Gustav Adolf Baumm

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Flying deck chair Baumm IV

Gustav Adolf Baumm (born June 16, 1920 in Breslau ; † May 23, 1955 on the Nürburgring ) was a German graphic artist , motorcycle designer and racing driver .

He pursued the idea that lying on your back on a motorcycle results in more favorable flow conditions than the prone position that had been common up until then for record attempts. "Most sensational air resistance values" were measured in the wind tunnel using a streamline shape developed according to his information at the NSU .

In 1951, he designed the BAUMM I, a new kind of racing motorcycle that was steered by the driver lying on his back and was therefore also called the “ flying deck chair ”, resulting in an extremely low height of about 75 cm for the vehicle.

Baumm was able to interest the NSU in this concept and provide practical evidence of the functionality of his idea. As a freelancer for the NSU, Baumm built the record vehicles BAUMM I and BAUMM II , with which he set eleven new world speed records in 1954 for the 50 to 175 cm³ classes. a. were that:

  • BAUMM I (49 cm³, 3.4 PS ~ = 2.5 kW), streamlined fairing, 127 km / h, (1955 even 151 km / h)
  • BAUMM II (98 cm³, 7.2 HP ~ = 5.25 kW), streamlined fairing, 178 km / h

On May 23, 1955 he came on a demonstration drive in front of the XVIII. International ADAC Eifel race on the Nürburgring off the track and had a fatal accident.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The test drive led to death ( Memento from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), Hamburger Abendblatt from May 25, 1955
  2. ↑ Der Spiegel , issue 19 of May 5, 1954 ( online )
personal data
SURNAME Baum, Gustav Adolf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German graphic artist, motorcycle designer and racing driver
DATE OF BIRTH June 16, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH Wroclaw
DATE OF DEATH May 23, 1955
Place of death on the Nürburgring