The Gerhard Fieseler Werke (GFW) in

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...

was a German

aircraft manufacturer An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, or spacecraft. Aerospace is a high technology industry. ...

of the 1930s and 1940s. The company is remembered mostly for its military aircraft built for the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

during the

Second World War 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 opposin ...

History

The firm was founded on April 1, 1930 as Fieseler Flugzeugbau Kassel by

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 fightin ...

flying ace and

aerobatic Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aerial" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and glid ...

champion

Gerhard Fieseler Gerhard Fieseler (15 April 1896 – 1 September 1987) was a German World War I flying ace, aerobatics champion, and aircraft designer and manufacturer. From birth to the 1918 armistice Born in Glesch (near Cologne), Fieseler joined the Air Serv ...

. Fieseler had been a manager for the

Raab-Katzenstein Raab-Katzenstein was a 1920s German aircraft manufacturer based in Kassel. History The main character of the company was its designer Gerhard Fieseler. Following World War I, he returned to printing, but yearned to return to flying. In 1926, he c ...

, but when this company went bankrupt, Fieseler bought a

sailplane A glider or sailplane is a type of glider aircraft used in the leisure activity and sport of gliding (also called soaring). This unpowered aircraft can use naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to gain altitude. Sailplan ...

factory in Kassel and quickly turned it to building sports planes. At the same time, Fieseler still custom-built sailplanes for some of Germany's most prominent designers and pilots, including

Wolf Hirth Wolfram Kurt Erhard Hirth (28 February 1900 – 25 July 1959) was a German gliding pioneer and sailplane designer. He was a co-founder of Schempp-Hirth, still a renowned glider manufacturer.Segelflugbildkalendar 2011 Hirth was born in Stuttgart, ...

's "Musterle" and

Robert Kronfeld Squadron Leader Robert Kronfeld, AFC (5 May 1904 – 12 February 1948) was an Austrian-born gliding champion and sailplane designer of the 1920s and 30s. He became a British subject and an RAF test pilot. He was killed testing a glider in 1948. ...

's "Wien" and "Austria" (for many years the largest sailplane ever built). In 1934, the company achieved prominence when Fieseler won the World Aerobatics Championship in an aircraft his company had built, the F2 Tiger. This was followed by the highly successful F5, generally regarded as a classic among sports planes. Even greater success was to follow in 1936 when an aircraft of Fieseler's own design won a tender over aircraft from both

Messerschmitt Messerschmitt AG () was a German share-ownership limited, aircraft manufacturing corporation named after its chief designer Willy Messerschmitt from mid-July 1938 onwards, and known primarily for its World War II fighter aircraft, in partic ...

and

Siebel Siebel was a German aircraft manufacturer founded in 1937 in Halle an der Saale.Gunston p.424 History It originated in the Klemm-Flugzeugwerke Halle that had been founded in 1934 as a branch of Leichtflugzeugbau Klemm in Böblingen. Its name ...

for a new

STOL A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a conventional fixed-wing aircraft that has short runway requirements for takeoff and landing. Many STOL-designed aircraft also feature various arrangements for use on airstrips with harsh conditio ...

observation and liaison aircraft for the ''

''. It was designated the

Fieseler Fi 156 The Fieseler Fi 156 ''Storch'' (, " stork") was a German liaison aircraft built by Fieseler before and during World War II. Production continued in other countries into the 1950s for the private market. It was notable for its excellent short fi ...

''Storch'' (Stork), and the company would produce over 3,000 during World War II. In 1937 Fieseler also produced the

Fieseler Fi 253 The Fieseler Fi 253 Spatz, (English: ''Sparrow''), was a light civilian aircraft, manufactured by the German company Fieseler in Nazi Germany. Only six units were produced, however, due to the Second World War. Development In January 1937 Major W ...

. On April 1, 1939 the company name changed to the Gerhard Fieseler Werke GmbH. Fieseler's other wartime production would largely consist of building other firms' aircraft under licence, including the

Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...

and

Focke-Wulf Fw 190 The Focke-Wulf Fw 190, nicknamed ''Würger'' (" Shrike") is a German single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank at Focke-Wulf in the late 1930s and widely used during World War II. Along with its well-known counterpart, ...

. In 1941 however, a Fieseler project for an unpiloted flying bomb (Fi 103) attracted the attention of the RLM (''

Reichsluftfahrtministerium The Ministry of Aviation (german: Reichsluftfahrtministerium, abbreviated RLM) was a government department during the period of Nazi Germany (1933–45). It is also the original name of the Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus building on the Wilhelmstrasse ...

'' - "Reich Aviation Ministry"). This went into production as the Fieseler FZG-76 (''flakzielgerät'', antiaircraft targeting device), better known as the

V-1 V1, V01 or V-1 can refer to version one (for anything) (e.g., see version control) V1, V01 or V-1 may also refer to: In aircraft * V-1 flying bomb, a World War II German weapon * V1 speed, the maximum speed at which an aircraft pilot may abort ...

. The Fieseler factory was the target of many Allied air raids, but continued production throughout the war. Following the War, part of the factory continued in business for a few years, producing automotive components. Its most famous products, the Storch and the V1, continued to be produced by foreign companies.

Aircraft

Fieseler aircraft included: * F2 Tiger acrobatic sportsplane, 1932 * F3 ''Wespe'' (Wasp) experimental flying wing, ca. 1931 * F5 acrobatic sportsplane + trainer, 1933 * Fi 97, competition and touring monoplane, 1934 * Fi 98, biplane fighter, 1936 * Fi 99, sport aircraft, * Fi 103 (V-1) * Fi 103 Reichenberg, piloted version of V-1 * Fi 156 ''Storch'' (Stork), STOL reconnaissance aircraft * Fi 157, unmanned anti-aircraft target drone * Fi 158, research aircraft * Fi 166, vertical launched jet fighter * Fi 167, ship-borne torpedo bomber and reconnaissance biplane * Fi 168, ground-attack aircraft *

Fi 253 The Fieseler Fi 253 Spatz, (English: ''Sparrow''), was a light civilian aircraft, manufactured by the German company Fieseler in Nazi Germany. Only six units were produced, however, due to the Second World War. Development In January 1937 Major W ...

, sport aircraft, * Fi 333 transport (concept)

Gliders

Kassel 12 __NOTOC__ The Kassel 12 was a German glider (aircraft), glider used for training, developed in the 1920s. It was a minimalist design with the Aviator, pilot sitting atop a tapered wooden structure that supported a high wing on a set of struts, a ...

, training glider,

References

{{Fieseler aircraft Defunct aircraft manufacturers of Germany

History

Aircraft

Gliders

See also

References