Robert Kronfeld
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Robert Kronfeld (May 5, 1904 - February 12, 1948) was an Austrian gliding champion and sailplane designer of the 1920s and 30s.
Kronfeld was born in Vienna, the son of a dentist. As a young man, he visited the Wasserkuppe in Germany and became passionate about the sport of gliding that was developing there. 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 DM 5,000 prize for the first glider pilot to fly 100 km (62.5 miles). Kronfeld took up the challenge 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"), assisted 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 Österreich ("Austria"), which had a wingspan of 30 metres - a record not to be matched until the end of the twentieth century. By 1930 he held the world records for distance (164 km) and height (2,589 m).
In 1933, the new Nazi government prohibited Jews from flying, and as a Jew, Kronfeld fled Germany first for Austria, later for the United Kingdom. There, he continued flying and in 1937 became chief instructor for the newly-founded Oxford University and City Gliding Club.
Kronfeld was a Air Scout within the Österreichischer Pfadfinderbund and took part in the 4th World Scout Jamboree in Hungary as a member of the Austrian contingent. He participated in the Air Scout camp and participated in the Airshow .[1]
In 1939 he became a British citizen and during World War II he served in the Royal Air Force. He hold the rank of a Squadron Leader.
Kronfeld, as test pilot for General Aircraft was killed in the crash of an experimental flying wing glider, the General Aircraft GAL 56 near Lasham Airfield.
[edit] References
- ^ Pribich, Kurt (2004). Logbuch der Pfadfinderverbände in Österreich (in German). Vienna: Pfadfinder-Gilde-Österreichs, 104.
