Dr. Wernher von Braun was a German aerospace engineer born on 23 March 1912 in Wirsitz. He was the second of three sons of a noble Lutheran family. From birth, he held the title of Freiherr (equivalent to Baron), his father being a civil servant and conservative politician that served as Minister of Agriculture in the federal government during the Weimar Republic. The family moved to Berlin in 1915,…
Author: Communication WG
Blue Origin
Blue Origin, LLC, based in Kent, Washington, is a privately funded aerospace manufacturer and sub-orbital spaceflight services provider. It was founded in 2000 by Jeff Bezos, founder and executive chairman of Amazon. Bezos has been a space enthusiast since an early age. Bezos, on an interview for his high school after being named valedictorian, said…
Rockwell XFV-12
The Rockwell XFV-12 was an American prototype of a supersonic carrier-based VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) fighter developed during the early 1970s for the U.S. Navy under the Vertical Fighter Attack-X program. Rockwell International, a Boeing predecessor company, submitted an entry featuring a Thrust Augmenter Wing (TAW) concept and was awarded a $47 million contract…
Caproni
Società de Agostini e Caproni, also known as Caproni was an Italian aircraft manufacturer. Giovanni Battista “Gianni” Caproni, an Italian aviation pioneer and aeronautical engineer, started the firm in 1908. From 1911, it was known as Società de Agostini e Caproni, and later Società Caproni e Comitti. Caproni was in charge of completing the first…
Jerrie Mock, the first woman to fly around the world
Geraldine “Jerrie” Fredritz Mock was born on November 22, 1925 and was the first woman to fly solo around the world back in 1964. Jerrie Mock first flew with her father in the cockpit of a Ford Trimotor airplane and when she began high school, took an engineering course of which she was the only…
Aurel Vlaicu
Born on November 19th 1882, Aurel Vlaicu was a Romanian engineer, inventor, airplane constructor and pilot. He was born in Bintinti in Transylvania and was a high school colleague of Petru Groza (politician). He went to university at the Technical University of Budapest and Technische Hochschule München in Germany, ending up earning his engineer’s diploma…
Best ace of all time
Erich Alfred Hartmann,” Bubi”, was a German fighter pilot during World War II and the most successful fighter ace in the history of aerial warfare. He was born on 19 April 1922 in Weissach, Württemberg, to Doctor Alfred Erich Hartmann and his wife, Elisabeth Wilhelmine Machtholf but due to the Great Recession he moved to China with his parents….
Roland Garros
Eugéne Adrien Roland Georges Garros was a French pioneer aviator, fighter pilot during WWI. He was born on October 6th 1888 and passed away on October 5th 1918, at the age of 29, shot down and killed near Vouziers, Ardennes (France) a month before the end of WWI and one day before his 30th birthday….
The airplane that became ”Flak-Bait”
This is the story of a B-26 Marauder bomber that survived two years of the most intense aerial combat of World War II, taking every bullet that German gunners and fighter pilots threw at it. This airplane was manufactured by Glenn L. Martin Company in Baltimore, Maryland in 1943 and is the aircraft that holds the…
Howard Hughes
Aeronautical Engineer, business magnate, film director…Howard Hughes was it all. Born on December 24th 1905 in Humble, Texas (USA), Howard was known during his life as one of the most financially successful individuals worldwide. He started as a film producer, persuaded by Ralph Graces, producing and financing a short film, “Swell Hogan”, which turned out…