Friedrich Wölfert
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Friedrich Wölfert was a clergyman (or/and) publisher, according to Wikipedia) who also worked in ballooning and is credited with the first flight using a petrol engine (a Daimler).[1] This took place in 1888. He died, with his mechanic in a hydrogen explosion above Tempelhof Field on 12 June 1897.[2]
Wölfert had made two trials in a cigar-shaped balloon, 18,000 cubic feet volume, in 1884, and later created a larger balloon which he showed at the Berlin Industrial Exhibition in 1896. He flew a modified version of the latter on his last flight in 1897. The explosion occurred at 2,600'.[3]
Publications by or about Friedrich Wölfert
- Fingerhuth, 1897, Zur Katastrophe Wölfert (Simple title: Wölfert's disaster, Journal: Ill. Aër. Mitt.)
See also
Friedrich Hermann Wölfert on Wikipedia.
References
- ↑ Hans Fabian, "Aeronautical Research Comes into Being During the Time of the Empire", in Hirschel, Prem, & Madelung, 2014, Aeronautical Research in Germany, p. 24.
- ↑ Hallion, 2003, p. 89. "On June 12, 1897, while Wölfert ascended with his mechanic from the Prussian army's balloon center at Templehof Field, the engine's ignition system ignited a hydrogen-air mix venting from the envelope. Horrified witnesses saw a small flame dart from the engine through the air to the envelope, and then a searing fire engulfed the control car and envelope, incinerating its crew in a gigantic ball of blazing hydrogen, a frightful spectre settling slowly in the Berlin sky until it crashed, a smoking pyre, in the midst of what is now Templehof airport. Wölfert and his mechanic had earned the grim distinction of being the first of more than 750 individuals who would lose their lives in airship accidents."
- ↑ "The Fatal Accident to Dr. Wölfert's Balloon", Aeronautical Journal, Vol. 1., No. 3, July 1897, p. 14.
| Names | Friedrich Hermann Wölfert |
|---|---|
| Birth date | 1852 |
| Death date | 1897-06-12 |
| Countries | DE |
| Locations | |
| Occupations | clergyman, publisher |
| Tech areas | LTA, Balloon |
| Affiliations | |
| Wikidata id |
