Rudolf Fizir (13 January 1891 – 11 November 1960) was an airplane constructor. He designed at least 18 original planes, some conversions of landplanes to seaplanes - and a parachute. Amphibian aircraft

Fizir was born in

Ludbreg Ludbreg is a town in Croatia, located halfway between Varaždin and Koprivnica near the river Drava. It has 3,603 inhabitants, and a total of 8,478 in the entire municipality (census 2011). History For centuries Ludbreg has been a popular pla ...

, a small town on the river

Bednja Bednja () is a village and municipality in Croatia in the Varaždin County (west of Lepoglava), and also a river in northern Croatia. According to the 2011 census, there are a total of 3,992 inhabitants, in the following settlements: * Bednja, p ...

, in the north of Croatia. In 1914, whilst still a senior student, he was offered his first job in Schwerin, where he worked in the construction of fighter aircraft for the German '' Fliegerkorps'' in the new ''

Fokker Fokker was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer named after its founder, Anthony Fokker. The company operated under several different names. It was founded in 1912 in Berlin, Germany, and became famous for its fighter aircraft in World War I. In 1919 ...

-Flugzeugbau'' factory. From there he was sent to Budapest, in order to find and organize a Fokker subsidiary. Between 1918 and 1920, Fizir was employed in the automobile industry, where he gathered experience with internal combustion engines. In 1920 he returned to Ludbreg, and then moved to Petrovaradin. There he started to build his aircraft designs in his yard, at his own expense. BAM-03-Fizir FN

With a biplane, which Fizir built in 1925, he won the first prize in the 1927

Little Entente The Little Entente was an alliance formed in 1920 and 1921 by Czechoslovakia, Romania and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (since 1929 Yugoslavia) with the purpose of common defense against Hungarian revanchism and the prospect of a Hab ...

contest, despite having an engine with only half the power of other competing designs. Other aircraft he produced were named after the engines used, such as the Fizir-Mercedes, Fizir-Wright, Fizir-Titan, Fizir-Kastor, Fizir-Gypsi, and the half-metallic Fizir-Jupiter. His successful designs, almost all wooden, were economic to produce, reflecting the low economic power of the pre-World War II Kingdom of Yugoslavia, wartime Croatia ( Independent State of Croatia) and post-World War II Yugoslavia, and were highly regarded in Germany and France throughout the 1930s, 40s and 50s. He had a strong affiliation for trainers and seaplanes, having a vision of connecting the

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...

islands with a regular seaplane service. His greatest success was the Fizir FN two-seater with dual controls, over 100 of which were built, which was in use as a trainer up to 30 years after World War II. Rudolf Fizir was awarded with the

Paul Tissandier Diploma Paul Tissandier (19 February 1881 – 11 March 1945) was a French aviator. Biography Tissandier was the son of aviator Gaston Tissandier and nephew of Albert Tissandier, Gaston's brother. Tissandier began his flying career as a hot air ballo ...

from the

Fédération Aéronautique Internationale The (; FAI; en, World Air Sports Federation) is the world governing body for air sports, and also stewards definitions regarding human spaceflight. It was founded on 14 October 1905, and is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. It maintai ...

for achievements in aviation, and held the rank of (colonel) in the Croatian Battle Air Force. After World War II, Fizir worked as a motorcycle designer, and continued with aircraft construction in his retirement years. The road leading to Zagreb Airport was named in his honour.

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20070203162457/http://library.thinkquest.org/C0127004/TQnovo/engilsh/other_inventors/other_sixteen.htm * https://web.archive.org/web/20070203091206/http://library.thinkquest.org/C0127004/TQnovo/izumi/izumiostali_sesnaesti.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Fizir, Rudolf 1891 births 1960 deaths People from Ludbreg People from the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia Aircraft designers Aviation pioneers Croatian engineers Croatian Home Guard personnel Engineers from Zagreb Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery Yugoslav engineers