Franz Wels
Franz Wels , after Franz Xaver Wels, (born February 10, 1873 in Maribor , † October 18, 1940 in Vienna ) was an Austrian designer and aviation pioneer.
Life
Franz Wels, the son of a hotelier, attended elementary school in Maribor and secondary school in Graz and then the state trade school .
Wels began his career as a technician at Warchalowski in Vienna . Because of his interest, he visited the technical center in Mittweida in Saxony (today: Hochschule Mittweida ) in 1893 , but had to join the infantry regiment in Graz that same year . He then took a gymnastics and fencing instructor course in Wiener Neustadt and graduated from the cadet school in Kamenitz in Slavonia . From 1895 he devoted himself to the art of fencing on the one hand and made aeronautical studies on the other. In 1898 he retired from the military and worked in England as a technician in a machine factory.
When Viktor Silberer was looking for a pilot for Wilhelm Kress , Wels got in touch. As a result, Igo Etrich worked for a long time and examined the different wing shapes as they occur in nature. So he built model aircraft based on the flying seed Zanonia macrocarpa from Java . This development led to the patenting of a flying wing aircraft . The first flight with a model that carried a human took place on October 2, 1907. The maximum achieved range was 225 meters at a height of 15 to 17 meters.
In Trautenau (Bohemia) he also developed snowmobiles that were driven by a propeller. However, the aircraft predominated, so attempts with sleds were abandoned.
After Etrich moved to the Rotunda in Vienna and Etrich traveled frequently to Paris, the collaboration ended. Wels developed a double-decker . With Georg Graf Khevenhüller he began to develop a swing-wing aircraft in Wiener Neustadt. However, the attempts were soon discontinued.
Wels also gave numerous lectures on the plant and animal fliers in nature . Wels developed snowmobiles for the German military and applied for several patents in the process.
During the First World War he had to enter 1916 and was assigned to the Vienna Reserve Hospital. There he had to carry out research tasks for joint prostheses . He set up a prosthesis workshop at the orthopedic surgeon Hans Spitzy . He applied for a few patents in this area as well.
After the war, he was looking for a financier to help him develop his aircraft. Similar to a water turbine, he developed a swing propeller ( translation operation ). One model could fly in 1922. However , he was unsuccessful with a large model that he had manufactured in Bielsko , Poland.
In 1927 he was invited to Harta Castle (Czech Podhůří ) near Hohenelbe to develop sleds and boats. But even here he was not successful, so that he returned to Vienna in 1932.
Since he did not have a proper employment relationship, but only continued to develop his inventions, he became impoverished. He died on October 18, 1940. His funeral was carried out by the Vienna community.
In 1966, Franz-Wels-Gasse in Vienna- Donaustadt (22nd district) was named after him.
source
- Aviaticum Aviation Museum , Wiener Neustadt
Individual evidence
- ↑ Lot No. 008 ETRICH TAUBE ( Memento from August 29, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Historical information on the Etrich Taube, accessed on April 12, 2018
- ^ Aviation in Austria ( memento of October 25, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) in the Austrian Mint, 18th year, 1st edition 2007, accessed on December 29, 2010
Web links
- Entry on Franz Wels in the Austria Forum (in the AEIOU Austria Lexicon )
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Wels, Franz |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austrian designer and aviation pioneer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 10, 1873 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Maribor |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 18, 1940 |
| Place of death | Vienna |