Dr. Sighard F. Hoerner (born 18 April 1906,

Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state di ...

, Germany — d. 22 June 1971, Brick Town, USA) was an important figure in the aerodynamics field and is known worldwide for his two compendiums of aerodynamic knowledge, ''Fluid-Dynamic Drag'' and ''Fluid-Dynamic Lift''. He is also notable for his design work on the pioneering STOL aircraft, the Fieseler Fi 156 ''Storch''.

Education

Dr. Hoerner studied mechanical engineering at the

Technical University of Munich The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; german: Technische Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied science, applied and Natural sci ...

, earning a Dipl.Ing. and he earned a degree as Dr.-Ing. in aerodynamics at the Institute of Technology at Braunschweig. Finally, he obtained a degree as Dr.-Ing.-habil. from the TH Berlin.

Career

Initially, he served as research assistant at the Deutsche Versuchsanstalt fur Luftfahrt (DVL, near Berlin). After this, he worked as an aerodynamicist at the Fieseler Corporation, where he worked on the aerodynamic design of the

Fieseler Fi 156 Storch 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 f ...

STOL aircraft. From there, he went to

Junkers Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG (JFM, earlier JCO or JKO in World War I, English: Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works) more commonly Junkers , was a major German aircraft and aircraft engine manufacturer. It was founded there in Dessau, Ge ...

, where he worked as the head of design aerodynamics, before going to

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 parti ...

, where he worked as a research aerodynamicist 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. After the war, he was "invited" (

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 War ...

) to emigrate to the United States, where he worked in aerodynamics at

Wright Field Wilbur Wright Field was a military installation and an airfield used as a World War I pilot, mechanic, and armorer training facility and, under different designations, conducted United States Army Air Corps and Air Forces flight testing. Lo ...

in Ohio. Eventually, he ended up working as a specialist in aerodynamics and hydrodynamics in the field of naval architecture at Gibbs & Cox, Inc. in New York City.

Contributions

In 1945 and 1946, Dr. Hoerner prepared a manuscript for the book ''Aerodynamic Drag''. The technical publishing houses in New York City were not confident enough to bring a book as specialized as this to the market. As a result, he published the book himself in 1951, using a photo-offset process and sold copies of the book by mail order from his home. The book got very good reviews and demand was steady. In 1958 it was reissued as ''Fluid-Dynamic Drag''. With the rapid progress in aerodynamics over the years, he prepared an update to the book, which was published in 1965. As before, the book was self-published by Hoerner Fluid Dynamics. This book contains documentation of the worldwide knowledge (at the time) of the sources of aerodynamic drag and the means to quantify aerodynamic drag. While substantial knowledge on this subject has been learned since 1965, this book is often the starting point in work where aerodynamic drag must be calculated. The US Navy Office of Naval Research gave Dr. Hoerner a contract in the mid-1960s to write a companion volume ''Fluid-Dynamic Lift''. Co-authored with Henry V. "Hank" Borst, this book was published by Hoerner Fluid Dynamics in 1975. Unfortunately, Dr. Hoerner died before publication. This book, like its companion, contains documentation of the worldwide knowledge on the generation of aerodynamic lift and is still used heavily.

Personal life

Dr. Hoerner was married to Liselotte A. Hoerner. After his death, she continued the mail order business, selling copies of both books to engineers around the world.

References

; Bibliography * Hoerner, Dr. Sighard F., ''Aerodynamic Drag'', Otterbein Press, Dayton Ohio, 1951. * Hoerner, Dr. Sighard F., ''Fluid-Dynamic Drag'', Hoerner Fluid Dynamics, Bricktown New Jersey, 1965. * Hoerner, Dr. Sighard F. and Borst, Henry V., ''Fluid-Dynamic Lift'', Hoerner Fluid Dynamics, Bricktown New Jersey, 1975.

External links

DAR Corporation's bookstore - one source for Dr. Hoerner's books
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoerner, Sighard Aerodynamicists Aviation pioneers German aerospace engineers American aerospace engineers 1906 births 1971 deaths Technical University of Munich alumni Operation Paperclip 20th-century American engineers People from Münster Engineers from North Rhine-Westphalia German emigrants to the United States