Otto Kauba (1908-1962) was an Austrian engineer who designed aircraft in the period during and after World War II. He also designed motor scooters in the postwar period.

Early life

Otto Kauba was born in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

on 11 September 1908.

Career

On the outbreak of

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 opposin ...

Kauba was selling luxury cars and had become friends with ''

Reichsmarschall (german: Reichsmarschall des Großdeutschen Reiches; ) was a rank and the highest military office in the ''Wehrmacht'' specially created for Hermann Göring during World War II. It was senior to the rank of , which was previously the highes ...

Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1 ...

, head of 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 ...

Škoda-Kauba

He developed a novel idea for a

flying bomb A flying bomb is a manned or unmanned aerial vehicle or aircraft carrying a large explosive warhead, a precursor to contemporary cruise missiles. In contrast to a bomber aircraft, which is intended to release bombs and then return to its base for ...

and used his personal friendship with Göring to obtain a joint collaboration with the

Škoda Works The Škoda Works ( cs, Škodovy závody, ) was one of the largest European industrial conglomerates of the 20th century, founded by Czech engineer Emil Škoda in 1859 in Plzeň, then in the Kingdom of Bohemia, Austrian Empire. It is the predece ...

in order to develop his ideas. The Škoda-Kauba Flugzeugbau was opened in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

in 1942.Saffek & Plocek (1992). Although the flying bomb project failed, Kauba went on to produce a number of innovative aircraft and the company built several prototypes, including the SL6 to test the control system for the proposed tailless Blohm & Voss P 208. The SK 257 fighter-trainer incorporated a novel tapered tubular steel wing spar which doubled as an armoured fuel tank. It entered limited production before being cancelled. A later collaboration with

Eugen Sänger Eugen Sänger (22 September 1905 – 10 February 1964) was an Austrian aerospace engineer best known for his contributions to lifting body and ramjet technology. Early career Sänger was born in the former mining town of Preßnitz (Přísečnic ...

produced the P14 design for a

ramjet A ramjet, or athodyd (aero thermodynamic duct), is a form of airbreathing jet engine that uses the forward motion of the engine to produce thrust. Since it produces no thrust when stationary (no ram air) ramjet-powered vehicles require an ass ...

powered fighter. The company ceased to exist when Prague was liberated at the end of the war in 1945.Titz & Zazvonil (1965).

Motor scooters

After the war Kauba returned to his native Austria. From 1949 he designed a new range of

motor scooter A scooter (motor scooter) is a motorcycle with an underbone or step-through frame, a seat, and a platform for the rider's feet, emphasizing comfort and fuel economy. Elements of scooter design were present in some of the earliest motorcycles ...

s and

moped A moped ( ) is a type of small motorcycle, generally having a less stringent licensing requirement than full motorcycles or automobiles. The term used to mean a similar vehicle except with both bicycle pedals and a motorcycle engine. Mopeds typic ...

s for Lohner. The scooter range included popular models such as the ''Sissy'', L125 and L98, but sales eventually fell due to the increasing popularity of the

motor car A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as t ...

. The company received the distinction ''k.u.k. Hofwagenlieferant'' ("Royal

carriagemaker A coachbuilder or body-maker is someone who manufactures bodies for passenger-carrying vehicles.Construction has always been a skilled trade requiring a relatively lightweight product with sufficient strength. The manufacture of necessarily ...

s"). Financed by Hans H. Kosteletzky, he then started the Kosty company and in 1952 launched the Kosty 100 scooter, powered by a

Rotax Rotax is the brand name for a range of internal combustion engines developed and manufactured by the Austrian company BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co KG (until 2016 BRP-Powertrain GmbH & Co. KG), in turn owned by the Canadian Bombardier Recreational Product ...

two-stroke engine A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of t ...

. The motor was set inside a cage and the drive chain tension was set by sliding the whole engine back and forth. However sales were poor, it has been suggested because the price was too high, and the company closed the next year. He next formed a company in Vienna under his own name and began building the Lux, developed from the Kosty using Rotax 98cc and 125cc engines. Some 400 units in total were produced between 1953 and 1956. He was supported in this by Ragnar Mathéy of the Megu company, which had also been involved with both Lohner and Kosty. The Lux 98 was developed into the Bobby.

OFW

Kauba now turned back to aircraft. He designed the OK-15 two-seat light aircraft for the Österreichische Flugzeugwerke GmbH (OFW) at

Wiener Neustadt Wiener Neustadt (; ; Central Bavarian: ''Weana Neistod'') is a city located south of Vienna, in the state of Lower Austria, in northeast Austria. It is a self-governed city and the seat of the district administration of Wiener Neustadt-Land Distr ...

. In 1956 it became the first aircraft to be designed and built in Austria for twenty years."Did You Know...?", ''Air Pictorial'', Vol. XVIII, No. 8, August 1956, p.285.Gunston, Bill; ''World Encyclopedia of Aircraft Manufacturers'', 2nd ed, Sutton (2005), p.345.

Death

He died in Vienna on 8 March 1962.

References

Citations

Bibliography

*Saffek, Otta and Plocek, Pierre; "Les Étranges Créations d'Otto Kauba", ''Le Fana de l'Aviation'', No.272, July 1992, pp. 14–22. (in French) *Titz, Zdenek and Zazvonil, Jaroslav; "Kauba's Dwarfs", ''Flying Review International'', November 1965, pp. 169–172. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kauba, Otto 1908 births 1962 deaths Aircraft designers Motor scooters Austrian aerospace engineers