Gerhard Fieseler
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Gerhard Fieseler (15 April 1896 – 1 September 1987) was a German
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 A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...
,
aerobatics 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 glide ...
champion, and aircraft designer and manufacturer.


From birth to the 1918 armistice

Born in Glesch (near Cologne), Fieseler joined the Air Service of the Imperial German Army in 1915. A crash during training hospitalized him until February 1916, but he had become an observation pilot by October 1916, flying first with ''
Feldflieger Abteilung Feldflieger Abteilung (''FFA'', Field Flying Company) was the title of the pioneering field aviation units of what became the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' (German air service) by October 1916, during World War I. Composition The use of aircraft as a tact ...
'' 243, then with ''Feldflieger Abteilung'' 41. In 1917 he qualified as a fighter pilot and was posted on 12 July to the Macedonian front, initially flying a
Roland D.II The LFG Roland D.II was a German single-seat fighter of World War I. The type was manufactured by Luftfahrzeug Gesellschaft, and also by Pfalz Flugzeugwerke under license. Design and development The D.II used a plywood monocoque fuselage. Tw ...
with '' Jagdstaffel 25''. Fieseler scored his first aerial victory on 20 August 1917. A serious illness removed him from active duty from 21 September until 5 November 1917.Franks ''et al.'' 1993, pp. 106-107. Fieseler would not score his second success until 30 January 1918. He was eventually credited with nineteen confirmed aerial victories, with three others unconfirmed. Commissioned in October 1918, he was the highest-scoring German
ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...
on the Eastern Front to survive World War I. He was awarded the Golden Military Merit Cross and the
Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia es ...
, first and second class.


Between the World Wars

Following the war, he returned to printing, but yearned to return to flying. In 1926, he closed his print shop in
Eschweiler Eschweiler (, Ripuarian: ) is a municipality in the district of Aachen in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany on the river Inde, near the German-Belgian-Dutch border, and about east of Aachen and west of Cologne. History * Celts (fi ...
and became a flight instructor with 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 ...
aircraft company in Kassel and continued to hone his flying skills, becoming an accomplished stunt pilot. In 1927, he performed a particularly daring routine in
Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich ...
and started to command increasingly high fees for appearances. In 1928 while working at
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 ...
, he designed his own stunt plane, the
Fieseler F1 Raab-Katzenstein RK-26 Tigerschwalbe, also known as the Fieseler F 1 Tigerschwalbe, was a German twin-seat biplane trainer aircraft designed by Gerhard Fieseler by the end of the 1920s. Design and development In December 1930, Fieseler was invite ...
(also known as the
Raab-Katzenstein RK-26 Tigerschwalbe Raab-Katzenstein RK-26 Tigerschwalbe, also known as the Fieseler F 1 Tigerschwalbe, was a German twin-seat biplane trainer aircraft designed by Gerhard Fieseler by the end of the 1920s. Design and development In December 1930, Fieseler was invit ...
), which was offered and sold to a Swedish company called AB Svenska Järnvägverkstäderna (ASJ), which built 25 of the type for Swedish Air Force in the beginning of the 1930s. In 1930, Raab-Katzenstien was bankrupt, and Fieseler decided to strike out on his own. Using money he had been saving from his aerobatics, he bought the Segelflugzeugbau Kassel
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. Sailpla ...
factory and renamed it Fieseler Flugzeugbau. Although he continued with some sailplane manufacturing, from 1932, he set up to start manufacturing sports planes of his own design. A
NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...
member, Fieseler won contracts to licence-build military aircraft for the new
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 ...
in 1935. Real success came the following year, when his firm won a design contract against entries from Messerschmitt 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 nam ...
for a STOL liaison/observation plane, that his firm then went on to produce as 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 fie ...
''Storch''.


World War II

''Gerhard Fieseler Werke'' produced aircraft for the German military throughout World War II.


Post World War II

Following the war, Fieseler spent some time in US custody. When he was released, he re-opened part of this factory and spent some years building automotive components. He also published an autobiography, ''Meine Bahn am Himmel (My Road in the Sky)''. Fieseler died in Kassel, aged 91. The aerobatic manoeuvre
Fieseler The Gerhard Fieseler Werke (GFW) in Kassel was a German aircraft manufacturer of the 1930s and 1940s. The company is remembered mostly for its military aircraft built for the Luftwaffe during the Second World War. History The firm was founded o ...
is named after him.


See also

*
Fieseler The Gerhard Fieseler Werke (GFW) in Kassel was a German aircraft manufacturer of the 1930s and 1940s. The company is remembered mostly for its military aircraft built for the Luftwaffe during the Second World War. History The firm was founded o ...
* Stall turn - the hammerhead turn, stall turn, or Fieseler an aerobatics turn-around manoeuvre


References

* Franks, Norman; Bailey, Frank W.; Guest, Russell. ''Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps, 1914–1918''. Grub Street, 1993. , .


Endnotes


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fieseler, Gerhard 1896 births 1987 deaths Aerobatic pilots Aircraft designers German World War I flying aces Luftstreitkräfte personnel People from Bergheim, North Rhine-Westphalia People from the Rhine Province Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class Recipients of the Knights Cross of the War Merit Cross