Wolf Hirth

Wolfram Kurt Erhard Hirth (February 28 1900 ? July 25 1959) was a German gliding pioneer and sailplane designer. He was a co-founder of Schempp-Hirth, one of the most renowned sailplane manufacturers in the world today.

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Hirth was born in Stuttgart, the son of an engineer and tool-maker. He was the younger brother of Hellmuth, who founded the famous Hirth aircraft engine manufacturing company.

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As a young man, Hirth took up gliding and was soon drawn to the Wasserkuppe, then the focus of the German gliding movement, earning his pilot's licence in 1920. In 1924, Hirth lost a leg in a motorcycle accident. From then on, he would fly while wearing a wooden prosthesis.

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In 1928, he graduated from the Technical University of Stuttgart with a diploma in engineering and began to focus on aircraft construction. Over the next decade, he would also tour the world, promoting gliding throughout Europe, the United States, Japan, South America, and South Africa. On one of these publicity trips, he suffered major injuries in crash in Hungary, requiring a hospital stay of four months.

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In 1935, with Martin Schempp he founded the Sportflugzeugbau G?ppingen company (later Schempp-Hirth) and manufactured a small training glider, the G?ppingen G? 1, intended to rival the Grunau Baby. The company's first real success, however, was the G? 3 Minimoa, a distinctive aircraft with an elegant gull wing design that was used to break several world records and win championships around the world.

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Hirth continued to direct the firm throughout World War II and during the Allied occupation of Germany, until glider production could begin again in 1951. He had a heart attack while flying his aerobatic glider in 1959 and died in the subsequent crash.

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February 28: February 28 is the 59th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 306 days remaining, 307 in leap years....

1900: :For the film, see 1900 (film)....

July 25: July 25 is the 206th day (207th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 159 days remaining....

Wolf Hirth related Images and Photos (experimental)

Wolf	Wolf	Wolf Man	Wolf Dog
Wolf Robe	Wolf Group	Cry Wolf (1947)(DVD)	Wolf Quadrant
Cry Wolf	Wolf City Rodeo	Wolf Spirit II	Wolf Photo Cutout