Carl Steiger
Carl Eduard Steiger , also Karl Steiger , (born September 20, 1857 in Bauma , canton Zurich ; † July 24, 1946 in Kilchberg , canton Zurich; resident in Flawil ) was a Swiss aircraft designer, aviation pioneer and painter .
life and work
Carl Steiger was the son of a St. Gallen factory owner. He trained as an engineer in Munich and from 1879 to 1881 as a painter at the Academy of Fine Arts .
With a self-constructed tailless glider , Steiger made his first attempt at levitation in the winter of 1891. In the same year Steiger published a booklet entitled Vogelflug und Flugmaschinen , which appeared in Munich and which he was able to sell 500 copies. In 1892, Steiger designed a high-wing aircraft powered by propellers based on an American patent . As a passionate water sports enthusiast, he orientated himself on the screws of watercraft and in 1905 submitted a US patent for a screw propeller, which was granted on November 24, 1908. Steiger soon let the patent lapse.
Together with his friend FJ Voltz-Sprüngli, Steiger built a double-decker in the Kilchberg “Bösch shipyard” in 1908, but it never flew due to a lack of engine power.
After the engine flight tests, Steiger's studies turned to bird flight. In 1911, for example, he constructed a "usable artificial bird" in the shape of a seagull with a retractable chassis. In 1914 a larger-than-life albatross model followed . Steiger placed his designs in the wind tunnel at ETH Zurich and was able to optimize the models. His studies on the aerodynamics of bird flight continued and fascinated Steiger into old age.
His grandson Peter Steiger taught as a professor of architecture at the Technical University of Darmstadt for 20 years .
literature
- Erich Tilgenkamp: Heavier than air. Brief biographies of the first 100 Swiss pilots. Swiss Air Traffic 1918–1942, Vol. 2. Aero Verlag, Zurich.
Web links
- Steiger, Carl. In: Sikart (as of July 10, 2018), accessed on March 1, 2020.
- Carl Steiger in the German biography
- Peter Steiger: Birds flight and flying machines. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung , January 5, 2004
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Steiger, Carl |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Steiger, Carl Eduard (full name); Steiger, Karl |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swiss aircraft designer, aviation pioneer and painter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 20, 1857 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bauma , Canton of Zurich |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 24, 1946 |
| Place of death | Kilchberg , Canton of Zurich |