Robert Lusser (19 April 1899 – 19 January 1969) was a German engineer,
aircraft
An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...
designer and aviator. He is remembered both for several well-known
Messerschmitt
Messerschmitt AG () was a German share-ownership limited, aircraft manufacturing corporation named after its chief designer Willy Messerschmitt from mid-July 1938 onwards, and known primarily for its World War II fighter aircraft, in parti ...
and
Heinkel
Heinkel Flugzeugwerke () was a German aircraft manufacturing company founded by and named after Ernst Heinkel. It is noted for producing bomber aircraft for the Luftwaffe in World War II and for important contributions to high-speed flight, wit ...
designs during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, and after the war for his theoretical study of the reliability of complex systems. In the post-war era, Lusser also pioneered the development of modern
ski binding
A ski binding is a device that connects a ski boot to the ski. Before the 1933 invention of Ski lift, ski lifts, skiers went uphill and down and cross-country on the same gear. As ski lifts became more prevalent, skis—and their bindings—became ...
s, introducing the first
teflon
Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is a synthetic fluoropolymer of tetrafluoroethylene, and has numerous applications because it is chemically inert. The commonly known brand name of PTFE-based composition is Teflon by Chemours, a spin-off from ...
anti-friction pads to improve release.
Biography
Lusser was born in
Ulm. As a pilot, he won the International Light Aircraft Contest in France in 1928. Next he participated in three out of four
FAI International Tourist Plane Contests, flying
Klemm aircraft, and completed all three taking quite high places (
Challenge 1929: 4th,
Challenge 1930: 13th, and
Challenge 1932: 10th). In August 1930 he was 3rd in the handicapped race ''Giro Aereo d'Italia'' in Italy.
Lusser's first jobs were with the
Klemm and
Heinkel
Heinkel Flugzeugwerke () was a German aircraft manufacturing company founded by and named after Ernst Heinkel. It is noted for producing bomber aircraft for the Luftwaffe in World War II and for important contributions to high-speed flight, wit ...
companies, before joining the newly relaunched ''Bayerische Flugzeugwerke'' (Bavarian Aircraft Works) in 1933. There, he assisted
Willy Messerschmitt with his design for a touring aircraft, the Messerschmitt M37. This was later put into production as the
Messerschmitt Bf 108, and formed the basis for the company's best known product, the
Bf 109
The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a monoplane fighter aircraft that was designed and initially produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW). Together with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the Bf 109 formed the backbone of the ...
fighter aircraft
Fighter aircraft (early on also ''pursuit aircraft'') are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air supremacy, air superiority of the battlespace. Domina ...
. By 1934, Lusser was head of Messerschmitt's design bureau and in charge of the
Bf 110 heavy fighter project. In 1938 the company was renamed
Messerschmitt
Messerschmitt AG () was a German share-ownership limited, aircraft manufacturing corporation named after its chief designer Willy Messerschmitt from mid-July 1938 onwards, and known primarily for its World War II fighter aircraft, in parti ...
.
Lusser stayed with the company until 1938, when he returned to
Heinkel
Heinkel Flugzeugwerke () was a German aircraft manufacturing company founded by and named after Ernst Heinkel. It is noted for producing bomber aircraft for the Luftwaffe in World War II and for important contributions to high-speed flight, wit ...
. There, he led the design of two highly sophisticated aircraft that never reached their full potential - the
He 280 and the
He 219. The He 280 was the first jet fighter to leave the drawing board, but which the
RLM (''Reichsluftfahrtministerium'' - "Reich Aviation Ministry") passed over in favour of the
Messerschmitt Me 262
The Messerschmitt Me 262, nicknamed (German for "Swallow") in fighter versions, or ("Storm Bird") in fighter-bomber versions, is a fighter aircraft and fighter-bomber that was designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Messers ...
. The He 219 was an advanced night-fighter design that was rejected by the RLM in August 1941 as being too complex to order into production because of its many innovations.
Ernst Heinkel immediately dismissed Lusser and resubmitted a simplified design that eventually saw limited production.
From Heinkel, Lusser went to
Fieseler, and there became involved with the company's efforts to produce a pilotless aircraft, initially designated the Fi 103. This was a collaborative effort between the company and engine manufacturer
Argus, who were developing a
pulsejet
file:Pulse Jet Engine.PNG, 300px, Diagram of a valved pulsejet. 1 - Air enters through valve and is mixed with fuel. 2 - The mixture is ignited, expands, closes the valve and exits through the tailpipe, creating thrust.3 - Low pressure in the engi ...
. Lusser worked with Argus engineer
Fritz Gosslau to refine the design. The project was an initiative of the two companies, begun by Argus as early as 1934, and received little official interest until
Erhard Milch
Erhard Milch (30 March 1892 – 25 January 1972) was a German ''Generalfeldmarschall'' of the ''Luftwaffe'' who oversaw its founding and development during the rearmament of Germany and most of World War II. Milch served as State Secretary in ...
recognised its potential in 1942 and assigned it high priority.
Nazi
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
propaganda dubbed this
flying bomb the
V1, (''Vergeltungswaffe'' - "revenge weapon"). It was a design competing with
Wernher von Braun
Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun ( ; ; 23 March 191216 June 1977) was a German–American aerospace engineer and space architect. He was a member of the Nazi Party and '' Allgemeine SS'', the leading figure in the development of ...
' s "V2" vertical takeoff rocket. Despite initial demonstrations before Luftwaffe made the V2 look more reliable, it was decided both designs should proceed into production. Lusser and von Braun were rivals, and even later their relationship was never frictionless. Near Wolfsburg, Lusser found the main design flaw of his rocket, which turned out to be an underdimensioned main wing spar, as the ramp up of production began. From there on, the design worked.
Post war time
Like many important German engineers, Lusser was brought to the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
after the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. There, he worked for the
Navy
A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...
, the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) in La Cañada Flintridge, California, Crescenta Valley, United States. Founded in 1936 by Cali ...
, and in 1953, re-joined von Braun's rocketry team at
Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville is the List of municipalities in Alabama, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alabama. The population of the city is estimated to be 241,114 in 2024, making it the List of United States cities by population, 100th-most populous ...
. During his six years there, he formalised his theories of reliability, which focus on the contribution that the reliability of each part makes to the reliability of an overall system. This is now known as
Lusser's Law. Based on these calculations, he pronounced that von Braun's ambitions of reaching the
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...
and
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
were doomed to failure because of the complexity of the spacecraft required.
He returned to Germany, and to the Messerschmitt company, by then, Messerschmitt-Bölkow. His alarming reliability study of the adaptations that the company was making to the
F-104 Starfighter that it was building under licence turned out to be tragically correct.
In 1961 he ruptured his Achilles tendon while testing his ski's
cable bindings in his hotel room at
Saas-Fee. He decided to attack the binding problem, developing the first bindings that gripped the toe of the boot, rather than the flange projecting from the front of the sole at the toe. This allowed the toe binding to release in any direction. In 1963 he quit his job at Messerschmitt to start the Lusser Binding Company.
"Release!"
''Skiing Heritage'', Fall 2002 This was a major brand until his death on 19 January 1969 in Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
.
References
External links
Robert Lusser Collection, The University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives and Special Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lusser, Robert
1969 deaths
1899 births
German aerospace engineers
German aviators
Heinkel
Messerschmitt people
Engineers from Ulm
Recipients of the Knights Cross of the War Merit Cross
V-weapons people