Dear Aviation & History Enthusiasts, My father - Flight Captain Erich Warsitz - is remembered as the first person to fly an aircraft under turbojet power, the Heinkel He 178, on August 27, 1939 and also the first to fly an aircraft under liquid-fueled rocket power, the Heinkel He 176, on June 20 the same year, setting two milestones in aviation history. Late in 1936 he was seconded by the RLM (Reich Air Ministry) to Wernher von Braun and Ernst Heinkel, because he had been recognized as one of the most experienced test-pilots of the time, and because he also had an extraordinary fund of technical knowledge. Little is known of this pioneer period because of the strict secrecy which shrouded the whole project! You will find a lot of information about Erich Warsitz and his achievements under http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Warsitz . There is also a video of the He 178 with audio commentary by my father, inclusive written translation in English, under http://www.youtube.com/user/TheFirstJetPilot#p/u/3/nneZgRkpskU . It's a little unfortunate that the He 178 quite often doesn't get the recognition it deserves. After all, every other turbine propelled aircraft that has graced or is now gracing our skies has, at best, come second place to it. Fly save, Lutz Warsitz
Thanx Lutz, and welcome! As a matter of fact I just finished Heinkel´s memoirs. Interesting info on the Luftwaffe´s plane production and the courage of the test pilots....
Welcome to the forums! Did your father ever talk about his kidnapping and time in Sibera? Were they specifically hard on him because of how "key" he was? Did he ever consider accepting the offer after staying in the camps?
On the night of 5 December 1945 my father was kidnapped from his flat in the American sector of Berlin by four Soviet officers and taken to Berlin-Teltow prison at the barrel of a machine-gun. At first he was persona grata in the jails until he refused to sign a contract which would have obliged him to cooperate for five years on the Russian development in rockets and jets. It was obvious to him that having witnessed all the things they were up to he would never see his home again. For his refusal he was declared persona non grata and he was given 25 years’ forced labour and shipped out to the notorious punishment camp 7525/13 in Siberia. On 6 April 1950, after many years of captivity, most former Wehrmacht prisoners (inclusive my father) were freed on the intervention of Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer. Best wishes, Lutz
Did your father openly talk about his experiences? I know some former prisoners would be private about their experiences, there were even cases where former prisoners would live their lives in fear because they thought one day they could be sent back to the camps for what ever reason.
Yes, he did in many occasions over the years! Once his was freed and back to West-Germany in 1950, there were no worries to talk about his experiences at the OKH and RLM - there was no chance that he could ever be sent back to the camps in Russia.
Noticed yesterday in a book store there´s a new book about him available by Lutz naturally. Just to inform everybody about this: Lutz Warsitz: THE FIRST JET PILOT - The Story of German Test Pilot Erich Warsitz, Pen and Sword Books Ltd., England, 2009... It is at the end of the wikipedia site but I don´t check that part so often so...
