Walter Rethel
Walter Rethel (* 1892 in Wesel , † 1977 ) was a German aircraft design engineer .
family
Walter Rethel was the son of the Prussian Major General Paul Rethel (1855–1933) and Mally, a née Finsterbusch.
A grandfather of Walter Rethel was the painter Otto Rethel (1822-1892), the brother of Alfred Rethel .
His son was the painter and designer Alfred Rethel (1922–2003).
A granddaughter of the actress Simone Rethel .
Career
Walter Rethel initially worked at Kondor Flugzeugwerke in Gelsenkirchen and from 1919 at Fokker Aircraft Works in Amsterdam , before he was hired as chief designer by Heinrich Lübbe in his aircraft construction company Arado Handelsgesellschaft . In disregard of the provisions of the Versailles Treaty , Heinrich Lübbe and Walter Rethel developed their first own designs with the Ar 65 , which increasingly had a military character. In this way, Arado was able to develop an important technological lead. The Ar 66 designed by Rethel , which made its maiden flight in 1932, became the most successful model with a total produced number of more than 1,000 units .
In 1936 the National Socialists changed the name of the company to Arado Flugzeugwerke GmbH . At the same time Rethel left Arado and switched to Willy Messerschmitt , with whom he developed the Jäger Bf 109 . At Arado he was replaced by Walter Blume .
Web links
- http://www.gelsenkirchener-geschichten.de/viewtopic.php?t=5557
- Lübbe, Heinrich - The head of the "Arado Flugzeugwerke" did not want to become a NSDAP member ( memento from February 2, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- Bf 109 designed by Willy Messerschmitt and Walter Rethel
Individual evidence
- ^ Biographical data from Walter Rethel in: Arado: history of an aircraft company , by Jörg Armin Kranzhoff, Schiffer Pub., 1997, page 15
- ^ Paul Hermann Rethel, preuss. GM ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , in the Lexicon of German Generals
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Rethel, Walter |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German aircraft designer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1892 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Wesel |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1977 |