Felix Kracht (born 13 May 1912 in

Krefeld Krefeld ( , ; li, Krieëvel ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, i ...

; died 3 October 2002 in Weyhe) was a German engineer. After graduating from the Technical University of Aachen, he put his theoretical knowledge into practice at the aeronautical association

Flugwissenschaftliche Vereinigung Aachen Flugwissenschaftliche Vereinigung Aachen ( abbreviation: FVA, en, Flight Research Association Aachen) is a non-profit organization, founded in 1920, which is closely associated to RWTH Aachen University (''Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische H ...

(FVA) by building the performance glider FVA-10 "Rheinland". Kracht made a name for himself when in 1937 he crossed the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Swi ...

in this aircraft. He was sent to

Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug The ''Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug'' (), or DFS , was formed in 1933 to centralise all gliding activity in Germany, under the directorship of Professor Walter Georgii. It was formed by the nationalisation of the Rhön-Rossitten G ...

where he developed the DFS 228 glider and the experimental

DFS 346 The DFS 346 (''Samolyot 346'') was a German rocket-powered swept-wing aircraft which began development during World War II in Germany. It was designed by Felix Kracht at the ''Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug'' (DFS), the "German Ins ...

rocket-powered airplane. After the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, he went on to work in France with

Nord Aviation Nord-Aviation ( en, Northern Aviation) was a state-owned French aircraft manufacturer. The bulk of its facilities were based on the site of Bourges airport, in the département of Cher, in central France. On 1 October 1954, Nord Aviation was cr ...

before moving back to Germany to head Deutsche Airbus GmbH. Before joining Airbus he was especially known for co-ordinating French and German work on the

Transall C-160 The Transall C-160 is a military transport aircraft, produced as a joint venture between France and Germany. "Transall" is an abbreviation of the manufacturing consortium Transporter Allianz, comprising the companies of MBB, Aerospatiale, and ...

military transport aircraft. Felix Kracht joined the Airbus organisation in 1968 and was

Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: ' ...

' first production director on the A300 programme. He focused on harnessing a broad selection of skills, eliminating redundancies, promoting trans-national collaboration and optimising a unique industrial organisation. Later he became the Senior Vice President and was responsible for production at the Toulouse site until his retirement in 1981. After his retirement, he often acted as an advisor to Airbus. He died on Thursday 3 October 2002, at the age of 90 at Kirchweyhe near Bremen.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kracht, Felix 1912 births 2002 deaths German aerospace engineers Engineers from Krefeld Airbus people Aviation pioneers Glider pilots