence.

It was sold to Eddie Fischer 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 Museum's current home in Chino, California, for permanent display.[4]

In September 2011, it was reported that this aircraft had been purchased by a German museum.[5] However, this appears to have fallen through as, according to the 29 January 2015 update to the Luftwaffe Warplanes survivors website, this aircraft is still with the Planes of Fame Museum, Chino, California.[3]

References[]

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