Günther Groenhoff

Groenhoff with Alexander Dominicus at the awarding of the eagle plaque

Günther Groenhoff during flight tests with the RRG- Storch V in Berlin-Tempelhof (1931)

Günther Groenhoff (born April 7, 1908 in Stade ; † July 23, 1932 ( crashed near the Wasserkuppe )) was one of the first glider pioneers .

Live and act

Groenhoff learned to fly with Ferdinand Schulz in Rossitten (today: Rybatschi ) in 1923 . From 1926 to 1929 he completed training in powered flight up to commercial pilot. From 1929 he was a flight instructor on the Wasserkuppe and became a test pilot under Alexander Lippisch .

Groenhoff further developed Wolf Hirth's principle of thermal flight and discovered during the 11th Rhön gliding competition in August 1930 the possibility of steep circles in a thermal tube. Using two thunderstorm fronts, he managed a record distance of 272 km from Munich to Kadan on May 4, 1931 and climbed up to 2200 m.

Also noteworthy are Groenhoff's glider research flights - especially with the early high-performance glider Fafnir - as well as his glider expedition to the Jungfraujoch . He was a participant in all Rhön competitions and received the Hindenburg Cup in 1931 .

Groenhoff was killed in 1932 when the Fafnir crashed during the 13th Rhön competition on July 23, 1932. His body was recovered below the horse's head , the western foothills of the Wasserkuppe.

Memory and honors

A memorial stone and a plaque on the Wasserkuppe massif near the Tränkhof district of Poppenhausen mark the crash site where Günther Groenhoff died.

The air sports club in his hometown is called Groenhoff in honor of the air sports club Günther Groenhoff Stade eV The building of the information center of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Rhön on the Wasserkuppe also bears his name: Groenhoff House . In Weyhers (municipality Ebersburg ) and in Oberursel (Hochtaunuskreis), Cochem-Brauheck (Cochem) and Griesheim is Groenhoff street named after him in Fulda , Frankfurt and Gersfeld the Günther-Groenhoff Street . There is a Groenhoffweg in Kiel-Holtenau .

Grave in the main cemetery in Frankfurt

His grave in the main cemetery in Frankfurt is a grave of honor and is a listed building . The tomb was designed by Carl Stock .

Works

Günther Groenhoff, I fly with and without a motor , Frankfurter Societäts-Druckerei, Frankfurt, 1932

literature

Günther Groenhoff, I fly with and without a motor , Frankfurter Societäts-Druckerei, Frankfurt, 1932
K. Anders and H. Eichelbaum, Dictionary of Aviation , Quelle and Meyer, Leipzig, 1937
Walter Zuerl, Günther Groenhoff and the golden years of German gliding , Luftfahrt-Verlag Zuerl, Steinebach (Wörthsee), 1974
A. Wilhelm Neuberger, The Engineering School for Aviation Technology , Books on Demand, Norderstedt, 2005, ISBN 3-8334-3051-6
Flugsport - illustrated aviation magazine for the entire flight being . In: Carl Oskar Ursinus (Ed.): Flugsport . Verlag für Flugsport, Frankfurt am Main 1920 ( Flugsport in the luftfahrt-bibliothek.de [accessed on March 8, 2020]).

Web links

Commons : Günther Groenhoff - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Short biography in the portal of the air sports club Günther Groenhoff Stade eV [1]

Remarks

↑ Aviation 1932 No. 16, August 3, 1932 , p. 290: “The heavy machine got off the ground badly. The tail end hit a stone or bump in the ground, damaging the rudder and setting it aside, blocking the elevator. The machine sagged badly and disappeared behind the forest. At the last moment Groenhoff had jumped off with the parachute at a very low height above the forest and hit the branch of a tree, fatally injuring it. Groenhoff was found on the ground, covered by his parachute. "

Individual evidence

^ Günther Groenhoff - Wasserkuppe. Accessed March 2, 2019 (German).
↑ Frankfurt main cemetery: Won XIV (Roman 14). In: Frankfurt main cemetery. Harald Fester , accessed on June 8, 2016 (grave location according to list of names: Gewann XIV 219b): "Groenhoff, Günther (1908–1932) Segelflieger"

personal data
SURNAME	Groenhoff, Günther
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German glider pioneer
DATE OF BIRTH	April 7, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH	Stade
DATE OF DEATH	July 23, 1932
Place of death	Wasserkuppe (crashed)

[Flugsport_16_1932-08-03_290-1] Aviation 1932 No. 16, August 3, 1932 , p. 290: “The heavy machine got off the ground badly. The tail end hit a stone or bump in the ground, damaging the rudder and setting it aside, blocking the elevator. The machine sagged badly and disappeared behind the forest. At the last moment Groenhoff had jumped off with the parachute at a very low height above the forest and hit the branch of a tree, fatally injuring it. Groenhoff was found on the ground, covered by his parachute. "

[2] Günther Groenhoff - Wasserkuppe. Accessed March 2, 2019 (German).

[fhfh-3] Frankfurt main cemetery: Won XIV (Roman 14). In: Frankfurt main cemetery. Harald Fester , accessed on June 8, 2016 (grave location according to list of names: Gewann XIV 219b): "Groenhoff, Günther (1908–1932) Segelflieger"