The Gerhard Fieseler Werke (GFW) in Kassel was a German

aircraft manufacturer An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, or spacecraft. Aerospace is a high technology indust ...

of the 1930s and 1940s. The company is remembered mostly for its military aircraft built for 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 ...

during the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

History

The firm was founded on April 1, 1930 as Fieseler Flugzeugbau Kassel by

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 and aerobatic champion

Gerhard Fieseler Gerhard Fieseler (15 April 1896 – 1 September 1987) was a German World War I flying ace, aerobatics champion, and aircraft designer and manufacturer. From birth to the 1918 armistice Born in Glesch (near Cologne), Fieseler joined the Air Serv ...

. Fieseler had been a manager for 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 ...

, but when this company went bankrupt, Fieseler bought a

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 in Kassel and quickly turned it to building sports planes. At the same time, Fieseler still custom-built sailplanes for some of Germany's most prominent designers and pilots, including

Wolf Hirth Wolfram Kurt Erhard Hirth (28 February 1900 – 25 July 1959) was a German gliding pioneer and sailplane designer. He was a co-founder of Schempp-Hirth, still a renowned glider manufacturer.Segelflugbildkalendar 2011 Hirth was born in Stuttgart ...

's "Musterle" and

Robert Kronfeld Squadron Leader Robert Kronfeld, AFC (5 May 1904 – 12 February 1948) was an Austrian-born gliding champion and sailplane designer of the 1920s and 30s. He became a British subject and an RAF test pilot. He was killed testing a glider in 1948 ...

's "Wien" and "Austria" (for many years the largest sailplane ever built). In 1934, the company achieved prominence when Fieseler won the World Aerobatics Championship in an aircraft his company had built, the F2 Tiger. This was followed by the highly successful F5, generally regarded as a classic among sports planes. Even greater success was to follow in 1936 when an aircraft of Fieseler's own design won a tender over aircraft from both 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 new STOL observation and liaison aircraft for the ''

''. It was designated 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'' (Stork), and the company would produce over 3,000 during World War II. In 1937 Fieseler also produced the Fieseler Fi 253. On April 1, 1939 the company name changed to the Gerhard Fieseler Werke GmbH. Fieseler's other wartime production would largely consist of building other firms' aircraft under licence, including the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Focke-Wulf Fw 190. In 1941 however, a Fieseler project for an unpiloted flying bomb (Fi 103) attracted the attention of the RLM ('' Reichsluftfahrtministerium'' - "Reich Aviation Ministry"). This went into production as the Fieseler FZG-76 (''flakzielgerät'', antiaircraft targeting device), better known as the V-1. The Fieseler factory was the target of many Allied air raids, but continued production throughout the war. Following the War, part of the factory continued in business for a few years, producing automotive components. Its most famous products, the Storch and the V1, continued to be produced by foreign companies.

Aircraft

Fieseler aircraft included: * F2 Tiger acrobatic sportsplane, 1932 * F3 ''Wespe'' (Wasp) experimental flying wing, ca. 1931 * F5 acrobatic sportsplane + trainer, 1933 * Fi 97, competition and touring monoplane, 1934 * Fi 98, biplane fighter, 1936 * Fi 99, sport aircraft, * Fi 103 (V-1) * Fi 103 Reichenberg, piloted version of V-1 * Fi 156 ''Storch'' (Stork), STOL reconnaissance aircraft * Fi 157, unmanned anti-aircraft target drone * Fi 158, research aircraft * Fi 166, vertical launched jet fighter * Fi 167, ship-borne torpedo bomber and reconnaissance biplane * Fi 168, ground-attack aircraft * Fi 253, sport aircraft, * Fi 333 transport (concept)

Gliders

Kassel 12 __NOTOC__ The Kassel 12 was a German glider (aircraft), glider used for training, developed in the 1920s. It was a minimalist design with the Aviator, pilot sitting atop a tapered wooden structure that supported a high wing on a set of struts, a ...

, training glider,

References

{{Fieseler aircraft Defunct aircraft manufacturers of Germany

History

Aircraft

Gliders

See also

References