Fieseler

The Gerhard Fieseler Werke was a German aircraft manufacturer of the 1930s and 40s. The company is remembered mostly for its military aircraft built for the Luftwaffe during the Second World War.

The firm was founded on April 1 1930 as Fieseler Flugzeugbau in Kassel by World War I flying ace and aerobatic champion Gerhard Fieseler. Fieseler had been a manager for the Raab-Katzenstein, but when this company went bankrupt, Fieseler bought a sailplane factory in Kassel and quickly turned it to building sports planes. At the same time, Fieseler still custom-built sailplanes for some of Germany's most prominent designers and pilots, including Wolf Hirth's "Musterle" and Robert Kronfeld's "Wien" and "Österreich" (for many years the largest sailplane ever built).

In 1934, the company achieved prominence when Fieseler won the World Aerobatics Championship in an aircraft his company had built, the F2 Tiger. This was followed by the highly successful F5, generally regarded as a classic among sports planes. Even greater success was to follow in 1936 when an aircraft of Fieseler's own design won a tender for a new STOL observation and liaison aircraft for the Luftwaffe. Designated the Fieseler Fi 156 "Storch" (Stork), the company would produce over 3,000 during World War II. In 1939, the company name changed to the Gerhard Fieseler Werke.

Fieseler's other wartime production would largely consist of building other firms' aircraft under licence, including the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Focke-Wulf Fw 190. In 1941, however, a Fieseler project for an unpiloted flying bomb attracted the attention of the RLM ("Reichsluftfahrtministerium" - "Reich Aviation Ministry"). This went into production as the Fieseler FZG-76 ("flakzielgerät", antiaircraft target), better known as the V-1.

The Fieseler factory was the target of many Allied air raids, but continued production throughout the war. Following the War, part of the factory continued in business for a few years, producing automotive components. Its most famous products, the Storch and the V1, continued to be produced by foreign companies.

Fieseler aircraft included:
* F2 Tiger acrobatic sportsplane, 1932
* F5 acrobatic sportsplane + trainer, 1933
* Fi 97, competition and touring monoplane, 1934
* Fi 98, biplane fighter, 1936
* Fi 103 (V-1)
* Fi 103 Reichenberg, piloted suicide aircraft
* Fi 156 "Storch" (Stork), STOL reconnaissance aircraft
* Fi 167, ship-borne torpedo bomber and reconnaissance biplane
* Fi 333 transport (concept)

See also

* List of aircraft of the Luftwaffe, World War II.