Schwaiger was born on 1 February 1918 in
Ulm in the
Kingdom of Württemberg within the
German Empire. Following flight training as a fighter pilot in the summer of 1941, he was posted, as an
Unteroffizier, to 6.
Staffel of
Jagdgeschwader 3 "Udet" (JG 3—3rd Fighter Wing). This squadron was part of II./JG 3 under the command of
Gordon Gollob and fighting with
Army Group South. Schwaiger quickly earned his first air victory, on 16.08.1941, but by the end of the year had reached a total of eight victories at which time his unit was rotated back to the Reich for rest and re-equipping. A short secondment for his
Gruppe to the Mediterranean Theatre, from January to April 1942, yielded no further success for Franz, but upon their return to the Eastern Front in May he started scoring steadily. Again covering Army Group South and the advance across Ukraine toward Stalingrad, he scored his 20th victory on 31 July. The next week he was transferred to 2./JG 3, in the same sector. He scored his 30th victory on 17 August, and his 40th on 29 September, between which he had been transferred again, this time to 3./JG 3. Promoted to
Feldwebel in early October, he scored his 50th victory on the 9th. On 29 October, Schwaiger was awarded the
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross () for 52 aerial victories claimed. At the start of 1943 as the disaster at Stalingrad unfolded, and with 56 victories, Franz was sent for officer-training. Commissioned as a
Leutnant, he returned to I./JG 3 as their highest-scoring pilot.
Defense of the Reich and death In March 1943, I.
Gruppe had assembled at
Döberitz, located approximately west of
Staaken, for a period of rest, replenishment and preparation for
defense of the Reich missions. In early April, the
Gruppe was ordered to
Mönchengladbach after it had received 37 factory new
Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-4 fighter aircraft equipped with a pair of 20 mm
MG 151/20 cannons installed in conformal
gun pods under the wings. There, the pilots trained formation flying, operating in
Staffel and
Gruppen strength, required to combat the
United States Army Air Forces (USAAF)
heavy bomber formations. A few of the more experienced fighter pilots were sent to
Brandenburg-
Briest for additional training on
Y-Control for fighters, a system to control groups of fighters intercepting USAAF bomber formations. In early May, the
Gruppe had completed its training period and was subordinated to
Stab of JG 3 which was under control of
3. Jagd-Division (3rd Fighter Division). On 28 February 1944, I.
Gruppe moved to
Burg bei Magdeburg where the
1. Jagd-Division (1st Fighter Division) was concentrating fighter forces. In March, Schwaiger was appointed
Staffelkapitän (squadron leader) of 1.
Staffel of JG 3 following the death of its former commander
Leutnant Hans Frese on 8 March. On 24 April, the USAAF
Eighth Air Force sent 745 heavy bombers, escorted by 867 fighter aircraft, against the German aircraft industry. At 12:15, I.
Gruppe took off and joined up with other elements of JG 3. At approximately 13:15, the Luftwaffe fighters intercepted a bomber formation north of
Augsburg. The Luftwaffe fighters flew several attacks against the bomber formation. Following this engagement, Schwaiger made a successful
forced landing in his Bf 109 G-5 (
Werknummer 110186—factory number) near
Neuburg an der Donau but was then killed by
strafing North American P-51 Mustang fighters after he had left his aircraft. Command of 1.
Staffel remained vacant until 10 May when
Hauptmann Ernst Laube was appointed its
Staffelkapitän. ==Summary of career==