Wolfgang Spate

Wolfgang Späte (born September 8, 1911 in Podersam , other sources Dresden ; † April 30, 1997 in Edewecht ) was a Luftwaffe fighter pilot and test pilot in the Second World War .

Life

Late was considered a talented glider pilot at an early age. He studied at the Technical University of Darmstadt and then became a test pilot at the German Research Institute for Gliding . In 1938 he won the 19th Rhon-gliding competition on a, designed by Heini Dittmar homemade Condor I . For this he developed his own speed-to-fly theory similar to that later used by Paul MacCready .

From September 1939 he was a lieutenant pilot in the army reconnaissance pilots and flew the Henschel Hs 126 .

From January 1941 he changed to the Luftwaffe as a first lieutenant in Jagdgeschwader 54 (JG 54). He remained in this squadron with interruptions until September 1944, among other things as a squadron captain and from May 1944 as group commander of the fourth group, which was newly equipped with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 .

Later was the first Luftwaffe pilot to fly the Messerschmitt Me 262 on April 17, 1943 . He enthusiastically reported about it to the general of the fighter pilots, Adolf Galland , who shortly afterwards convinced himself of their flight performance.

Late was posted from Galland in mid-1943 to organize the troop trials of the Me 163 rocket fighter . As head of the test command 16, he laid the foundations for the infrastructure that were necessary for the use of this model, selected a base of pilots and suitable locations and coordinated the cooperation of the individual suppliers such as the HWK (Hellmuth Walter-Werke Kiel), Messerschmitt and Clamp . Together with Rudolf Opitz he had to carry out the troop trials of the Me 163 and, as an experienced fighter pilot, he also carried out the first operational flight.

In mid-1944 he was sent back to JG 54 to lead a squadron group there. He achieved 99 aerial victories and was shot down twice.

On September 8, 1944, he finally moved, now as a major, to Group I of Jagdgeschwader 400 . In the last weeks of the war he switched to the JG 7 with the most experienced pilots of the JG 400 and flew the Me 262 there . There he also experienced the end of the war.

After he joined the newly founded Air Force in 1956 , he was stage manager for flight safety . In 1967 he retired as a lieutenant colonel.

Awards

Later was bearer of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Henry L. deZeng IV, Douglas G. Stankey: Air Force Officer Career Summaries, Section S-Z, p 229 ( Memento of 31 May 2015, Internet Archive ), accessed on May 31, 2015