Ludwig Hofmann (aviator)

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Ludwig Hofmann (born July 19, 1912 in Elsenfeld , † September 14, 1979 in Bühl (Baden) ) was a German record pilot , test pilot and aviation pioneer .

Early successes

He started training as a glider pilot at the age of 16 , followed three years later by motorized flight training . Hofmann achieved his first major success in 1934 as the overall winner of the Rhön competition on the Wasserkuppe . In the years that followed, he set several national, European and five world records , including a world distance record of 474 km in 1935, with which he was the first person to break the 400 km limit and surpass the existing record by almost 100 km.

In the same year he was the route winner of the 1st International Alpine Gliding Competition on the Jungfraujoch in Switzerland . In recognition of his flying achievements in 1935, Ludwig Hofmann received the newly created Adolf Hitler Prize for gliding, the successor to the Hindenburg Cup . In 1936 he belonged with Hanna Reitsch , Otto Bräutigam and Heinz Huth to the German Olympic team of glider pilots and in 1937 he was runner-up behind Heini Dittmar at the first glider world championship.

Activity as a test pilot

In 1937 Hofmann was appointed head of the piloting test center in Trebbin . In this role, he subjected almost all German glider types to a flight characteristics test. He was also responsible for the aeronautical development work of the SG 38 school glider , which subsequently became the most frequently built training aircraft in the world.

At Flettner in helicopter development

During the Second World War , Ludwig Hofmann worked as a test pilot for helicopters and jet fighters , but remained largely apolitical in the spirit of National Socialism . At first he worked as a test pilot for the Anton Flettner works in Berlin . In this function he carried out several test flights with the Flettner Fl 265 in 1940 and 1941 , including landing on June 18, 1941 on a platform of the cruiser Cologne .

On October 31, 1941, Hofmann finally made the maiden flight of the Flettner Fl 282 Kolibri , the world's first operational military helicopter. In the following years he carried out systematic spin flights with a helicopter for the first time worldwide and completed the first deck landings on ships at full speed.

On April 27, 1942, he took off twice in just 26 minutes for altitude test flights, during which he reached heights of 3500 meters and 3800 meters. Both flights exceeded the last world record set by Karl Bode before the war : 3427 meters, flown on January 29, 1939 with an Fw 61 V2 .

At Bachem in rocket development

When, in the early summer of 1944, German helicopter development came to an almost complete standstill in favor of the so-called "Jäger Emergency Program", Hofmann was transferred to the secret project Bachem Ba 349 Natter. First he had to try out the new jet engines at Argus in Berlin, in particular the As 014 pulse jet engine .

Hofmann was scheduled for the world's first manned rocket launch. He was supposed to fly the vertical take-off Ba 349 Natter interceptor, one of the third Reich's secret “ miracle weapons ” projects. In preparation, he should first acquire as much flying experience as possible on fixed-wing aircraft, including on the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet rocket aircraft (but only in tow). In addition, prone flying in converted aircraft was part of the preparation program.

Since the Ba 349 Natter had to be parachuted off, the well-known parachutist Wilhelm Buss was assigned to Berlin from the Rechlin test site to do intensive parachute training with Hofmann. Hofmann was seriously injured during one of the jumps. He suffered a fractured skull base and spent the next few months in the hospital. However, this calamity saved his life. After several pilots had refused the task, Lothar Sieber finally carried out the world's first manned rocket launch on March 1, 1945 on the Swabian Alb . Shortly after take-off, the rocket plane crashed and exploded on impact, Lothar Sieber did not survive the accident.

At Messerschmitt in the jet fighter development

After his recovery, Hofmann was transferred to Messerschmitt at the beginning of 1945 , where he had to fly high-speed with the Me 262 , the world's first operational jet fighter . The so-called Mach tilting should be examined. Mano Ziegler writes: "The pilots climbed to an altitude of 10,000 to 12,000 meters and steered into a steep orbit flight with fully running engines and reached a speed of about 950 km / h at about 7,000 meters."

The aviation historian Manfred Jurleit writes about the special dangers of this activity: “Incidents in flight operations were not uncommon, as in any manufacturing company. But when the Me 262 flew in, more accidents than with conventional types happened due to the new engine technology and the high speeds. "

In the service of Watson's Whizzers

After the end of the war he was ordered to do reparation work by the US Air Force . He was one of two Messerschmitt pilots who had the task of training the so-called Watson's Whizzers on the Me 262. The Watson's Whizzers were a special unit of the Air Technical Intelligence (ATI) of the US Air Force, which, under the direction of Colonel Harold E. Watson, had the task of searching for and securing innovative aircraft technology in occupied Germany.

The US Air Force paid particular attention to the new jet fighter Me 262. Ludwig Hofmann and Karl Baur trained the US pilots on a two-seater version of the Me 262. This aircraft was transferred by Hofmann from Lechfeld to Melun near Paris . In honor of Hofmann, the pilots of the Watson's Whizzers gave this Me 262 (Me 262 B-1a, serial number 110639, US no. 555) the name "Willie", which was Hofmann's nickname among the Americans, as it was not Ludwig could pronounce correctly. Wolfgang WE Samuel writes about it: “By unanimous vote of the Whizzers, Vera was rechristened Willie in honor of their ever jovial and story telling Messerschmitt test pilot, Ludwig Hoffmann (sic!). They had come to like Willie, and this was their way of saying, 'Willie, you are one of us.' “This Me 262 Willie is now on display at the Willow Grove Naval Air Station in Pennsylvania / USA. From 1993 to 2000 this aircraft was loaned to the "Me 262 Project" to serve as a model for the Texas Airplane Factory for an airworthy replica of the world's first operational jet fighter. These replicas of the Me 262 “Willie” are now flying.

Among the aircraft captured by the Watson's Whizzers was a version equipped with a 50 mm on-board cannon (type MK 214 ), which Colonel Watson attached particular importance to. When transferring the airworthy Me 262 to Cherbourg , Hofmann was supposed to fly this Me 262. The captured aircraft were to be shipped from Cherbourg to the USA on the aircraft carrier HMS Reaper . This (provisionally) last flight by a German pilot in the Me 262. on June 30, 1945 resulted in a fatal accident.

Between Paris and Cherbourg, one of the engines suddenly caught fire at an altitude of about 3000 meters and after a cracking noise the jet fighter went into an ever steeper and faster orbit inclination flight, from which it could no longer be intercepted even with all efforts on the control stick . After another loud bang, the shaking of the whole aircraft increased, knocked the stick out of his hand and Hofmann was initially unable to even use the throttle to reduce the thrust of the engines. When he finally got hold of the levers, he found that they could no longer be moved. With further increasing speed and inclination of the flight path as well as more and more extreme shaking, the rudders lost their effect and the last hope was the exit at an altitude of only a few hundred meters. Hofmann had great difficulty in performing the hand movements (first throwing off the canopy) which were supposed to enable him to leave the cockpit. Since the Me 262 did not have an ejection seat and he would hardly have been able to "work his way out" of the shaking aircraft in an upright position against gravity, he tried the method (well known among experienced test and front pilots), the aircraft with a half roll in inverted flight and then released from the cockpit supported by gravity and the suction effect of the airflow.

With both hands on the control stick, he initiated half the roll, but was sucked out of the cockpit at the beginning of the rotation around the longitudinal axis and then hit the side wall or tail unit so hard with his right leg that the fabric of the trouser leg later "as if with Colored camouflage "presented. On this flight he used an American Irvin glider with a tensile strength of up to 650 km / h - he got off at an estimated speed of around 900 km / h! Due to the remaining low altitude, Hofmann could not, as recommended in such cases, initially reduce the speed to the constant approx. 250 km / h with outstretched arms and legs, but he immediately released the parachute. Due to the extreme load of the unfolding impact, his shoes and socks were "taken off" by the strong inertia and the glider was severely damaged - the landing was correspondingly hard and Hofmann was briefly passed out.

During the subsequent odyssey (after minimal medical care, initially on a horse and cart) through French and American local institutions (which of course had no knowledge of his very special transfer flight) he almost passed out from pain several times. Finally, after long hesitation, a commander of a US unit called Colonel Watson, whereupon the situation cleared up and Hofmann finally received the overdue intensive medical care for his serious injuries.

The aviation historian Manfred Jurleit writes that Hofmann is the only pilot who ever parachuted out of a burning Me 262 in an emergency and survived. However, this statement is not correct, because with Walter Schuck , who was shot down on April 10, 1945 by the American Joseph Anthony Peterburs during an operation, at least one other pilot succeeded in jumping out of a burning Me 262. The lieutenant in charge Bob Strobell of the Watson's Whizzers later stated: “If that engine had disintegrated on me or one of my guys, we would have never rolled the airplane upside down. We were no test pilots, Willie was. We weren't even ready to think about doing something like that. ".

Deported to the Soviet Union

After his recovery, Hofmann was able to travel to his family in Blankensee near Berlin. The plan to relocate to the American occupation zone with his family came to nothing, as Hofmann was placed under house arrest by the Soviet administration immediately after his arrival. On the orders of the Soviet occupying power, Hofmann was sent to the Junkers factory in Dessau in 1946 to do reparation work as a test pilot.

In October 1946, Hofmann and his family were abducted to the Soviet Union with about 2,200 other German technicians and specialists from the aviation industry as part of Operation Ossawakim , where he had to continue to work as a test pilot and designer . Hofmann was assigned to "Plant No. 1 of the Ministry of Aircraft Industry" ( OKB-1 ) in Podberesje.

Hofmann was held in Russia for eight years . Among other things, he had to carry out test flights with the jet aircraft EF 126 and the test fighter I-215 , which had already been planned by Junkers . Later he was head of the statics laboratory of the OKB-1 and had to work as an aeronautical consultant on the development of the EF 152 .

New beginning in Germany

In 1954 Hofmann managed to escape to the Federal Republic of Germany with the support of the American secret service . He initially worked as the technical flight director of the German Helicopter Study Group (DSH) before taking on tasks as a test pilot and designer for Bölkow and Heinkel .

In 1957/58 he developed the helicopter trainer "System Hofmann" as part of this activity, which Bölkow produced in small series as Bo 102 . According to Kyrill von Gersdorff, copies of the Bo 102 were used for pilot training in the German , French, English, Spanish, Italian and Yugoslav armies and remained in service until the end of the 1960s. "The original trainer from 1957 is still owned by the company (today EADS ), a Bo 102 B helicopter trainer is on display in the helicopter museum in Bückeburg ."

In 1960 he founded his own company, Ludhof-Technik GmbH, and developed a lashing strap system protected by patent. He withdrew more and more from active aviation.

Functional principle of the Ludhof tension belt

Voices about Ludwig Hofmann

"Hoffmann (sic!) Was one of the great test pilots of his time"
Colonel Wolfgang WE Samuel

"A legendary aviator throughout Germany, Hofmann had flown virtually every type of aircraft"
www.stormbirds.com - An online history of America's unofficial "First Jet Squadron"

“He was one of the greats of the early years who will not be forgotten.”
Peter Riedel

“An excellent technician and test pilot”
Kurt Hohenemser, Flettner's chief engineer

"One of Messerschmitt's best test pilots"
Colonel Harold E. Watson, commander of the 54th Air Disarmament Squadron of the US Air Force

"Hoffmann (sic!) Was the most experienced pilot"
Lieutenant Bob Strobell, pilot of the US Air Force's Watson's Whizzers

"Hofmann had earned a reputation in Germany for fearlessly flying anything required of him."
Robert L. Young

"A first-class flight pioneer"
aviator revue

"One of the most brilliant of the prewar Rhoen Contest pilots"
Vintage Glider Club of Great Britain

"Back then, he seemed superior to everyone in cross-country flights"
Peter Riedel

"Undoubtedly our best cross-country flyer"
Süddeutsche Sonntagspost

"Currently the best cross-country pilot in Germany"
Georg Brütting

"The incomparable Hofmann"
The Sailplane

literature

  • Martin Ludwig Hofmann: Ludwig Hofmann. The life of a German aviation pioneer. Erfurt 2007.
  • Peter Riedel: Across sunny expanses: Rhön history experienced 1933–1939. Stuttgart 1990.
  • Georg Brütting: The history of gliding. 60 years of Wasserkuppe. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1972.
  • Steve Coates: German helicopters 1930–1945. Stuttgart 2004.
  • Mano Ziegler : Turbinenjäger Me 262. The story of the world's first operational jet fighter. Stuttgart 1993.
  • Dimitri Alexejewitsch Sobolew: German traces in Soviet aviation history. The participation of German companies and professionals in aviation development in the USSR. Hamburg 2000.
  • Charles R. Christensen: Operation Lusty: A History of the Development of Technical Intelligence in the Air Force, 1917-1947. Lewiston 2004.
  • Kyrill von Gersdorff, Kurt Knobling: helicopter and gyrocopter . Development history of the German rotary wing aircraft from the beginning to the international community developments. Munich 1985.
  • Kyrill von Gersdorff: Ludwig Bölkow and his work - Ottobrunn innovations. Koblenz 1987.
  • Wolfgang WE Samuel: American Raiders. The Race to Capture the Luftwaffe's Secrets. University Press of Mississippi 2004.
  • Wolfgang WE Samuel: Watson's Whizzers: Operation Lusty and the Race for Nazi Aviation Technology. Schiffer Publishing 2010.
  • Hugh Morgan: Me 262 "Sturmvogel / Schwalbe". Stuttgart 1996 (in particular Chapter 8 “Watson's Whizzers”, pp. 130-145).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Steve Coates: German helicopters 1930–1945. Stuttgart 2004, pp. 48-49.
  2. ^ Steve Coates: German helicopters 1930–1945. Stuttgart 2004, p. 87.
  3. ^ Martin Ludwig Hofmann: Ludwig Hofmann. The life of a German aviation pioneer. Erfurt 2007, pp. 61–68.
  4. ^ Martin Ludwig Hofmann: Ludwig Hofmann. The life of a German aviation pioneer. Erfurt 2007, pp. 66–68.
  5. Wolfgang WE Samuel: Watson's Whizzers. Operation Lusty and the Race for Nazi Aviation Technology. Schiffer Military History Atglen 2010, pp. 107–111.
  6. Mano Ziegler: Turbinenjäger Me 262. The story of the first operational jet fighter in the world. Stuttgart 1993, p. 204.
  7. Manfred Jurleit: Strahljäger Me 262. The history of technology. Stuttgart 1995, p. 112.
  8. Wolfgang WE Samuel: Watson's Whizzers. Operation Lusty and the Race for Nazi Aviation Technology. Schiffer Military History Atglen 2010, p. 134.
  9. ^ Wolfgang WE Samuel: American Raiders. The Race to Capture the Luftwaffe's Secrets. The University Press of Mississippi 2004, pp. 306-308.
  10. ^ Mano Ziegler: Turbinenjäger Me 262 Motorbuch Verlag Stuttgart, 2nd edition 1978, ISBN 3-87943-542-1 . P. 206 ff, possibly cf. Ref [6] after 1993 edition
  11. Manfred Jurleit: Strahljäger Me 262. The history of technology. Stuttgart 1995, p. 21.
  12. Walter Schuck: Shoot down! From the Me 109 to the Me 262. Helios, Aachen 2010, ISBN 978-3-938208-44-1 , p. 209-216 .
  13. Wolfgang WE Samuel: Watson's Whizzers. Operation Lusty and the Race for Nazi Aviation Technology. Schiffer Military History Atglen 2010, p. 153.
  14. ^ Martin Ludwig Hofmann: Ludwig Hofmann. The life of a German aviation pioneer. Erfurt 2007, pp. 84-96.
  15. ^ OV: Helicopter trainer system Hofmann on swimmers. Aero, No. 5 (1958), pp. 116-117.
  16. ^ Kyrill von Gersdorff, Kurt Knobling: helicopter and gyrocopter . Development history of the German rotary wing aircraft from the beginning to the international community developments. Munich 1982, p. 170.
  17. Wolfgang WE Samuel: Watson's Whizzers. Operation Lusty and the Race for Nazi Aviation Technology. Schiffer Military History Atglen 2010, p. 111.
  18. Luftsport, No. 12, 1979
  19. quoted from: Steve Coates: Deutsche Helicopter 1930–1945. Stuttgart 2004, p. 48.
  20. quoted from: Wolfgang WE Samuel: American Raiders. The race to capture the Luftwaffe's secrets. The University Press of Mississippi 2004, p. 270.
  21. quoted from: Wolfgang WE Samuel: American Raiders. The race to capture the Luftwaffe's secrets. The University Press of Mississippi 2004, p. 303.
  22. ^ Robert L. Young: Operation Lusty. in: Airforce Magazine, January 2005, p. 64.
  23. Flieger-Revue, No. 5, year 2008, p. 58.
  24. Vintage Glider Club of Great Britain, Newsletter No. 34, January 1980, p. 8.
  25. Peter Riedel: About sunny expanses. Experienced Rhön history 1933–1939. Stuttgart 1990, p. 189.
  26. South German Sunday Post. No. 34, 1936, p. 3.
  27. ^ Georg Brütting in Wolf Hirth: The high school of gliding. Berlin 1935, p. 158.
  28. ^ The Sailplane, November 1934, p. 175.