| Friedrich Karl Freiherr Koenig von und zu Warthausen | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 2, 1906 Warthausen, |
| Died | December 15, 1986 (aged 80) Munich |
| Nationality | German |
| Known for | First solo flight around the world, August 1928–November 1929 |
Friedrich Karl Freiherr[1] Koenig von und zu Warthausen, born 2 April 1906 in Warthausen, was a German Baron and adventurer from the city of Berlin credited with the first solo around the world flight[2]. He died on 15 December 1986 in Munich.
Warthausen left his home city of Berlin on 9 August 1928. When he left, he only had 17 hours of solo flights under his belt. He took a leisurely pace, completing his adventure in less than two years. (The first aerial circumnavigation, completed on September 28, 1924, took 175 days and involved a team of four planes and eight personnel.)
The airplane he used was an open-cockpit 560 lb (250 kg) Klemm L.20 that ran on a Mercedes-Benz 20 PS (20 hp) 2-cylinder engine, designed by Ferdinand Porsche. The plane had a maximum speed of just 70 mph (110 km/h) and only burned a gallon of fuel in 50 miles (80 km).
From his start in Berlin, Warthausen went through Moscow, Baku, Calcutta, Burma and Bangkok. While on his stop in Bangkok, Thailand he was given a pet Siamese cat by the King of Siam. His new friend was the mascot for the remainder of his trip.
He is said to have only been nervous one time during his trip, and that was flying 500 miles (800 km) over uninhabited jungles of southern Asia. Also in Asia, Warthausen went through Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Kobe, and then to Yokohama. From Yokohama, he put his plane on an ocean liner destined for San Francisco.
Warthausen stopped in many cities of the United States while on his adventure. He stopped in Tulsa, St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Washington and New York.
While in El Paso, Texas, Warthausen was riding in a taxicab from the airport to his hotel when the taxi and another car collided, sending Warthausen out through the front windshield of the taxi. Warthausen ended up spending six weeks in a hospital before he recuperated enough to continue on his trip back to Berlin.
Warthausen put his plane aboard another ocean liner from New York to Cherbourg. Then finally from Cherbourg, he flew his plane back to Berlin, where he arrived on 26 November 1929.
Baron Warthausen received the Hindenburg Cup in both 1929 and in 1930. (Wiley Post completed a solo circumnavigation of the globe entirely by plane in 1931, taking 8 days for the journey)