Werner Altrogge

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Aviation pioneer Werner Altrogge in front of a rotary wing aircraft. Oil painting by Christa Murken

Werner Altrogge (born December 3, 1913 in Obernkirchen near Bückeburg, † April 15, 1944 in Memmingen ) was a German aviation pioneer.

Life

Werner Altrogge studied mechanical engineering and aircraft construction at the TH Hannover from 1932 to 1937 and was trained as a pilot at Akaflieg Hannover.

From 1937 to 1943 he initially worked as a clerk for "flight type development and testing" at the Rechlin test center of the Air Force. Later he was department head and deputy group leader there. In the meantime, I also worked at the trial and testing facility of the Peenemünde Air Force, here u. a. Cooperation with Wernher von Braun .

From 1943 to 1944 he worked as a civilian at the Dornier company in Friedrichshafen, at the Quantum branch, among other things, test director of the Dornier Do 335 .

Throughout his life he was in close contact with his stepfather, the German-American aircraft designer Edgar Schmued .

activities

Altrogge undertook long-distance and reconnaissance flights over Russia and England with the Junkers Ju 86 , which brought him up to an altitude of 14,500 meters. In the course of his work as a designer and test pilot, he flew over 70 different aircraft types, including 14 so-called captured aircraft and 6 types of aircraft and helicopters. He probably flew more helicopters than any other German pilot.

He is also the German test pilot who has flown most types of rotary wing aircraft.

Altrogge played a key role in the further development and testing of the Dornier Do 335 designed by Claudius Dornier between 1943 and 1944 . On April 15, 1944, he fell to his death with the test model No. 2 because of engine problems and failure of the ejector seat near Memmingen.

Appreciation

Because of his achievements as a pioneer in aviation, he was named after a road on the grounds of the Army Aviation School in Bückeburg in June 2008 . The helicopter museum in Bückeburg owns the oil painting Werner Altrogge by Christa Murken , his daughter.

literature

  • Christoph Regel: German aviation. Trial sites until 1945 Munich. 1998
  • Alfred Price: Lightning over England. The air raids on the British Isles, 1939–1945 Stuttgart. 1978 (p. 196)
  • Steve Coates: Helicopters of the Third Reich Hersham 2002 (p. 33)
  • The aviation pioneer road. Honor for the Oberkirchen test pilot Werner Altrogge In: Forward. Information for Army Aviators, Bückeburg 2008 (12th year)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Appreciation for the aviation pioneer Werner Altrogge. In: Schaumburger Zeitung of July 26, 2008, ( available online )
personal data
SURNAME Altrogge, Werner
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German pilot
DATE OF BIRTH December 3, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH Obernkirchen
DATE OF DEATH April 15, 1944
Place of death Memmingen