Bundesarchiv Bild 102-11541, Osnabrück, Erste deutsche Postrakete

Reinhold Tiling (13 June 1893 – 11 October 1933) was a German

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

and a

rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entire ...

pioneer.

Biography

Tiling was born in

Absberg Absberg is a municipality in the Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen district, in Bavaria, Germany. The Absberg family was named by this place and had their home castle there. References Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen {{WeißenburgGunzenhausen-g ...

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German E ...

, as the son of a pastor. Shortly after he began the study of mechanical engineering and electro-technology he found himself in war service at the beginning of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

. In 1915 he volunteered as a fighter pilot in the newly created German ''

Luftstreitkräfte The ''Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte'' (, German Air Force)—known before October 1916 as (Flyer Troops)—was the air arm of the Imperial German Army. In English-language sources it is usually referred to as the Imperial German Air Service, alt ...

''. In 1926 Tiling became flight controller of Osnabrück airport. He began to explore rocket technology during this period, probably inspired by

Hermann Oberth Hermann Julius Oberth (; 25 June 1894 – 28 December 1989) was an Austro-Hungarian-born German physicist and engineer. He is considered one of the founding fathers of rocketry and astronautics, along with Robert Esnault-Pelterie, Konstantin Ts ...

's book ''"Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen"'' (''By Rocket into Planetary Space''); he started his first experiments in 1928. Tiling developed re-usable rocket planes which start as a rocket and land with swinging-out wings. This principle was similarly used by NASA for flights of the

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program na ...

. His innovation also allowed him to develop rockets which had the necessary thrust and burning duration for flight. In 1929 Gisbert Freiherr von Ledebur (1899–1980) allowed Tiling the use of a workshop in Ahrenshorst. In June 1929 some successful demonstrations were completed during which missiles reached a height of 1,000 metres. On 13 March 1931 Tiling and his co-worker Karl Poggensee succeeded in the launch of a solid-propellant rocket. The rocket flew for 11 seconds and reached a height of 1,800 metres. Further rocket launches were undertaken in the following weeks. The break-through experiment occurred on 15 April 1931, when Tiling demonstrated a post office rocket which carried 188 postcards reliably. Further tests showed the efficiency and reliability of his rockets. The rockets became famous in Germany and attracted large public interest. This also attracted the attention of the ''

Reichsmarine The ''Reichsmarine'' ( en, Realm Navy) was the name of the German Navy during the Weimar Republic and first two years of Nazi Germany. It was the naval branch of the '' Reichswehr'', existing from 1919 to 1935. In 1935, it became known as the '' ...

'' who had been developing rockets for military use since 1929. Despite the support of friends and sponsors, Tiling's work was beset by financial difficulties. On 10 October 1933, the overheating of the powder needed to power the rocket created an explosion in Tiling's workshop in Ahrenshorst; Tiling, his assistant Angela Buddenboehmer, and his mechanic Friedrich Kuhr suffered heavy burns. They succumbed to these injuries on the following day with Tiling dying in

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; wep, Ossenbrügge; archaic ''Osnaburg'') is a city in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a populat ...

. A crater on the backside of the moon is named after Reinhold Tiling, located at coordinates 53° 06' S 132° 36' W.

External links

Reinhold Tiling – Pionier der Raketentechnik (German)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tiling, Reinhold 1893 births 1933 deaths German World War I pilots Engineers from Bavaria Luftstreitkräfte personnel People from the Kingdom of Bavaria German rocket scientists German spaceflight pioneers Aerobatic pilots People from Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen Deaths from laboratory accidents

Biography

See also

External links