Walther Karl Paul Rethel (15 August 1892 – 1977) was a German
aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines. ...
designer born in
Wesel
Wesel () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the Wesel district.
Geography
Wesel is situated at the confluence of the Lippe River and the Rhine.
Division of the city
Suburbs of Wesel include Lackhausen, Obrigh ...
.
Rethel was born to parents
Paul Rethel
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
*Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
*Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...
(1855-1933) and Mally Rethel. His father was a Prussian Major General and grandfather was painter
Otto Rethel
Otto is a masculine German given name and a Otto (surname), surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', ''Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity".
The name ...
.
Rethel was Chief Designer with German
Kondor Flugzeugwerke Kondor may refer to:
Places
; Iran
*Kondor, Alborz
*Kondor, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari
* Kondor, East Azerbaijan
*Kondor, Hamadan
*Kondor, Kerman
*Kondor, Lorestan
*Kondor, Qazvin
*Kondor, Razavi Khorasan
*Kondor, Birjand, South Khorasan
*Kondor, ...
(1912-1919) beginning in 1916 before working for the Dutch company
Fokker
Fokker was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer named after its founder, Anthony Fokker. The company operated under several different names. It was founded in 1912 in Berlin, Germany, and became famous for its fighter aircraft in World War I. In 191 ...
in 1919 he joined NAVO Nederlandse Automobiel en-Vliegtuig Onderneming (Dutch Motorcar and Aircraft Co.) hired by Jan van der Eijken, where he developed the RK-P4/220 together with Karl Keidel. He designed aircraft such as the Kondor D series prototype fighters (1, 2 and 6), amphibious
Fokker B.I and the
Fokker F.VII
The Fokker F.VII, also known as the Fokker Trimotor, was an airliner produced in the 1920s by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker, Fokker's American subsidiary Atlantic Aircraft Corporation, and other companies under licence.
Design and de ...
airliner. In the 1920s he worked for
Arado Flugzeugwerke
Arado Flugzeugwerke was a German aircraft manufacturer, originally established as the Warnemünde factory of the Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen firm, that produced land-based military aircraft and seaplanes during the First and Second World Wars.
Hi ...
in Germany, before moving to
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 part ...
, where he was chief engineer on the legendary
Bf 109
The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...
.
References
1892 births
1977 deaths
Aircraft designers
Fokker
German aerospace engineers
Messerschmitt people
Date of death missing
Place of death missing
Engineers from Wesel
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