You've identified some of the reasons that made it a bad idea at the time. In a broader sense it was yet one more example of the Nazis dispersing their available resources on too many projects, rather than focusing on a proven few. This was especially unwise with a project that was so leading-edge at the time - those are the ones you rush at your greatest peril, as your faulty construction examples illustrate. The notion that it would be flown by Hitler Youth (or at least by large numbers of pilots with minimal training) was central to the concept. Otherwise there was already a well-tested jet that the veterans were flying.
- oldman
You've got it all wrong there Oldman. The 162 WAS the improvement on the trusted and tested platform.
Look at the 110s, look at the 410s, the twin engine fighters didn't get as much a boost from that second engine, yet required much more resources, money, and engines to build for the same number of airframes. They all ended up heavier, slower, and less manuverable than the single engine counterparts that were winning the war.
With Germany's resources stretched so thin, producing jet engines with the rare metal in them that can withstand the forces needed was a strain to meet 262 and other jet needs. It was quite logical to take that 262 design, retain the top speed, add manuverability, make it smaller, more nimble, oh, and use only 1/2 the engines (allowing 2x the airframes to fill the sky for the same number of limited engines).
It was the next step forward.
As an aside, there were actually supposedly 2 hitler youth units training and gearing up on the 162, along with the 2 actual Luftwaffe units, but records to verify this are sketchy as records were burned in mass bonfires in the streets as Berlin was being invaded.
