Fritz Wendel (pilot)

Friedrich "Fritz" Wendel (born February 21, 1915 in Monzernheim ; † February 9, 1975 in Augsburg ) was a German flight captain, test pilot and world record holder.

Life

After finishing school, Wendel became interested in flying and got a position as a flight instructor in the Air Force. In 1936 he switched to the Messerschmitt aircraft factory as a test pilot , where he became chief pilot .

Record aircraft Me 209 V1 in the Polish Aviation Museum

With a Messerschmitt Me 209 with a Daimler-Benz DB 601 engine, he set a world record for airplanes with a piston engine of 755.138 km / h on April 26, 1939 over a measuring section between Augsburg and Buchloe , which was not broken until 1969 could. On July 18, 1942, Wendel started a successful test flight from Leipheim Air Base near Ulm with a series-produced jet-powered aircraft, the Messerschmitt Me 262 .

After the Second World War, he married into a medium-sized Augsburg brewery. On October 30, 1950, Fritz Wendel founded the Augsburg Aviation Association (AVL) with Helmut Kaden and Ernst Frank . Fritz Wendel was, like the balloon pioneer Ernst Frank, chairman of the Augsburg Association for Glider Flying (AVS). At times, Wendel was also President of the Augsburg Ice Skating Club . In 1975 he committed suicide .

Honors

• Golden sports plaque of the city of Augsburg in 1939.
• In Augsburg the Fritz-Wendel-Straße was named after him, the street of the same name in Wachenheim an der Weinstraße is named after the Wachenheim citizen and city councilor Fritz Wendel (1893–1967), author of the “History of the City of Wachenheim”.

Records and data

• April 26, 1939: As a flight captain, he set a world record for piston airplanes (755 km / h) with an Me 209 V1, which was to last for 30 years.
• July 18, 1942: First flight (with jet engines alone) of the first mass-produced jet aircraft (Me 262 A). A total of almost 1,600 pieces were produced.
• November 5, 1943: First flight of the prototype Bf 109 H-0 V54 (Wrk. No. 15708). The "H" was supposed to be an altitude reconnaissance aircraft, but the project was discontinued due to wing flutter and the great progress of the Ta 152 .

literature

• Robert Deininger: Augsburg - portrait of an aviation city. Presse-Druck- und Verlags GmbH, Augsburg 1995.
• Friedrich (Fritz) Wendel. In: Wolfram Baer: Augsburger Stadtlexikon. 2nd Edition. Perlach, Augsburg 1998, ISBN 3-922769-28-4 .
• Fritz Wendel , in: Internationales Biographisches Archiv 25/1975 of June 9, 1975, in the Munzinger Archive ( beginning of the article freely accessible).

Web links

• Pilots Notes on ME 262 by Flug Kapitan Wendel (PDF file; 46 kB)