Engineering
Willy Messerschmitt
Aircraft designer
Born 1898 · Died 1978
Photo: UnknownUnknown · CC BY-SA 3.0 de
Willy Messerschmitt designed some of the most significant aircraft of the twentieth century, including the Bf 109 and the Me 262, the first jet fighter to see combat. After the war he was barred from aircraft design and built bubble cars instead.
Key achievements
- Designed the Bf 109, the second most-produced warplane ever
- Built gliders while still a student and founded his firm at 25
Universities
Munich
Studied engineering from 1918 and graduated in 1923, building gliders while still a student.
Facts
- He built and flew gliders as a schoolboy and had designed a successful one before entering university.
- His design philosophy was to put the largest possible engine in the lightest possible airframe.
- Barred from aviation after 1945, his company produced the three-wheeled Kabinenroller bubble car for several years.