Friedrich Harth (Born 1880 in
Zentbechhofen, - died 1936) was a German glider pioneer. Between 1908 and 1923, Harth built twelve different types of gliders and laid the foundations for the development of
gliding
Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sport in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to remain airborne. The word ''soaring'' is al ...
.
Life
Harth was the son of a head forester and attended elementary school in
Bamberg
Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby ' castle. C ...
, high school in
Landshut
Landshut (; bar, Landshuad) is a town in Bavaria in the south-east of Germany. Situated on the banks of the River Isar, Landshut is the capital of Lower Bavaria, one of the seven administrative regions of the Free State of Bavaria. It is also t ...
, and graduated from high school in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
. In addition to his subsequent architecture studies, he dealt with the knowledge of the first German glider pilot
Otto Lilienthal
Karl Wilhelm Otto Lilienthal (23 May 1848 – 10 August 1896) was a German pioneer of aviation who became known as the "flying man". He was the first person to make well-documented, repeated, successful flights with gliders, therefore making ...
and began to build a glider after his return to Bamberg. He built wings, buckled them around his body with a belt, and tested them. In 1909 while working as a government builder, he began building gliders.
In 1910, Harth's first attempt to fly started on the
Ludwager Kulm, near Bamberg. The summit's plateau and steep western slope favored gliding. His gliders consisted of an open or closed hull with a fixed fin. The
angle of attack
In fluid dynamics, angle of attack (AOA, α, or \alpha) is the angle between a reference line on a body (often the chord line of an airfoil) and the vector representing the relative motion between the body and the fluid through which it is m ...
of the wings could be changed in the same direction or in opposite directions in order to serve as an
elevator
An elevator or lift is a wire rope, cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or deck (building), decks of a building, watercraft, ...
or
aileron
An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement around ...
. In November, this first aircraft was severely damaged in a crash on frozen ground. Unwaveringly, Harth used knowledge from the failed attempts to build improve his gliders. The rotary wing control remained an essential feature of his gliders.
Serving as a senior construction city council member, Harth spent his free time designing and testing his flying machines. Enlisting helper
Willy Messerschmitt
Wilhelm Emil "Willy" Messerschmitt (; 26 June 1898 – 15 September 1978) was a German aircraft designer and manufacturer. In 1934, in collaboration with Walter Rethel, he designed the Messerschmitt Bf 109, which became the most importan ...
, the 15-year-old son of a Bamberg wine merchant, who later became Harth's student. After the outbreak of the
First World War
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 ...
, Harth was drafted into military service interrupting his flight attempts. During this time, Messerschmitt built the S5 glider according to Harth's plans. During Harth's home leave, he flew to an altitude of 20m and traveled 300m from the
Heidelstein
The Heidelstein, between Bischofsheim an der Rhön in the Bavarian county of Rhön-Grabfeld and Wüstensachsen in the Hessian county of Fulda, is a mountain, high, on the state border in the mountains of the High Rhön, part of the German Centr ...
starting point. In 1916 he was transferred to
Schleißheim
Schleißheim is a municipality in the district Wels-Land in the Austrian state of Upper Austria
Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria border ...
, where he taught aircraft construction. Harth built the S6 glider and flew it to a landing site 15m higher than his starting point on an almost three-minute flight. His post war glider, the S7, was built in the early summer of 1919 while working at the
Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW – Bavarian Aircraft Works).
On September 13, 1921, Harth accomplished a record 21 minute and 27 second glider flight from the Heidelstein in the
Rhön Mountains
The Rhön Mountains () are a group of low mountains (or ''Mittelgebirge'') in central Germany, located around the border area where the states of Hesse, Bavaria and Thuringia come together. These mountains, which are at the extreme southeast end o ...
with his monoplane glider, the Harth-Messerschmitt S8. This record flight ended abruptly with a crash, and Harth was severely injured with a severe concussion and a fractured skull and pelvis, from which he never recovered fully.
[David Owen, ''Dogfight: The Supermarine Spitfire and the Messerschmitt Bf109'' (Pen & Sword Books Limited, 2015) pp. 25-26] In 1924 impoverished by his job loss, he lived on welfare. Harth was a supporter of the National Socialists and a party member of the
NSDAP
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...
(Nazi party) until his death in 1936.
Friedrich Harth &
Willy Messerschmitt
Wilhelm Emil "Willy" Messerschmitt (; 26 June 1898 – 15 September 1978) was a German aircraft designer and manufacturer. In 1934, in collaboration with Walter Rethel, he designed the Messerschmitt Bf 109, which became the most importan ...
aircraft
References
Sources
* Eva-Maria Bast, Annina Baur: What shaped Bamberg. 52 large and small encounters with the city's history. Bast Medien in cooperation with the Franconian Day, Überlingen 2017, .
* Gerhard Wissmann: Adventure in the wind and clouds. The history of gliding. Transpress, Berlin 1988, .
* Günter Brinkmann, Hans Zacher: The evolution of gliders. In: German aviation. Bernard & Graefe, Bonn 1992, .
External links
* Rainer Groh and Claudia Freilinger:
The Zentbechhofener stork was the inspiration. Friedrich Harth, Förstersohn and the first Bavarian glider pilot wrote aviation history. In: Nordbayerische Nachrichten, August 8, 2009
Harth & Messerschmitt Youtube Documentary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harth, Friedrich
1880 births
1936 deaths
German people of World War I
People from Höchstadt
Aviation inventors
Aviation pioneers