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Alexander Lippisch
Alexander Martin Lippisch (November 2, 1894 – February 11, 1976) was a German aeronautical engineer, a pioneer of aerodynamics who made important contributions to the understanding of tailless aircraft, delta wings and the ground effect, and also worked in the U.S. Within the Opel-RAK program, he was the designer of the world's first rocket-powered glider. He developed and conceptualized delta wing designs which functioned practically in supersonic delta wing fighter aircraft as well as in hang gliders. People he worked with continued the development of the delta wing and supersonic flight concepts over the 20th century. His most famous designs are the Messerschmitt Me 163 rocket-powered interceptorReitsch, H., 1955, The Sky My Kingdom, London: Biddles Limited, Guildford and King's Lynn, and the Dornier Aerodyne. Early life Lippisch was born in Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria. He later recalled that his interest in aviation began with a demonstration conducted by Orville Wright ...
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RRG Storch V
The RRG Storch V was the only member of Alexander Lippisch's Storch series of tailless aircraft to be powered. It flew successfully in the year 1929. Design and development Before the Storch V, Lippisch had designed only gliders, many of them tailless. The first of these, the Espenlaub E.2, was built by Espenlaub in 1922 but Lippisch, at RRG from 1925, did not return to the tailless layout until 1927. Development progressed with a series of the Storch models; with the Storch IV he achieved a fully controllable aircraft which flew well. The Storch V was essentially the Storch IV with a small pusher configuration engine added behind the pilot. The Storch V had a straight edged wing with about 17° of sweep on the leading edge and with only slight taper and dihedral. It was built around a plywood skinned D-box leading edge spar and a second spar near mid- chord and was fabric covered. Broad, lobate ailerons were hinged at right angles to the line of flight, protruding beyon ...
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Kingdom Of Bavaria
The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German Empire in 1871, the kingdom became a federated state of the new empire and was second in size, power, and wealth only to the leading state, the Kingdom of Prussia. The polity's foundation dates back to the ascension of prince-elector Maximilian IV Joseph of the House of Wittelsbach as King of Bavaria in 1805. The crown would go on being held by the Wittelsbachs until the kingdom came to an end in 1918. Most of the border of modern Germany's Free State of Bavaria were established after 1814 with the Treaty of Paris, in which the Kingdom of Bavaria ceded Tyrol and Vorarlberg to the Austrian Empire while receiving Aschaffenburg and Würzburg. In 1918, Bavaria became a republic after the German Revolution, and the kingdom was thus succeeded ...
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Canard (aeronautics)
In aeronautics, a canard is a wing configuration in which a small forewing or foreplane is placed forward of the main wing of a fixed-wing aircraft or a weapon. The term "canard" may be used to describe the aircraft itself, the wing configuration, or the foreplane.. Canard wings are also extensively used in guided missiles and smart bombs. The term "canard" arose from the appearance of the Santos-Dumont 14-bis of 1906, which was said to be reminiscent of a duck (''canard'' in French) with its neck stretched out in flight. Despite the use of a canard surface on the first powered aeroplane, the Wright Flyer of 1903, canard designs were not built in quantity until the appearance of the Saab Viggen jet fighter in 1967. The aerodynamics of the canard configuration are complex and require careful analysis. Rather than use the conventional tailplane configuration found on most aircraft, an aircraft designer may adopt the canard configuration to reduce the main wing loading, to better ...
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Max Valier
Max Valier (9 February 1895 – 17 May 1930) was an Austrian rocketry pioneer. He was a leading figure in the world's first large-scale rocket program, Opel-RAK, and helped found the German ''Verein für Raumschiffahrt'' (VfR – "Spaceflight Society") that would bring together many of the minds that would later make spaceflight a reality in the 20th century. Biography Valier was born in Bozen in the County of Tyrol (now South Tyrol) and in 1913 enrolled to study physics at the University of Innsbruck. He also trained as a machinist at a nearby factory. His studies were interrupted by the First World War, during which he served in the Austro-Hungarian army's air corps as an aerial observer. After the war, Valier did not return to his studies, but became a freelance science writer. In 1923, he read Hermann Oberth's landmark book '' Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen'' (''The Rocket into Interplanetary Space'') and was inspired to write a similar work to explain Oberth's ideas ...
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Fritz Von Opel
Fritz Adam Hermann von Opel (4 May 1899 – 8 April 1971) was a German rocket technology pioneer and automotive executive, nicknamed "Rocket-Fritz". He is remembered mostly for his spectacular demonstrations of rocket propulsion that earned him an important place in the history of aviation and spaceflight as head of the world's first large-scale rocket program, Opel-RAK. Fritz von Opel, known as Fritz Adam Hermann Opel until his father was ennobled in 1917, was the only son of Wilhelm von Opel and a grandson of Adam Opel, founder of the Opel company. Life and career Opel was born in Rüsselsheim. He studied at the Technische Universität Darmstadt and received his doctorate from the university. After graduation, he was made director of testing for the Opel company and also put in charge of publicity. Fritz von Opel was a grandson of Adam Opel and son of Wilhelm von Opel. His sister was Elinor von Opel, a cousin Georg von Opel. When his father Wilhelm was raised to hereditary n ...
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Lippisch Fafnir
The RRG Fafnir, named after the legendary dragon, was a single seat German high performance glider designed by Alexander Lippisch. It won the Rhön competition in 1931 and made several outstanding flights as well as setting a fashion for gull wings. Design and development Lippisch began the design of the influential Fafnir in 1929. Its refined design proved difficult to construct and the aircraft was only just ready for flight tests at the start of the 1930 Rhön competition on the Wasserkuppe. The Fafnir was not the first glider with a cantilever wing, for the Darmstadt Konsul had been built seven years earlier but a cantilever wing with an aspect ratio of almost 20 was exceptional. The single wing spar had to be deep for strength and Lippisch accommodated this by using the Göttingen 652 airfoil which is thick and strongly cambered, additionally providing lift at low speeds. The wing root was faired into the upper fuselage. The wing was straight tapered in plan to ellip ...
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Lippisch Wien
The Lippisch Wien was a high-performance glider designed by Alexander Lippisch in Germany in 1929. Owned and flown by Robert Kronfeld, it was one of the first sailplanes intended to exploit thermals. It set world records both for distance and altitude and demonstrated the practicality of long-distance cross-country flights. Design and development Robert Kronfield was the overall winner of the 1928 Rhön Gliding Competition flying the RRG (Rhon-Rossitten-Gesellschaft) Professor. To remain competitive with the latest designs coming from the German universities, he asked Alexander Lippisch, the Professor's designer, for an improved version with better performance and handling. Lippisch's response was an elegant sailplane that Kronfeld named Wien after his home town. The Wien kept the layout of the Professor, with pylon-mounted single-spar wings braced with faired struts, but the span was increased by 3.0 m (9 ft 10 in), raising the aspect ratio from 14 to 19 ...
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Rhön-Rossitten Gesellschaft
The Rhön-Rossitten Gesellschaft (RRG) or Rhön-Rossitten Society was a German gliding organization, the first one in the world that was officially recognised. The Rhön-Rossitten Gesellschaft was mainly responsible for establishing gliding as a sport, not only in Germany but eventually throughout the world. Because the Treaty of Versailles forbade any form of powered flight in Germany, many young pilots and aircraft designers turned to gliding as a sport. Under Oskar UrsinusReitsch, H., 1955, The Sky My Kingdom, London: Biddles Limited, Guildford and King's Lynn, and Theodore von Kármán, hobbyists and serious university study groups began building gliders. The first contest was held in 1920 on the mountain of the Wasserkuppe in the Rhön region of Hesse. While many of the entering designs were no more than kites and many of the 'flights' were no more than stumbles ending in a crash, Kármán and his team from the RWTH Aachen with their glider ''Schwarzer Teufel'' (Black Devil) ...
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Espenlaub E-2
Gottlob Espenlaub (25 October 1900 – 9 January 1972), nicknamed Espe, was an inventor who specialized in early types of aircraft, specifically gliders and rocket propulsion systems designed for them. He invented a number of different aircraft, focusing on tailless designs. Espenlaub co-founded the practice of aerotowing. Aeronautic career Espenlaub was born in Balzholz, since 1938 part of Beuren. As a young man Espenlaub served as a joiner to aircraft builders. He helped Alexander Lippisch to build a style of glider in 1921 according to Lippisch's designs. The glider was subsequently dubbed the Lippisch-Espenlaub E-2 glider, due to Espenlaub's participation in its creation. Espenlaub began building his own rocket propelled gliders in 1928, conducting his first rocket test on October 22, 1929. His rocket glider for this test was dubbed the RAK-3 and it featured missiles attached to the wings. During the flight, these missiles caught the tail on fire, forcing an early lan ...
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Gottlob Espenlaub
Gottlob Espenlaub (25 October 1900 – 9 January 1972), nicknamed Espe, was an inventor who specialized in early types of aircraft, specifically gliders and rocket propulsion systems designed for them. He invented a number of different aircraft, focusing on tailless designs. Espenlaub co-founded the practice of aerotowing. Aeronautic career Espenlaub was born in Balzholz, since 1938 part of Beuren. As a young man Espenlaub served as a joiner to aircraft builders. He helped Alexander Lippisch to build a style of glider in 1921 according to Lippisch's designs. The glider was subsequently dubbed the Lippisch-Espenlaub E-2 glider, due to Espenlaub's participation in its creation. Espenlaub began building his own rocket propelled gliders in 1928, conducting his first rocket test on October 22, 1929. His rocket glider for this test was dubbed the RAK-3 and it featured missiles attached to the wings. During the flight, these missiles caught the tail on fire, forcing an early lan ...
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Luftschiffbau Zeppelin
Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH is a German aircraft manufacturing company. It is perhaps best known for its leading role in the design and manufacture of rigid airships, commonly referred to as ''Zeppelins'' due to the company's prominence. The name 'Luftschiffbau' is a German word meaning ''building of airships''. The company was founded by Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in 1908 as a formal entity to continue advancing his pioneering research into rigid airships. ''Luftschiffbau Zeppelin'' became the leading manufacturer in the field of large lighter-than-air vehicles; its products were used in both military and civilian capacities. The firm founded DELAG, the world's first airline to use an aircraft in revenue service, in 1909 on the back of public interest and using its own airships. During the First World War, Zeppelins were employed as the first long distance strategic bombers, launching numerous raids upon Belgium, France, and the United Kingdom. Following Count von Zeppelin's ...
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World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fighting occurring throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific, and parts of Asia. An estimated 9 million soldiers were killed in combat, plus another 23 million wounded, while 5 million civilians died as a result of military action, hunger, and disease. Millions more died in genocides within the Ottoman Empire and in the 1918 influenza pandemic, which was exacerbated by the movement of combatants during the war. Prior to 1914, the European great powers were divided between the Triple Entente (comprising France, Russia, and Britain) and the Triple Alliance (containing Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy). Tensions in the Balkans came to a head on 28 June 1914, following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdin ...
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