Henrich Focke

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Henrich Focke (October 8, 1890 - February 25, 1979) was a German aviation pioneer from Bremen. He was a co-founder of Focke-Wulf.

He built a glider in 1909, and his first motorised plane, the Kolthoff-Focke A III, a year later. The A III was too underpowered to be airworthy. His next model, the A IV allowed his first motorised flight in 1912. He then joined forces with Georg Wulf and in 1914 they built the Focke-Wulf A VI.

After the end of World War I, experimentation continued. Focke and Wulf built the new A VII around the engine from the A VI.

In 1923, with Wulf and Dr. Werner Neumann, Focke co-founded Focke-Wulf, which developed and built large numbers of aircraft to support the Luftwaffe during World War II.

Before the outbreak of war, Focke had parted ways from the company that continued to bear his name. In 1937 shareholder pressure ousted him, and he founded, with Gerd Achgelis, another company Focke Achgelis to specialise in helicopters.

In 1951 he moved to Brazil. At the Brazilian General Command for Aerospace Technology (CTA) he conducted some ground tests with a vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, called Convertiplano. The Convertiplano was built on the fuselage and wings of a Spitfire, which was believed to be one delivered to Argentina, as a sales example. Kurt Tank [Focke's colleague from wartime Germany] worked in the Argentine aviation industry at the time, which is probably how Focke obtained the Spitfire. The fuselage was modified to accept a mid mounted Wright 2200hp engine and the complex combining gearboxes. Some 40 workers and US$8 Million being dedicated to the project. Enclopedia Avioes Brasileiros page 228 and 229 record more than 300 lift-off's by this machine. Focke also developed the BF-1 Beija-Flor helicopter design from 1956, at this time still working at CTA. A two-seater, the Beija Flor had its 225hp Continental E225 engine fitted in the nose, with a short coupling to the rotor pylon, which was mounted centrally in front of the crew. An open structure tubular steel tail boom carried a pair of tail surfaces and a small tail rotor. The BF 2 was developed from this which flew on 1 January 1959, and performed an extended flight-testing campaign until it was damaged in an accident. It is thought that further work on the Beija Flor was then abandoned.

In 1956 Focke moved from Brasil to The US where he provided much of the knowledge and experience in developing the technology leading to the V22 Osprey.

Interesting information about Henrich Fockes last lab can be found under Fockes historical flight-lab

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