Robert Kronfeld
| Robert Kronfeld | |
|---|---|
Robert Kronfeld, with his Lippisch Wien glider, at Hanworth 28 June 1931
|
|
| Born |
5 May 1905 Vienna, Austria–Hungary
|
| Died | 12 February 1948 (aged 42) England |
| Allegiance |
 British (1939-1948) |
| Service/branch | Royal Air Force |
| Rank | Squadron Leader |
| Awards |
Gold Medal for Service to the Republic of Austria (Goldene Medaille für Verdienste um die Republik Österreich;1932-10-06) Air Force Cross |
| Other work | Aerospace engineer, Glider pilot, test pilot |
Austrian (-1939),
Squadron Leader Robert Kronfeld, AFC (5 May 1904 – 12 February 1948) was an Austrian-born gliding champion and sailplane designer of the 1920s and 30s. He became a British subject and an RAF test pilot. He was killed testing a glider in 1948.
Kronfeld was born in Vienna, the son of dentist also called Robert Kronfeld (1874–1946), who was nephew of Adolf Kronfeld (doctor, writer), Ernst Moriz Kronfeld (botanist), both Galician Jews. In his youth his favourite sport was boating.
As a young man, he visited the Wasserkuppe in Germany and became passionate about the sport of gliding that was developing there. So Kronfeld became a member of the first Austrian gliding school. He befriended Walter Georgii, who was a meteorologist working at the nearby Darmstadt University of Technology and who had recently discovered thermals. Kronfeld became something of a test-pilot for Georgii, investigating this still-new phenomenon with the assistance of a variometer disguised as a vacuum flask.
In 1926, the German newspaper Grüne Post offered a RM 5,000 prize for the first glider pilot to fly 100 km (62 mi). Kronfeld took up the challenge in 1929 and selected a long chain of hills, the Teutoburger Wald, as a promising site for the record attempt.
He took off in a glider of his own design, named Wien ("Vienna"), launched by bungee, near Ibbenbüren. After a flight lasting over five hours, he landed near Detmold, 102.5 km away. Kronfeld used the prize money to build a gigantic sailplane, named Austria, which had a wingspan of 30 metres - a record not to be matched until the end of the twentieth century. Kronfeld was awarded the Hindenburg Cup in 1930. In the same year he undertook the first flight from a mountain in Lower Austria. He also staged large air shows. By 1930 he held the world records for distance (164 km) and height (2,589 m).
...
Wikipedia