Richard Knoller

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Memorial plaque for Richard Knoller in the courtyard of the Vienna University of Technology, at Cafe Nelsons with the remains of the wind tunnel.

Richard Knoller (born April 25, 1869 in Vienna ; † March 4, 1926 there ) was an Austrian vehicle designer and flight scientist.

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Richard Knoller studied at the Technical University in Vienna and graduated with honors in 1893. He gained practical experience in foreign machine factories. After his return he worked in the Th. Schultz & L. Goebel steam engine factory . Already at this time he began with his first publications and dealt with technical flight problems in addition to the steam engine construction.

The steam car from 1904 in the Technical Museum in Vienna

In 1899 he officially represented Austria at the International commercial congress in Philadelphia and got to know new production methods. As a result, he devoted himself increasingly to automobile construction and founded an automobile production company with L. Goebel. At the Paris World Exhibition he received the gold medal for a valve control. In addition, he and Friedmann developed a steam car with a four-wheel brake, which, with a compensation device, worked evenly on all wheels.

In addition, Knoller continued to deal with flight technology and wrote publications on fluid resistance, aerodynamic suspension and numerous other topics. His scientific work, which he began as an assistant to Johann von Radinger in 1895, he continued in 1909 as an associate professor at the newly installed chair for airship and automotive engineering at the Vienna University of Technology. In 1919 he became a full professor, Leo Kirste was one of his assistants . With the help of a generous donation from Arthur Krupp from Berndorf, he was able to start building a wind tunnel . The specialty of this wind tunnel was that it was under normal atmospheric pressure. This design was later often referred to as the Göttingen wind tunnel , the difference being that in the Viennese type the air jet was directed vertically and in the newer Göttingen type horizontally.

This wind tunnel was able to start its test operation in 1913 and was available to the air force during the First World War . All the facilities and equipment of the canal were designed by Knoller himself. After the war, the wind tunnel had to be destroyed. However, according to Knoller, a similar facility was still being built in Japan.

During the war Knoller worked as an aircraft designer, where he first designed modifications to existing aircraft. The Albatros BI got enlarged wings. In the more recent aircraft he designed, he used techniques from bridge building and wanted to reduce air resistance by eliminating tension. However, the first models such as the Knoller BI and the Knoller CI, which were partly built by Aviatik and partly by Thöne & Fiala , were not allowed to take off due to their dangerousness while flying. The next types, such as the Knoller C II, were also continuously withdrawn. A model of this aircraft is in the National Technical Museum in Prague. Before the end of the war, only a fighter was developed, but it did not go beyond test flights.

After the war, Knoller devoted himself more to teaching and theoretical development. One of his most important investigations is the theoretical explanation of the negative drag of wings. The effect was proven experimentally by his successor Richard Katzmayr . The effect, which is particularly important in gliders, is therefore known as the Knoller or Katzmayr effect .

Richard Knoller, married to Mathilde Andreae, daughter of Emil Andreae († 1895 in Vienna, age: 72; first technical director of the DDSG ) and Karoline Edler von Takacs († 1895 in Vienna), died after a long and severe suffering in his Apartment in Vienna-Mariahilf , Köstlergasse  6.

His honorary grave is in the Grinzinger Friedhof (group MA, number 34) in Vienna.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Max von Weißenthurn :  A family book. In:  Tages-Post , No. 132/1924, June 8, 1924, p. 1 f. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / tpt.
personal data
SURNAME Knoller, Richard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian university professor and aircraft technician
DATE OF BIRTH April 25, 1869
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH March 4, 1926
Place of death Vienna