Hermann Behrbohm

Hermann Behrbohm (around 1955)

Saab 35 Draken

Saab 37 Viggen

Otto Hermann Bernhard Behrbohm (born October 30, 1907 in Karlsruhe ( Grand Duchy of Baden , German Empire ), died October 12, 1977 in Fingelsham (Northbourne, Kent , England )) was a German mathematician who worked in Sweden and Germany .

Hermann Behrbohm was an expert in the aerodynamics and strength of materials in combat aircraft . He was instrumental in the mathematics behind the development of the aerodynamics of the delta wing concept and the technology of supersonic flight . He was instrumental in the design and development of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 , Messerschmitt Me 262 , Messerschmitt Me 163 , Lippisch P.13a , Saab 35 Draken and Saab 37 Viggen .

In 1968 he received the Thulin Medal of the Flygtekniska Föreningen (the Swedish DGLR ) in silver, because he had promoted aviation technology with his work.

His living conditions brought him to several countries where he worked in aerospace engineering. Finally, as a pensioner , he moved to England in 1972 with his second wife, a British woman. His children stayed in Sweden.

He has written numerous articles in the aerodynamics and mathematics press, which are available in libraries and on the Internet.

biography

Training and dissertation in Germany

He studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Karlsruhe and mathematics and number theory at the Georg-August University of Göttingen .

From 1933 to 1936, Behrbohm was a research assistant at the Georg-August University in Göttingen and wrote his dissertation on the identity of the meromorphisms of an elliptical body. The thesis was not approved for political reasons during the National Socialist era because the supervisor was Jewish. In 1944 he received his doctorate in mathematics and physics.

Behrbohm had problems marrying his first wife, Lilli Walter, because of the regulations in National Socialist Germany. She struggled to provide biological "purity certificates" because of her unnamed father. The marriage was only possible in 1940.

Messerschmitt

He was recruited into the Messerschmitt Aerodynamics department in Augsburg in 1937 .

Herrman Behrbom was a mathematician and, as such, in the aerospace industry, asked where to do your theoretical calculations and then run tests to move development projects forward.

Augsburg 1937–1944

He took part in work on high-speed tests with Messerschmitt Bf 109 with Lukas Schmid.

At Messerschmitt in Augsburg, the main project in these years was the development of the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet aircraft .

Here, too, from 1939 the development of the Messerschmitt Me 163 rocket aircraft took place under the direction of Alexander Lippisch .

Oberammergau 1944–1945

After the air raid on Augsburg on February 25, 1944, the development activities were drawn into the underground facility of the Upper Bavarian Research Institute in Oberammergau . The family stays in Mering .

From the end of 1944, Messerschmitt developed the Messerschmitt P.1101 jet aircraft under Willy Messerschmitt's direction . Messerschmitt P.1101 has a lot in total with Saab 29 Tunnan , which was created in Saab before Hermann's time, as well as with MiG-15 and F-86 Saber .

Wiener Neustadt 1944–1945

From autumn 1944 he worked at half time for the Aviation Research Institute Vienna (LFW) in Wiener Neustadt , where Alexander Lippisch had opened his own development office.

Until then, Lippisch had worked for Messerschmitt with the Messerschmitt Me 163 rocket plane . He and Willy Messerschmitt disagreed on the design, in which Lippisch did not want a rear wing, provided air resistance and impaired performance.

In Wiener Neustadt, Lippisch worked on the further development of the delta-winged (rear wingless) mini fighter Lippisch P.13a (coal jet aircraft), which was included in the Volksjäger program at the end of the war . Where Lippisch P.13a Delta technology is the reason for Saab 35 Draken has in its design, to the development of which Hermann later contributed. So also ex Dassault Mirage .

You can see the Messerschmitt Me 163 and, last but not least, Lippisch P.13a as the basis for all delta-winged fighter planes that followed in the 1950s.

Cast - BEE

After the war ended in 1945, Hermann was the unemployed father of a family with 4 children in Mering near Augsburg, American zone of occupation . They had housed income from gifts from American officers, but he also worked in agriculture and forestry for a time with natural payments for the family's food on the table.

In spring 1946 he was hired by BEE (French Institute for Aerodynamic Research and Development), with operations in Emmendingen and Weil am Rhein in the French zone of occupation in Germany .

After the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany and the end of the occupation, there were greater opportunities to find scientifically interesting work abroad, and Behrbohm received offers from France and other countries.

Saab

Hermann decided to work at Saab AB in 1951 . He moved to Linköping with his family and they became naturalized Swedes . The motives for the decision to work for Saab were the Saab 32 Lansen and Saab 35 Draken projects under Erik Bratt and Tore Gullstrand . Being a specialist in aerodynamics is a tight job market with few employers in the world who have sufficient resources to get good results. Saab, where they set up operations, and Sweden's ambitions gave Hermann the opportunity.

In the shadow of the Cold War and nuclear armament , it was the client's desire, the Swedish Air Force in the 1950s to 1970s, to be able to quickly attack strategic bombers like Tupolev Tu-16 before they reached their targets. This really fast with supersonic - Delta wing - fighter aircraft as Saab 35 Draken , with speed and readiness are the key factors were. The Swedish Air Force also needed invasion defense over the surrounding seas using ground attack aircraft as well as ultra-fast reconnaissance aircraft such as the Saab 37 Viggen . Costs and materials science for friction heat of the atmosphere set the limit for speed. This resulted in large orders to build a very large air force and resources for development .

Hermann stayed in Saab until his retirement in 1972 . In the years 1960–1964 he was head of the aerodynamics department , also took part in the Saab 37 Viggen and Saab 105 projects and published a large number of articles on aerodynamics. He was valued and won the Swedish Flygtekniska Föreningen Thulin Medal in 1968 in silver.

Hermann Behrbohm and Bertil Dillner put considerable effort into the design of the Saab 37 Viggen and especially the design and testing of the canard wing construction.

After his retirement he moved with his second wife (1964–1977 Pamela Leach (his death), 1 child) to their hometown in the south of England and lived there afterwards.

See also

• List of known people in aviation
• Saab 32 Lansen
• Saab 35 Draken
• Saab 105
• Saab 37 Viggen

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Flygtekniska Föreningen Thulinmedaljen
2. ↑ Flygtekniska Föreningen Thulinmedaljen Silvermedaljörer-1944-2015
3. ↑ [1]
4. ↑ On the algebraicity of the meromorphisms of an elliptical function body, news from the Society of Sciences in Göttingen , series: Mathematisch-Physikalische Klasse - Fachgruppe 1 Mathematik Neue Zusammenarbeit Volume 1 - No. 8, Hermann Behrbohm, Weidmann Verlag, Berlin 1935
5. ↑ High speed trials, Messerschmitt bf109F to k Radinger-Wolfgang, Schiffer's military history, sid 16
6. ↑ Peter Behrbohm's memorial notes
7. ↑ Peter Behrbohm's memorial notes
8. ↑ Peter Behrbohm's notes
9. ↑ false statement - "Note that Herman Behbohm was first in 1951 engaged by Saab and not (as claimed) with Frid Wänström and the Messerschmitt drawings that Saab has acquired in Switzerland in 1945 and the foundation for Saab 29 Tunnan have laid , Margareta Behrbohm. "
10. ^ " Royal Bill (of the Swedish Government) to Law Day No. 110 of 1955 "
11. ^ " Royal Bill (of the Swedish Government) to Law Day No. 110 of 1957 "
12. ^ " Royal Bill (of the Swedish Government) to the Law Day No. 110 of 1958 "
13. ^ " Royal Bill (of the Swedish Government) to Law Day No. 117 of 1959 "
14. ^ " Royal Bill (of the Swedish Government) to the Law Day No. 110 in 1962 "
15. ↑ Teknisk Tidskrift / Årgång 82. 1952/1062
16. ↑ Flyghistorisk revy, 0345-3413, System 37 Viggen , article by Erik Bratt