Today in Technology History
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November 1
Engineer and inventor Anton Flettner was born on November 1, 1885.
Flettner was born in Germany. He taught physics and math to high school students, and in 1905 took a job at the Zeppelin company.
During World War I, Flettner developed a device that allowed airplane pilots to raise or lower a plane's nose for better control. It evolved into a mechanism called the "trim tab" which is still used on all airplanes. Flettner also made several improvements to military tanks, and he apparently designed a guided torpedo which was never built.
In the 1920s, Flettner's interest in aerodynamics led him to build one of history's strangest boats: a schooner with two tall rotating cylinders that looked like smokestacks, but were actually sails. (This is such an intriguing story that we promise to write more about it in a future tech history message.)
Flettner is best known for designing and building many of the helicopters used by the Nazi military during World War II. He headed the Flettner Aircraft Corporation and built several models of helicopters, some with two rotors. German manufacturers couldn't make them fast enough to meet demands.
After 1945, Flettner moved to America and started a new Flettner Aircraft Corporation. Now working for the U.S. military, he built helicopters with improved efficiency and control, including some models big enough to carry troops.
Flettner remained directly involved in his company's research until just a few months before his death in December 1961 at the age of 76.
Related links:
Click here to see pictures of some of Flettner's helicopter designs.
Click here to read about Flettner's helicopters during WWII.
Click here to read an obituary for Flettner from the New York Times.
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