Albert Gillis von Baumhauer

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First helicopter construction by Albert Gillis von Baumhauer with the pilot Leutnant FH van Heyst in Soesterberg (1925)

Albert Gillis von Baumhauer (born October 10, 1891 in Heerenveen , † March 18, 1939 in Alder , Washington , United States ) was a Dutch aviation pioneer . He built the first helicopter in the Netherlands. In 1939 he was killed on a test flight with a Boeing in the USA.

biography

Career

Albert Gillis von Baumhauer studied mechanical engineering at the TH Delft between 1910 and 1916 . However, his real interest was aviation . In 1910, together with Pieter Jacobus Six and his brother, he built a double-decker , which they had in the dunes near Zandvoort to take advantage of the strong wind there. In the same year he built the model of a helicopter with two counter-rotating rotors that flew but was not stable. In 1913 he received the air christening from French pilot Florentin Champel in Juvisy-sur-Orge .

After studying in Delft, von Baumhauer studied aerodynamics in Göttingen and at the ETH Zurich , where he met the mathematician and aviation experts Ludwig Prandtl and Theodore von Kármán . Von Kármán built a helicopter together with Stephan Petróczy von Petrócz in Austria-Hungary during the First World War . During his studies, von Baumhauer worked in the aerodynamics laboratory of the Koninklijke Nederlandsche Vereeniging voor Luchtvaart . In 1917, he joined NV Automobiel- en Vfluguigenfabriek Trompenburg in Amsterdam , manufacturer of Spyker aircraft and automobiles. In 1919 he became chief designer of the aviation division of Van Berkel's Patent in Rotterdam and was responsible for the design of the Van Berkel WB , a large seaplane for the Navy Luchtvaartdienst of the Royal Navy until the company closed that line of business in 1921. Von Baumhauer then went to the Rijksstudiedienst voor de Luchtvaart , the predecessor of today's Nationaal Lucht- en Ruimtevaartlaboratoriums , and for a while served as its vice-president. He devoted himself to wind tunnel tests and published scientific publications on various aspects of aviation, especially aviation security.

The later crashed prototype Boeing Model 307 Stratoliner (NX19901), on which Albert Gillis von Baumhauer was
Unveiling of a commemorative plaque for Albert Gillis von Baumhauer at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , in front of that his wife Hildegonda (1967)

In 1922 the British Ministry of Aviation announced a competition for the construction of helicopters. These should have a vertical ascent of 100 meters, reach a flight speed of 100 km / h and be able to land safely from a height of 100 meters with the engine switched off. The prize was £ 50,000 . The competition ran until May 1, 1925, and was later extended by one year. Von Baumhauer registered for the competition in April 1924 and founded the Vereeniging De Eerste Nederlandsche Hélicoptère for this purpose , whose director was Pieter Jacobus Six. The helicopter, which was built at Werkspoor in Amsterdam , was ready in April 1925, and the first flights were carried out in September 1925 by Lieutenant Floris Albert van Heyst. On February 10, 1926, van Heyst managed to hold the machine a few meters above the ground for five minutes; the height record for helicopters was then five meters. The British ministry granted von Baumhauer patent No. 265.272 for the flight control he had designed.

The British competition was finally canceled due to a fatal accident, but attempts to fly the von Baumhauer helicopter continued until 1930. Various improvements were made, but the machine was still not found to be wind resistant. On August 28, 1930, von Baumhauer himself flew by helicopter; the next day he crashed with the machine because the hinge pin of one of the rotor blades had broken. Edouard von Baumhauer was uninjured, but the helicopter was completely destroyed. Since the company ran out of money, it was not rebuilt. Von Baumhauer remained interested in the development of helicopters until the end of his life.

Edouard von Baumhauer was also active in other areas of aviation. In 1920 he visited the Rhön , at that time a center for glider pilots . In 1931 he was the first Dutchman to cover the distance over the dunes from Noordwijk to Zandvoort and back in a glider in an hour . In 1931 he received his license for powered flight.

In 1937 Baumhauer became an engineer in the civil aviation department of the Ministerie van Verkeer en Waterstaat (later Rijksluchtvaartdienst ), where he was responsible for inspecting new types of aircraft. In March 1939 he went on a study trip to the USA, where he was killed in an accident with the prototype of the four-engine Boeing Model 307 Stratoliner in Alder, 100 kilometers south of Seattle , Washington state. The flight had started in Seattle, which is where the plane was supposed to return. In a subsequent investigation it was found that the flight captain Julius Barr had no experience in test flights of this type, nor did Baumhauer, who had sat next to him as a co-pilot. The vice president of KLM Pieter Guilonard, Boeing chief engineer Earl Ferguson , five other Boeing employees and a representative from TWA also died in this accident . Albert Gillis von Baumhauer's body was transferred to the Netherlands and buried in Haarlem .

At the time of his death, Baumhauer was about to be appointed professor at TH Delft. He was a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society , a corresponding member of the German Academy for Aviation Research and the Netherlands' representative in the Daniel Guggenheim Fund , which was specifically dedicated to aviation.

family

The von Baumhauer family originally came from the Coesfeld area and had been a merchant in the Netherlands since the 18th century. One of the family's ancestors was the Monschau cloth manufacturer Bernhard Georg von Scheibler . Albert Gillis von Baumhauer's grandfather was the chemist Eduard Heinrich von Baumhauer (1820–1885), his brother the lawyer and resistance fighter against the German occupation of the Netherlands Edouard Henri von Baumhauer (1890–1950). Albert Gillis von Baumhauer married Hildegonda Johanna Oldenhuis Gratama in 1919; this marriage had a son and two daughters. The son Eduard Mari von Baumhauer (1920–1941) was active in the resistance like his uncle and drowned in the North Sea in February 1941 together with his friend Arnold Cohen on the way to England with a self-made boat. While Cohen's body was missing, von Baumhauer's was driven in June 1941 in Texel .

literature

  • DirkJan Rozema / Simon J. Boersen: Albert Gillis von Baumhauer: een veelzijdig Nederlandse luchtvaartingenieur (1891–1939) . Lanasta, 2015, ISBN 978-90-8616-150-8 (Dutch).

Web links

Commons : Albert Gillis von Baumhauer  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Baumhauer, Albert Gillis von (1891–1939). In: resources.huygens.knaw.nl. Retrieved October 25, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Six, yr. Pieter Jacob (1895-1986). In: resources.huygens.knaw.nl. November 11, 1918. Retrieved October 25, 2018 .
  3. ↑ a b Relly Victoria Petrescu: The Aviation History. BoD - Books on Demand, 2013, ISBN 978-3-8482-6639-5 , p. 74 ( limited preview in Google book search).
  4. ↑ a b Harro Ranter: ASN Aircraft accident Boeing p. 307 Stratoliner NX19901 Alder, WA. In: aviation-safety.net. March 18, 1939, Retrieved October 28, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Remembering Boeing Stratoliner Prototype Crash Near Alder. In: EatonvilleNews. January 18, 2015, accessed October 28, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Collectie 408 Family (Von) Baumhauer (NL-HaNA - 2.21.205.04) - Archives Portal Europe. In: archivesportaleurope.net. Retrieved October 28, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Inventory van het archief van de familie von Baumhauer, 1513–2005. Accessed October 25, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Baumhauer, Albert Gillis from
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch aviation pioneer
DATE OF BIRTH October 10, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH Heerenveen
DATE OF DEATH March 18, 1939
Place of death Alder , Washington , United States