Hans Dieterle (Heinkel) captures the World Speed Record, 30 March 1939

 

Below; Oranienburg, 30 March 1939 - 24-year old Heinkel Werkspilot Hans Dieterle, pictured with his wife, has just attained a timed speed of 746 km/h with the (so-called) 'He 112 U' to achieve a World speed record. ( the 'U' may have stood for 'Udet' - who had test-flown some of the earlier He 100/112 'variants' during 1938). The aircraft was in actual fact the He 100 V8 coded D-IDGH with 'cut-down' windshield and canopy, powered by a modified DB 601 with methyl alcohol injection to produce around 1800 hp for a very short period. The aircraft covered the 3 km long Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) measured 'course' in just 14 seconds! Dieterle’s new record - 'schnellster Mann der Welt' -would last less than one month, however. On 26 April 1939, Fritz Wendel achieved 755 km/h (around 470 mph) in the Me 209, although some have argued that as this flight had taken place in Augsburg - which was much higher above sea level than allowed in FAI regulations-  Wendel's record was invalid.

'Rekordflieger' Dieterle (along with Chefpilot Gerhard Nitschke) had previously been involved in 'world record' flight attempts in another Heinkel prototype - the He 119 fast bomber/recce aircraft and earlier  in 1937 had achieved another world (distance) record in the He 116 four-engine long-range 'mail' aircraft (langstrecken Postflugzeug). Both pilots had been injured in the crash-landing of the He 119 V1 in December 1937. (on December 16, 1937 the He 119 SV-1, Wnr. 2402, D-AUTE crashed in Travemünde). The He 119 (below) featured a unique buried engine (coupled DB 601s designated DB 606) driving a nose propeller through an extension shaft.

Bundesarchiv caption - " World records being “processed” -  the two pilots of the twin-engine Heinkel aircraft, Flugkapitän Nitschke (left) and Pilot Dieterle (right), who on Monday set three world speed records over 1,000 km for Germany, together with the designer of the Heinkel aircraft, Dr. Ernst Heinkel (centre), with whom they are discussing their experiences on the record-breaking flight, November 23, 1937 .." 

Melitta v. Stauffenberg " The Countess who crossed Hitler " by Richard Whittle

 

A heads-up for aerospace author Richard Whittle's latest article just published in the 'Summer 2024' edition of the National Air and Space Museum magazine " Air & Space Quarterly ". A former research fellow at the NASM, Richard has turned his research skills to the career and mysterious demise of Germany's 'other' female test pilot, Melitta von Stauffenberg. He sheds new light on the various theories surrounding her death at the end of the war. On 8 April 1945, while at the controls of a Bücker Bü 181 Bestmann trainer en route to Schoenberg - perhaps to rescue her husband imprisoned by the regime after his brother's failed assassination attempt on the Führer - and navigating along a rail track running near the Danube in the vicinity of Strasskirchen, Bavaria, she was shot down, by whom it is - or rather was - unclear. According to German author Gerhard Bracke, Me 109s may have been involved. And according to eye witnesses she managed to successfully crash-land the aircraft, but apparently later died from her 'non life-threatening' injuries in hospital in Straubing, possibly at the hands of the Gestapo. In a recent message to this blog, Richard writes, " the Bücker 181 Melitta was flying was placed at her disposal by a Major at the Flugzeugführerschule A 114 in Marienbad, where she had ended up on April 6. But Marienbad is in the Czech Republic today, and she took off on April 8 from somewhere in the vicinity of Straubing, maybe Flugplatz Straubing, it seems. The plane she was flying bore the registration GY + BL. I am continuing my research, specifically regarding information on the airfield Melitta departed from on April 8, 1945.."

Go to the NASM quarterly magazine 'Air and Space' 

 Also on this blog;

The Third Reich's 'other' female test pilot

Clare Mulley - " The women who flew for Hitler " -video book trailer filmed at the IWM, Duxford

'The Women Who Flew for Hitler' by Clare Mulley is published in paperback today and has been getting great reviews. " Not an attempt to look at good Nazis or bad women, it is an attempt to look at two real women whose very different choices put them on opposite sides of history." Clare's book describes the lives of two German test pilots, Hanna Reitsch and Melitta von Stauffenberg, who ended up on opposing sides of the regime. Watch the 2-min book trailer below filmed at the IWM, Duxford

- 'Vividly drawn... this is a thrilling story', The Telegraph
- ‘Popular history of a high order', The Times
- ‘A satisfying, rollicking read… well researched and beautifully written', The Spectator
- ‘Superb and beautifully written, well paced and full of drama.’ The Literary Review


"....Clare Mulley, award-winning author of three biographies, has produced a stunning dual exploration of these two remarkable flying aces, retrieving their chequered, interwoven lives from the dusty corners of history, reassessing their wartime careers and providing fascinating insights into Nazi Germany and its attitudes to women, class and race. Hanna and Melitta, two talented, courageous and strikingly attractive women, fought convention to make their names in the male-dominated field of flight in 1930s Germany. Middle-class, vivacious Hanna, with her distinctive Aryan looks and go-getting energy, was a champion glider in the years between the wars, making her name as a celebrity-seeking, over-confident daredevil....Melitta, who was also awarded the Iron Cross, was more than just a test pilot; when she wasn’t in the cockpit of a Stuka dive bomber, she was at her drawing board, working on the development of planes in her high-level job as an aeronautical engineer...."

 Read more at: https://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/whats-on/arts/book-review-the-women-who-flew-for-hitler-by-clare-mulley-1-9049560

More on Melitta Stauffenberg on this blog

http://falkeeins.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/germanys-other-wwii-female-test-pilot.html

Germany’s ‘other’ WWII female test pilot - Melitta Schiller, Gräfin (Countess) von Stauffenberg

I picked up the latest Classic monograph this weekend - Eddie Nielinger Creek’s superlative history of the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka. I was particularly interested in the brief pilot bios dotted throughout the book and especially the profile devoted to Germany’s ‘other’ WWII female test pilot - Melitta Schiller, later the Gräfin (Countess) von Stauffenberg.

Schiller was born in 1903 in the then-German province of Posen, now in Poland, the daughter of a Jewish civil engineer. She studied maths, physics and engineering, eventually specialising in aeronautical engineering at the Technical University of Munich. She worked as an engineer for DVL in Berlin and started flying lessons. She then worked for Askania developing navigation and steering systems for seaplanes such as the Ha 139 and the Do 18. In 1937 she married the historian Alexander Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg – an event that would have dramatic consequences later in the war. Alexander was the brother of Claus von Stauffenberg....


However throughout the pre-war and early war years Melitta’s career was essentially a programme of intensive test flying -  spending up to ten hours per day in the air, flying literally thousands of sorties, principally in dive bombers, where she contributed to the development of the Stuka’s automatic pilot and pull-out. For her work on these programmes Melitta Stauffenberg was one of the rare recipients of Goering's own award, the Goldene Flugzeugführerabzeichen mit Brillanten - the pilot's badge in Gold with diamonds.

And then in July 1944 Claus von Stauffenberg triggered operation “Valkyrie” the failed Hitler bomb plot, thereby setting in motion a train of events that would apparently lead directly to Melitta Schiller’s death.

As news of the failed putsch came through she and her husband resigned themselves to ‘Sippenhaft’(imprisonment) as family members of an ‘enemy of the Reich’ - and worse. Both were arrested along with others in the Stauffenberg family. However in late August 1944 Melitta Schiller's release was secured by Hajo Herrmann so that she could pursure her work, described as ‘kriegswichtig’ – important for the war effort.  This suggests there was no real suspicion of involvement in the conspiracy with her brother-in-law to assassinate Adolf Hitler.  However according to Gerhard Bracke in his book “Das Leben einer Fliegerin” ( 'The life of an aviatrix') Melitta Stauffenberg had been approached to participate in the assassination plot. She was to fly von Stauffenberg directly back to Berlin after the bomb had gone off but had been unable to get directly involved (rather than refusing outright) as she was not able to gain access to a suitable aircraft..( Bracke p. 178) Following her release from 'Sippenhaft' she was able to visit her husband and sister-in-law in prison while continuing her flight testing for the regime...

Writing in Aeroplane magazine in June 1999 Barbara Schlussler stated that ‘confusion surrounds Melitta’s death’. The ‘accepted’ version of events is that she was shot down by American fighters. During early April 1945, with the collapse of the Third Reich imminent, Melitta set out to locate her husband who was still languishing in jail. On 8 April 1945, while at the controls of a Bücker Bü 181 Bestmann trainer en route to Schoenberg - perhaps to rescue her husband-  and navigating along a rail track running near the Danube in the vicinity of Strasskirchen, Bavaria, she was bounced by a P-51. According to eye witnesses she managed to successfully crash-land the aircraft, but apparently later died from her injuries in hospital in Straubing. 

In the last chapter of his biography Gerhard Bracke looks at the ‘conspiracy’ theories surrounding Melitta Stauffenberg’s final hours. He presents evidence to suggest that the aircraft that shot down Melitta Stauffenberg were Me 109s (there were matching no US fighter claims) and looks at Gestapo involvement in her death. Bracke quotes at length another eyewitness who helped Melitta Stauffenberg out of the wreckage of her aircraft-  “ her injuries amounted to no more than a broken leg and were in no way life threatening”. Melitta Schiller must rank as one of the leading female test pilots in aviation history but her record as a test pilot is over-shadowed by the manner of her death. She will probably be best 'remembered' - if she is at all - as the sister-in-law of Claus von Stauffenberg, instigator of “Valkyrie”, the failed Hitler bomb plot.

 Model by Ed Russell

“...SF+WR is but one candidate for the Bu181 Melitta Stauffenberg was flying that day but it's one of the few documented to be attached to Fliegschule A/B 23. This is the old but neat Huma kit. The only additions were some sheet plastic card to the underside of the centre section which is rather flat on the kit but convex on the Bu181, a little detail in the cockpit. I also added the front engine cylinder, replaced the exhausts with cored-out solder and replace the tiny semi-circular windows with clear PVA. Paint is standard Model Master 70/71/65. I used some of the kit decals and some done on an Alps. The camera is cruel and emphasises the minimal silvering...”