Richard Vogt (19 December 1894 - January 1979) was a military

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...

designer who was known for his original airframes, including the

asymmetrical Asymmetry is the absence of, or a violation of, symmetry (the property of an object being invariant to a transformation, such as reflection). Symmetry is an important property of both physical and abstract systems and it may be displayed in pre ...

BV 141 during

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 ...

. After the war, he moved to the United States as part of

Operation Paperclip Operation Paperclip was a secret United States intelligence program in which more than 1,600 German scientists, engineers, and technicians were taken from the former Nazi Germany to the U.S. for government employment after the end of World Wa ...

, where he worked on American military aircraft design.

Early life

Richard Vogt was born in

Schwäbisch Gmünd Schwäbisch Gmünd (, until 1934: Gmünd; Swabian: ''Gmẽẽd'' or ''Gmend'') is a city in the eastern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. With a population of around 60,000, the city is the second largest in the Ostalb district a ...

, a town in the

Kingdom of Württemberg The Kingdom of Württemberg (german: Königreich Württemberg ) was a German state that existed from 1805 to 1918, located within the area that is now Baden-Württemberg. The kingdom was a continuation of the Duchy of Württemberg, which exist ...

, which at that time was a constituent state of the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

. He was the seventh child of twelve

sibling A sibling is a relative that shares at least one parent with the subject. A male sibling is a brother and a female sibling is a sister. A person with no siblings is an only child. While some circumstances can cause siblings to be raised separat ...

s. He was admitted to a school of universal

literacy education Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in Writing, written form in some specific context of use. In other wo ...

in Stuttgart-Cannstatt. When he was a student at the school, he had an opportunity get to know

Ernst Heinkel Dr. Ernst Heinkel (24 January 1888 – 30 January 1958) was a German aircraft designer, manufacturer, ''Wehrwirtschaftsführer'' in Nazi Germany, and member of the Nazi party. His company Heinkel Flugzeugwerke produced the Heinkel He 178, th ...

. In 1912, when he was 18 years old, Vogt built his first aeroplane. With the help of a friend and under the eye of Heinkel, he attempted unsuccessfully to fly it just outside

Mutlangen Mutlangen is a town in the German state of Baden-Württemberg in the Ostalbkreis district and belongs to the Stuttgart Metropolitan Region. As of 31 December 2015, it has 6,588 inhabitants. Geography Mutlangen is located between the Welzheim Fores ...

, a neighboring town to Schwäbisch Gmünd.

World War I

After school Vogt worked for a year at an engine factory in

Ludwigshafen Ludwigshafen, officially Ludwigshafen am Rhein (; meaning " Ludwig's Port upon Rhine"), is a city in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, on the river Rhine, opposite Mannheim. With Mannheim, Heidelberg, and the surrounding region, it form ...

. With the outbreak of

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 ...

, he was conscripted into the military of the

. There he was wounded in action, and medically evacuated back to Germany. Vogt then trained as a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

Halberstadt Halberstadt ( Eastphalian: ''Halverstidde'') is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, the capital of Harz district. Located north of the Harz mountain range, it is known for its old town center that was greatly destroyed by Allied bombi ...

Career

On being discharged from military service in August 1916 Vogt found work at the Zeppelin works in

Friedrichshafen Friedrichshafen ( or ; Low Alemannic: ''Hafe'' or ''Fridrichshafe'') is a city on the northern shoreline of Lake Constance (the ''Bodensee'') in Southern Germany, near the borders of both Switzerland and Austria. It is the district capital (''Kre ...

. While there, he was impressed by

Claudius Dornier Claude (Claudius) Honoré Désiré Dornier (born in Kempten im Allgäu on 14 May 1884 – 5 December 1969) was a German-French airplane designer and founder of Dornier GmbH. His notable designs include the 12-engine Dornier Do X flying boa ...

and determined to become an aircraft designer. After the war, he completed a two-year course at the

Technical University An institute of technology (also referred to as: technological university, technical university, university of technology, technological educational institute, technical college, polytechnic university or just polytechnic) is an institution of te ...

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

, and subsequently served as an assistant to Professor Baumann at the university's Institute of Aeronautical and Automobile Systems until 1922. During that period he was awarded his first

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

and received a

doctorate degree A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

Kawasaki

On behalf of Dornier, Vogt was briefly sent to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, then in 1923, to the Kawasaki in

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

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 ...

, which was a licensed manufacturer of Dornier aircraft. In Japan he was appointed as chief designer, and he trained the young Japanese engineer

Takeo Doi was a Japanese academic, psychoanalyst and author. Early life Doi was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1920. He was a graduate of the University of Tokyo. Career Doi was Professor Emeritus in the Department of Neuropsychiatry at the University of Toky ...

to be his successor. Doi later designed the Ki-61 ''Hien''. During that period Vogt designed several types including the KDA-5 Army Type 92

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

fighter plane, KDA-2 Army Type 88 biplane reconnaissance, KDA-3 single-seat fighter, and (in cooperation with Doi) a modified version of the KDA-5 Army Type 92-I biplane fighter. He stayed with Kawasaki until 1933.

Blohm & Voss

In 1933 he was offered the position of Chief Designer at

Hamburger Flugzeugbau ''Hamburger Flugzeugbau'' (HFB) was an aircraft manufacturer, located primarily in the Finkenwerder quarter of Hamburg, Germany. Established in 1933 as an offshoot of Blohm & Voss shipbuilders, it later became an operating division within its pare ...

, an aircraft manufacturer recently established by

Blohm & Voss Blohm+Voss (B+V), also written historically as Blohm & Voss, Blohm und Voß etc., is a German shipbuilding and engineering company. Founded in Hamburg in 1877 to specialise in steel-hulled ships, its most famous product was the World War II battle ...

shipbuilders. During his flight back from Japan he worked on the idea of a tubular steel main wing

spar SPAR, originally DESPAR, styled as DE SPAR, is a Dutch multinational that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, by Adriaan van Well, ...

which could also double as an armoured

fuel tank A fuel tank (also called a petrol tank or gas tank) is a safe container for flammable fluids. Though any storage tank for fuel may be so called, the term is typically applied to part of an engine system in which the fuel is stored and propel ...

. Almost all of his subsequent designs would feature such a combined hollow steel spar and fuel tank. Vogt's next major innovation was an asymmetric aircraft layout in which the thrust line was offset to one side, allowing the pilot a clear view on the other side. It appeared in the Ha 141 reconnaissance aircraft. Approximately 20 were built. Shortly before

broke out, Hamburger Flugzeugbau was reformed as the aircraft division of Blohm & Voss and changed its name accordingly. The designation of Vogt's aircraft changed from Ha to BV, with many of the types then under development changing their designations, for example the Ha 141 became the BV 141. Other important, more conventional designs included a series of ever-larger

flying boat A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...

s. The BV 238 was the largest and heaviest aircraft manufactured until the end of the war by any Axis power. Vogt also developed a series of gliding munitions, but the advanced control systems caused problems and although quite large quantities were manufactured, none saw operational service. His design style was noted by the British journal ''Aeroplane'' in the caption to a cartoon: Vogt's final innovation was a tailless "pfeilflieger" (swept wing) design, well suited to the new

jet engine A jet engine is a type of reaction engine discharging a fast-moving jet of heated gas (usually air) that generates thrust by jet propulsion. While this broad definition can include rocket, Pump-jet, water jet, and hybrid propulsion, the term ...

s then under development. A series of designs culminated in the P 215 all-weather fighter, which received an order for three prototypes just weeks before the war ended.Hans Antmann; ''The Vanishing Paperclips'', Monogram, 1988.Pohlmann (1982).

American "Paperclip"

After

, Vogt was recruited by the

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

under "

", and he moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. He worked as a civilian employee for the Research Laboratory of the US Air Force in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...

from the beginning of 1947 to 1954. Later he became the chief designer of the Aerophysics Development Corporation and worked there until the parent company closed the business in 1960. From August 1960 to August 1966, he served as a staff member on the team of

George S. Schairer George S. Schairer (May 19, 1913 – October 28, 2004) was an aerodynamicst at Consolidated Aircraft and Boeing whose design innovations became standard on virtually all types of military and passenger jet planes. Early life George Swift Schaire ...

, who was the chief

aerodynamicist Aerodynamics, from grc, ἀήρ ''aero'' (air) + grc, δυναμική (dynamics), is the study of the motion of air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dyn ...

in the research and testing division of

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...

. At Boeing, Vogt was involved in the design of

vertical takeoff Takeoff is the phase of flight in which an aerospace vehicle leaves the ground and becomes airborne. For aircraft traveling vertically, this is known as liftoff. For aircraft that take off horizontally, this usually involves starting with a t ...

systems and

hydrofoils A hydrofoil is a lifting surface, or foil, that operates in water. They are similar in appearance and purpose to aerofoils used by aeroplanes. Boats that use hydrofoil technology are also simply termed hydrofoils. As a hydrofoil craft gains sp ...

. He also investigated the effect of the length and shape of wings on the flying range, and he proved that small extensions attached to both tips of the wings improved the

aerodynamics Aerodynamics, from grc, ἀήρ ''aero'' (air) + grc, δυναμική (dynamics), is the study of the motion of air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dyn ...

and increased the operational range of the aircraft. This finding has been widely used in modern aircraft, where the extensions are known as

wing tip A wing tip (or wingtip) is the part of the wing that is most distant from the fuselage of a fixed-wing aircraft. Because the wing tip shape influences the size and drag of the wingtip vortices, tip design has produced a diversity of sha ...

s or

winglet Wingtip devices are intended to improve the efficiency of fixed-wing aircraft by reducing drag. Although there are several types of wing tip devices which function in different manners, their intended effect is always to reduce an aircraft' ...

s. His last assignment was the after-launch evaluation of the design of the

Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...

Retirement

After retiring from Boeing, he enjoyed developing a safe

sailboat A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminology ...

that would not capsize, and he wrote his memoirs. In 1977 a fire destroyed his house, resulting in the loss of many personal and technical documents.

Death

In January 1979 he died of

myocardial infarction A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may ...

in Santa Barbara,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, at age 84.

Personal life

Vogt was married and had two sons.

Aircraft designed

These types were all built and flown. ;In Japan * Kawasaki KDA-2 Army Type 88 biplane reconnaissance (1927, 710 were built) * Kawasaki KDC-2 Four passenger version of Type 88, designed with Hisashi Tojo.(1928, 2 built). * Kawasaki KDA-3 Single-seat fighter (1928, 3 were built) * Kawasaki KDA-5 Army Type 92 biplane fighter (1930, 385 were built) ;In GermanyList of German military aircraft designed by Richard Vogt ''in Military Aviation History''
/ref> *

Hamburger Flugzeugbau Ha 136 __NOTOC__ The Hamburger Flugzeugbau Ha 136 was an all-metal, single-seat training monoplane. It was the first design for the company by Dr. Richard Vogt and the first to feature his trademark tubular steel wing spar which doubled as the main fuel ...

Advanced monoplane trainer (1934, two were built) *

Hamburger Flugzeugbau Ha 137 The Hamburger Flugzeugbau Ha 137 was a German ground-attack aircraft of the 1930s. It was Hamburger Flugzeugbau, Blohm & Voss' entry into the contest to equip the re-forming ''Luftwaffe'' with its first purpose-built dive bomber. Although the con ...

Close-support aircraft/dive bomber (1935, six were built) *

Blohm & Voss BV 138 The Blohm & Voss BV 138 ''Seedrache'' (Sea Dragon), but nicknamed ''Der Fliegende Holzschuh'' ("flying clog",Nowarra 1997, original German title of the Schiffer book. from the side-view shape of its fuselage, as well as a play on the title of th ...

Maritime reconnaissance flying boat (1937, 279 were built) *

Blohm & Voss Ha 139 The Blohm & Voss Ha 139 was a German all-metal inverted gull wing floatplane. With its four engines it was at the time one of the largest float-equipped seaplanes that had been built. The inboard engines were mounted at the joint between the in ...

Transport / reconnaissance seaplane (1936) *

Blohm & Voss Ha 140 The Blohm & Voss Ha 140 was a German multi-purpose seaplane first flown in 1937. It was intended for use as a torpedo bomber or long-range reconnaissance aircraft but did not enter production. Design and development The Ha 140 was developed to ...

Torpedo bomber seaplane (1937, four were built) *

Blohm & Voss BV 141 The Blohm & Voss BV 141 was a World War II German tactical reconnaissance aircraft, notable for its uncommon structural asymmetry. Although the Blohm & Voss BV 141 performed well, it was never ordered into full-scale production, for reasons tha ...

Reconnaissance aircraft (1938, 38 were built) *

Blohm & Voss BV 142 The Blohm & Voss Ha 142 was a German four-engined long-distance monoplane, developed to meet a ''Luft Hansa'' requirement for its transatlantic airmail service. The first of several prototypes flew on 11 October 1938 and they saw some service in ...

Landplane version of the BV 139 transport * Blohm & Voss BV 144 Tilt-wing transport, built in France *

Blohm & Voss BV 155 The Blohm & Voss BV 155 was a German high-altitude interceptor aircraft intended to be used by the Luftwaffe against raids by USAAF Boeing B-29 Superfortresses. Work started on the design as the Messerschmitt Me 155 in 1942, but the project wen ...

High-altitude interceptor (1944, three were built) * Blohm & Voss BV 222 Transport / reconnaissance flying boat ''Viking'' (1940, 13 were built) *

Blohm & Voss BV 238 The Blohm & Voss BV 238 was a German flying boat, built during World War II. It was the heaviest aircraft ever built when it first flew in 1944, and was the largest aircraft produced by any of the Axis powers during World War II. History Develop ...

Reconnaissance flying boat (1944, one was built) * Blohm & Voss BV 246 Radio-guidable glide bomb (1945, approximately 1,100 were built) *

Blohm & Voss BV 40 The Blohm & Voss BV 40 was a German glider fighter designed to attack Allied bomber formations during the time of the bombing raids over Nazi Germany. Design The BV 40 was the smallest glider that could accommodate an armoured cockpit and two ...

Interceptor glider

Writings

References

Notes

Bibliography

*Hermann Pohlmann; ''Chronik Eines Flugzeugwerkes 1932-45'', 2nd Impression, Motorbuch, 1982.

External links

A snapshot of Richard Vogt (right) ''in scientistsandfriends.com''

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080303204101/http://www.khi.co.jp/index_e.html Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd.
Kawasaki Aerospace Division
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vogt, Richard 1894 births 1979 deaths People from Schwäbisch Gmünd Engineers from Baden-Württemberg German military personnel of World War I German expatriates in Japan Aircraft designers German aerospace engineers People from the Kingdom of Württemberg Operation Paperclip German emigrants to the United States