Enoch Thulin

Enoch Leonard Thulin, (15 September 1881 – 14 May 1919) is primary remembered as the Swedish aircraft pioneer, but he was also an engineer of airplanes, cars, lorries and their motors.

Enoch was born in Simris socken, Scania, in the far south of Sweden. He studied aeronautics industry 1908-12 and succeeded his flying attempts in 1912. He wrote a thesis on aerodynamics and received a Ph.D. from Lund University in 1912. Thulin, lived in the town Landskrona by the Øresund sea. He founded AB Thulinverken in 1914 with the purpose to build airplanes (this company is today known as Haldex and manufactures pneumatic brake systems for trains and lorries (trucks). Thulin also started manufacturing automobiles, which continued until 1928. He started what later became Svenska Stridsflygskolan F5 ("The Swedish air-combat school", also known as "Airforcebase 5") at Ljungbyhed in the far south of Sweden. In 1918 he suggested to the that he should start investigating the idea of a local airport, and even though the reactions were positive, the idea was postponed until 1936 when Bromma Airport was finally built.

Thulin was killed when he was practicing flying his K3 airplane on 14 May 1919. According to Palle Mellblom, who started the engine that day, Enoch Thulin was stressed by the successful demonstrations made by Sparmann the same year. Thulin wanted to improve his flying skills but crashed south-east of Landskrona harbour, at the area which during this time was called "Södra Fäladen".

One of the early airplanes that Thulin flew is now at the town museum of Landskrona, among with several propellers and engines. The double-decker is hanging in steel wires at a permanent exhibition at Landskrona's Town-Museum.

His name is remembered in Landskrona several other ways. A secondary technical school called Enoch Thulin-gymnasiet a street is called Enoch Thulins väg ("Enoch Thulin road"). The airfield 10 km north of the town has the name Enoch Thulin Airport. This airfield has a 1190 meter long and 30 meter wide runway of asphalt surface but has no regular traffic. ICAO code is ESML.

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