'' Vizefeldwebel'' Wilhelm "Willi" Stör (10 May 1893 – 12 December 1977) was a

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...

credited with five aerial victories.The Aerodrome website page on Stö

Retrieved 16 September 2020. After the war, he was appointed the chief test pilot for Messerschmitt at the Augsburg factory..

Biography

Wilhelm Stör was born on 5 October 1893 in

Witten Witten () is a city with almost 100,000 inhabitants in the Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis (district) in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. Geography Witten is situated in the Ruhr valley, in the southern Ruhr area. Bordering municipalities * Bochum ...

, Germany.''Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps, 1914–1918'', p. 212 After serving in a Hussar Regiment of the Imperial German Army in

he transferred to the '' Luftstreitkrafte'' (Imperial German Flying Corps), where he became a fighter pilot with '' Jagdstaffel 68'' and was credited with shooting down three aircraft and two

observation balloon An observation balloon is a type of balloon that is employed as an aerial platform for gathering intelligence and spotting artillery. The use of observation balloons began during the French Revolutionary Wars, reaching their zenith during World ...

s. He was awarded the

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the in ...

for his actions. In the interwar period he became a stunt pilot and aerobatic instructor. He was then a pilot at the '' Deutsche Verkehrsfliegerschule'' (DVS—German Air Transport School) and won the German master aerobatic contest in 1935 and 1936 flying a BFW M.35 monoplane (serial D-EQAN) with a distinctive 'sun-burst' livery which he also demonstrated in other countries. He was then appointed the chief test pilot for

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 ...

at their factory in

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

and was notable for tutoring

Rudolf Hess Rudolf Walter Richard Hess (Heß in German; 26 April 1894 – 17 August 1987) was a German politician, Nuremberg trials, convicted war criminal and a leading member of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, Germany. Appointed Deputy Führer ( ...

to fly Messerschmitt aircraft including the Bf 108 and the Bf 110 (radio code VJ+OQ) that he flew to Scotland in 1941. Stör was directed to deliver two

Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a monoplane fighter aircraft that was designed and initially produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW). Together with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the Bf 109 formed the backbone of the ...

fighters to Kawasaki,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, in May 1941 and his colleague Helmut Kaden then took over as the flying instructor to Hess.

Sources of information

References

* ''Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps, 1914–1918''.

Norman Franks Norman Leslie Robert Franks (1940 – 21 May 2023) was an English militaria writer who specialised in aviation topics. He focused on the pilots and squadrons of World Wars I and II. Biography Franks published his first book in 1976. H ...

, Frank W. Bailey, Russell Guest. Grub Street, 1993. , . * ''The Flight of Rudolph Hess Myths and Reality''. Ray Conyers Nesbit and Georges van Acker, 1999. 1893 births 1977 deaths German World War I flying aces Luftstreitkräfte personnel Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class People from Witten Military personnel from the Province of Westphalia Military personnel from North Rhine-Westphalia {{germany-mil-bio-stub