Anton Flettner

From 1914 to 1918 Anton Flettner worked at the German Ministry for War in the development of remote controls for air, water, and land vehicles. While employed under the aegis of Graf Zeppelin, Flettner also developed pilotless aircraft projects. The servo tab evolved into the "trim tab" which is still in use on all airplanes and many large vessels. Trim tabs are extremely useful in moving large rudders on vessels with vastly reduced power. ship Buckau|300px ==Savonius collaboration==

In 1923, Finnish architect Sigurd Johannes Savonius took interest in Flettner's rotor ship, and the two began a collaboration. By the next year, the architect had invented the Savonius wind turbine, and by 1930 had patented a ventilation device based on the wind turbine. The patent was later acquired by Flettner's firm Flettner Ventilator Limited, which still manufactures modern versions of the device in Britain. It has been widely used on buses, vans, boats, railroad cars, campervans, and trucks to assist cooling in warm weather. == Other post-World-War-I work ==

Following World War I, Flettner was named managing director of the Institute for Aero and Hydro Dynamics in Amsterdam. The Buckau was a schooner refitted with two rotating 50-foot cylinders and was the first vessel built with a propulsion system based on the Magnus effect. A commercial rotor ship, the Barbara, was also built, and sailed to the United States. Flettner followed this accomplishment by building the Flettner Fl 185 in 1936, an experimental German gyrodyne, which could fly as both a helicopter and as a gyroplane. In 1938 Flettner, together with Kurt Hohenemser, built the Flettner Fl 265. The Flettner Fl 265 as the likely pioneering example of a twin-lift rotor synchropter, addressed the problem of torque compensation as the first helicopter with intermeshing rotors (Flettner double rotor). model|300px == World War II ==

During World War II, Anton Flettner headed Flettner Flugzeugbau GmbH, which specialized in reconnaissance helicopters for the German Luftwaffe (Air Force). he held a personal relationship with the head of gestapo, Heinrich Himmler. Himmler had Flettner's wife and family escorted safely to Sweden for the duration of the war. They were the Flettner Fl 285, another reconnaissance helicopter with a two-hour flight limit and capacity to carry two small bombs, and the Flettner Fl 339, a large transport helicopter project designed for approximately 20 passengers. == Photo gallery ==

Image:Flettner FL 282.jpg|Flettner Fl 282 Kolibri helicopter Image:Hohenemser_letter.jpg|Letter from Dr. Hohenemser regarding his association with Anton Flettner (page 1 of 2) Image:Hohenemser_letter 001.jpg|Letter from Dr. Hohenemser regarding his association with Anton Flettner (page 2 of 2) Image:Vaixell de rotor Barbara.jpg|The rotor ship "Barbara" Image:Steering gear for vehicles flettner patent.png|Flettner's patent to a steering mechanism Image:Flettner pictures retouched.jpg|Flettner's boyhood home in Eddersheim, Germany. Anton Flettner is on the far right. Image:Flettner kolibri.gif|Flettner Fl 282 Kolibri Image:Eddersheim, Friedhof, Grab Flettner.JPG|Tomb of Anton Flettner Image:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-11248, Berlin, Eröffnung der Automobilausstellung.jpg|1931 photo of the Flettner-Krupp-Grosskraftwagen, the largest German truck at 14 m long, with a payload capacity of 15 tons, powered by a 147 hp engine. Image:Flettner 282 airborne.jpg|Flettner Fl 282 during flight trials after World War II, with US markings == Post World War II ==

Upon the war's conclusion, Anton Flettner was held in the "Dustbin" interrogation camp at Kransberg Castle. After 1945, Flettner, along with many other aviation pioneers, was brought to the United States as part of Operation Paperclip. Flettner and his partner, Kurt Hohenemser, were among the first German emigrants into the United States after World War II. Flettner started Flettner Aircraft Corporation, which developed helicopters for the U.S. military. Flettner's company in the U.S. was not commercially successful, but his work was shared with the US Army Air Forces. There are two ships utilizing the concept of the Flettner rotor in a modified form, the turbosail Acyone developed by Jacques-Yves Cousteau in 1985 and the E-Ship 1, a cargo ship that made its first voyage in 2010. Albert Einstein praised the Flettner Rotor ship as having great practical importance. Anton Flettner died at age 76 in New York City on December 29, 1961. Among his many distinctions, Anton Flettner was an honorary member of the American Helicopter Society and the Convertible Aircraft Pioneers. Flettner's birthplace home and tomb are national historic protected monuments in Germany. )|300px == Aircraft built by Flettner Flugzeugbau GmbH ==

• Flettner Fl 184 • Flettner Fl 185 • Flettner Fl 265 • Flettner Fl 282 • Flettner Fl 285 • Flettner Fl 339 == See also ==