Karl Baur (November 13, 1911 – October 12, 1963) was a German
test pilot
A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testing ...
, flight instructor and engineer. His friends referred to him truly as "A Pilot's Pilot".
Early life
Karl Baur was born November 13, 1911 in
Laichingen
Laichingen is a town in the district of Alb-Donau near Ulm in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It has 10,964 inhabitants (2005).
Geography Geographical location
Laichingen is located on the Laichingen Alb, a branch of the Swabian Jura. It is located ...
,
Württemberg
Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart.
Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Würt ...
, Germany. In 1927 he
attended a summer camp for young boys interested in aviation, and it was here that Baur
developed his desire to fly. He became involved in the world of glider flying during the
1930s, where with the
F1 Fledermaus glider he completed the necessary distance, height,
and acrobatic flying requirements to earn an
International Silver C Badge in 1934. (Only
19 of these were awarded at that year, and Baur was one of 15 Germans who received the
badge.) Baur also worked with powered aircraft and earned a private pilot license in
1931.
Instructor Pilot
In 1935 Baur accepted an opportunity to go to
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
and serve as instructor at a
Japanese glider school. He also did some acrobatic flying at various points around Japan,
as well as a flight over the erupting volcano
Mount Asama
is an active complex volcano in central Honshū, the main island of Japan. The volcano is the most active on Honshū. The Japan Meteorological Agency classifies Mount Asama as rank A. It stands above sea level on the border of Gunma and Nagano ...
from a distance of 50 meters.
Upon his return to Germany in 1936, Baur completed his master's degree in Aeronautical Engineering (Dipl. Ing.)
and went to work for the German Aviation Research Institute testing aircraft designs and
instructing German pilots. Baur was called to military duty and attempted to join the Luftwaffe in 1938, but
because of problems with his eyesight he could not pass the physical to be certified as a
military pilot. He stayed with the German Aviation Research Institute until 1939, when
he received an offer to become the Chief Test Pilot for the
Messerschmitt Company.
Test Pilot and Engineer
At Messerschmitt he test piloted such famous aircraft as the
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 ...
, the
Me 262 jet fighter,
and the
Me 163
The Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet is a rocket-powered interceptor aircraft primarily designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt. It is the only operational rocket-powered fighter aircraft in history as well as th ...
rocket plane.
Here is a partial list of aircraft he flew:
*
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 ...
*
Messerschmitt Me 209
The first Messerschmitt Me 209 was a single-engine racing aircraft which was designed for and succeeded at breaking speed records. This Me 209 was a completely new aircraft whose designation was used by Messerschmitt as a propaganda tool. Al ...
*
Messerschmitt Me 309
The Messerschmitt Me 309 was a prototype German fighter, designed in the early years of World War II to replace the Bf 109. Although it had many advanced features, the Me 309's performance left much to be desired and it had so many problems tha ...
*
Me 210
The Messerschmitt Me 210 was a Nazi Germany, German heavy fighter and ground-attack aircraft of World War II. Design started before the war, as a replacement for the Messerschmitt Bf 110, Bf 110. The first examples were ready in 1939, but they ...
-
Me 410
The Messerschmitt Me 410 ''Hornisse'' (Hornet) is a German heavy fighter and ''Schnellbomber'' used by the ''Luftwaffe'' during World War II. Though an incremental improvement of the Me 210, it had a new wing plan, longer fuselage and engine ...
*
Messerschmitt Me 261
The Messerschmitt Me 261 ''Adolfine'' was a long- range reconnaissance aircraft designed in the late 1930s. It looked like an enlarged version of the Messerschmitt Bf 110. It was not put into production; just three Me 261s were built and used pri ...
*
Me 264 ''
Amerikabomber
The ''Amerikabomber'' () project was an initiative of the German Ministry of Aviation (''Reichsluftfahrtministerium'') to obtain a long-range strategic bomber for the ''Luftwaffe'' that would be capable of striking the United States (specificall ...
'' contract contender
*
Me 321 Gigant - The Largest Glider in Combat During WW II
*
Me 323
The Messerschmitt Me 323 ''Gigant'' ("Giant") was a German military transport aircraft of World War II. It was a powered variant of the Me 321 military glider and was the largest land-based transport aircraft to fly during the war. A total of 2 ...
*
Me 163 Komet
*
Me 262 jet fighter including C-series rocket-boosted ''Heimatschützer I and II'' variants
On April 29, 1945 the allies captured the German city of
Augsburg
Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...
, where Baur was working on Messerschmitt aircraft. Baur and his crew were
required by the American forces to repair the Me 262's that had been damaged and
instruct some American pilots in their operation. Along with other German experts in the
field of aeronautics and rocketry, Baur was sent to the United States in fall of 1945. He
spent several months in the United States demonstrating the Me 262 providing technical
help to American test pilots, and explaining about the aeronautic work he had done in
Germany. In December 1945 Baur was able to return to Germany and reunite with his
family.
Baur worked several odd jobs after the war including serving an interpreter to the
commander of an American Army Air Force Base in Germany, and as a sales
representative for a company that manufactured car batteries. Baur accepted a job as an
engineer at the
Chance Vought Aircraft Corporation in
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
in August 1954.
Baur worked for Chance Vought until his death on October 12, 1963. His widow,
Isolde Baur lived in
the Dallas-Fort Worth area
until her death on June 5, 2006.
References
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baur, Karl
1911 births
1963 deaths
German aviators
German glider pilots
German test pilots
German aerospace engineers
German emigrants to the United States
People from Alb-Donau-Kreis
People from the Kingdom of Württemberg