The Gerhard Fieseler Werke (GFW) in

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...

was a German aircraft manufacturer of the 1930s and 1940s. The company is remembered mostly for its military aircraft built for the Luftwaffe during the Second World War.

History

The firm was founded on April 1, 1930 as Fieseler Flugzeugbau Kassel by World War I flying ace and

aerobatic Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aerial" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and glid ...

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, but when this company went bankrupt, Fieseler bought a sailplane 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's "Musterle" and Robert Kronfeld'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 The FAI World Aerobatic Championships (WAC) is a competition in sport aviation organized by CIVA (Commission Internationale de Voltige Arienne), the aerobatic commission of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, the world air sports federat ...

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 Messerschmitt AG () was a German share-ownership limited, aircraft manufacturing corporation named after its chief designer Willy Messerschmitt from mid-July 1938 onwards, and known primarily for its World War II fighter aircraft, in partic ...

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 name ...

for a new

STOL A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a conventional fixed-wing aircraft that has short runway requirements for takeoff and landing. Many STOL-designed aircraft also feature various arrangements for use on airstrips with harsh conditio ...

observation and liaison aircraft for the '' Luftwaffe''. It was designated the Fieseler Fi 156 ''Storch'' (Stork), and the company would produce over 3,000 during World War II. In 1937 Fieseler also produced the

Fieseler Fi 253 The Fieseler Fi 253 Spatz, (English: ''Sparrow''), was a light civilian aircraft, manufactured by the German company Fieseler in Nazi Germany. Only six units were produced, however, due to the Second World War. Development In January 1937 Major W ...

. 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 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 ...

and

Focke-Wulf Fw 190 The Focke-Wulf Fw 190, nicknamed ''Würger'' (" Shrike") is a German single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank at Focke-Wulf in the late 1930s and widely used during World War II. Along with its well-known counterpart, ...

. In 1941 however, a Fieseler project for an unpiloted flying bomb (Fi 103) attracted the attention of the RLM (''

Reichsluftfahrtministerium The Ministry of Aviation (german: Reichsluftfahrtministerium, abbreviated RLM) was a government department during the period of Nazi Germany (1933–45). It is also the original name of the Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus building on the Wilhelmstrasse ...

'' - "Reich Aviation Ministry"). This went into production as the Fieseler FZG-76 (''flakzielgerät'', antiaircraft targeting device), better known as the

V-1 V1, V01 or V-1 can refer to version one (for anything) (e.g., see version control) V1, V01 or V-1 may also refer to: In aircraft * V-1 flying bomb, a World War II German weapon * V1 speed, the maximum speed at which an aircraft pilot may abort ...

. 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 The Fieseler Fi 158 was a civilian research aircraft designed and built in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia ...

, research aircraft * Fi 166, vertical launched jet fighter * Fi 167, ship-borne torpedo bomber and reconnaissance biplane * Fi 168, ground-attack aircraft *

Fi 253 The Fieseler Fi 253 Spatz, (English: ''Sparrow''), was a light civilian aircraft, manufactured by the German company Fieseler in Nazi Germany. Only six units were produced, however, due to the Second World War. Development In January 1937 Major W ...

, sport aircraft, * Fi 333 transport (concept)

Gliders

* Kassel 12, training glider,

References

{{Fieseler aircraft Defunct aircraft manufacturers of Germany

History

Aircraft

Gliders

See also

References