Fritz Raab (aircraft designer)
Fritz Raab (* 25. January 1909 in Riedering ; † 12. October 1989 in Unterföhring ) was a German glider - designer whose designs found in Amateurbaubereich high reputation.
Life
Fritz Raab only began building model aircraft in 1926 at the age of 17. At the age of 21, he joined a gliding club and graduated from the basic glider license in 1931 . Fritz Raab completed his first self-construction in 1935 in Oberpfaffenhofen with the Raab R 2 practice single-seater . The aircraft was intended for flight captain Hans Hoch and was christened "Kapitän Hoch". As a trade teacher in Greven , Raab built simple school gliders with his students like the SG 38 before the war . During his time as an apprentice, Raab dealt with lightweight constructions for gliding. During the war, Fritz Raab became the technical director of the glider test center in Trebbin-Schönhagen near Berlin. After the war Raab went to Munich and became the head of a technical trade school.
After the approval of gliding in the young Federal Republic of Germany, Fritz Raab began to construct a two-seat glider trainer as an alternative training machine to the single-seat school gliders. During the construction, Raab assumed a Grunau baby , in which he arranged a second, upwardly offset seat for the flight instructor behind the pilot's seat. Raab built the prototype of the Raab Doppelraab in 1950 at the Dachau Aeroclub . The first flight took place on August 5, 1951 on the occasion of the Rhöntreffen on the Wasserkuppe . When designing the design, Raab tried to find simple structures that could also be reproduced in a smaller workshop. Raab gave the plans for his "Doppelraab" to air sports clubs for replication. In Kirchheim, Wolf Hirth later acquired replica licenses for 300 machines for Schempp-Hirth . Due to the low manufacturing and procurement costs and the good flight characteristics, the Raab Doppelraab developed into one of the most successful glider trainers in the early Federal Republic of Germany.
From 1954 Fritz Raab worked with Alfons Pützer on a motorized version of the Doppelraab under the name Pützer Motorraab , which in May 1955 completed what was probably the first official powered flight of a German aircraft after the Second World War. In 1957, Pützer and Raab derived the Pützer Elster from the Motorraab , which was part of the initial equipment of the sports flight groups of the Bundeswehr . Also in 1957, Pützer and Raab developed the test vehicle Pützer Dohle for Walter Horten , in which he tested a long-distance shaft drive from Karl Lürenbaum .
After the Elster development was completed, Alfons Pützer and Fritz Raab parted ways in 1958. As early as 1957 Fritz Raab had worked out the plans for his own motor glider under the name "Raab Krähe". The crow was later built in series at Rock Glider Construction.
Fritz Raab died on October 10, 1989 in Munich.
Airplane developments by and with Fritz Raab
- Raab R 2 - single-seat glider from 1935, unique item
- Raab Doppelraab - two-seat training glider from 1950, approx. 500 self-made and by Schempp-Hirth
- Pützer Motorraab - motorized Doppelraab from 1955, 4 pieces at Alfons Pützer KG
- Pützer Dohle - motorized double-decker as motor glider with pusher propeller from 1957, one-off for Walter Horten
- Pützer Elster - two-seater motorized travel machine, 46 pieces at Alfons Pützer KG
- Raab Krähe - motor glider from 1957, license build by Rock Segelflugzeugbau
Web links
- Luftsportverein Burgdorf eV - Doppelraab page with biographical information on Fritz Raab
Individual evidence
- ^ Fritz Raab † . In: aerokurier . No. 11 , 1989, pp. 150 .
- ^ Luftsportverein Burgdorf eV - Article about Doppelraab
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Raab, Fritz |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German aircraft designer and entrepreneur |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 25, 1909 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Riedering |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 10, 1989 |
| Place of death | Munich |