Henrich Focke was born on October 8, 1890, and died on February 25, 1979. He was a German inventor from Bremen and helped start the Focke-Wulf company. He is most famous for creating the Fw 61, which was the first helicopter that worked well and was easy to control. The Fw 61 was first flown in 1936. Henrich Focke is often called the "father of the helicopter."

Biography

Henrich Focke was born in Bremen on October 8, 1890. He studied at Leibniz University Hannover, where he became friends with Georg Wulf in 1911. In 1914, both men began military service, but Focke was deferred due to heart problems. Later, he was drafted into an infantry regiment. After serving on the Eastern Front, he was transferred to the Imperial German Army Air Service.

Focke graduated in 1920 with a Diploma in Engineering, earning high honors. His first job was as a designer of water-gas systems for the Francke Company in Bremen.

In 1923, Focke co-founded Focke-Wulf-Flugzeugbau GmbH with Wulf and Dr. Werner Naumann. In 1927, Wulf died during a test flight of the Focke-Wulf F 19 canard monoplane.

In 1930, Focke was offered a teaching position at the Danzig Institute of Technology but refused it. That same year, the city of Bremen honored him with the title of Professor. In 1931, Focke-Wulf merged with the Albatros Flugzeugwerke company.

Focke-Wulf produced Juan de la Cierva’s C.19 and C.30 autogyros under license starting in 1933. Inspired by these, Focke designed the world’s first practical helicopter, the Focke-Wulf Fw 61, which made its first flight on June 26, 1936, piloted by Ewald Rohlfs. In 1938, Hanna Reitsch flew the Fw 61 inside the Deutschlandhalle.

In 1936, Focke was removed from Focke-Wulf due to pressure from shareholders. While the official reason was that he was considered “politically unreliable” by the Nazi regime, it is believed the move allowed the company to produce Bf 109 aircraft. The company was taken over by AEG, but the Air Ministry later asked Focke to create a new company focused on helicopter development. They required a design capable of carrying a 700 kg (1,500 lb) payload.

Focke established the Focke-Achgelis company on April 27, 1937, in partnership with pilot Gerd Achgelis. Development began in Delmenhorst in 1938. The company built the experimental Fa 225 using parts from a DFS 230 glider and a Fa 223 rotor. Another project was the Fa 330 kite with a rotor, which could be deployed by submarines for use as a spotter. A powered version, the Fa 336, was designed before the war ended and later tested in France.

Focke also developed the heavy-lift transport helicopter Fa 223 and designed several other models, including the Fa 224, Fa 266, Fa 269, Fa 283, Fa 284, and Fa 336 during World War II. Only a few Fa 223 helicopters were produced, but the prototype set a helicopter speed record of 182 kilometers per hour (113 mph) and a climb record of 8.8 meters per second (1,730 ft/min) in 1940. Later models were used for transport, rescue, and recovery missions. The helicopter could carry bombs and had a machine gun, but it was never used in combat.

Near the end of Nazi Germany, Focke began designing the Focke Rochen, also called Schnellflugzeug.

On September 1, 1945, Focke signed a contract with the French company SNCASE to help develop their SE-3000 passenger helicopter, which was based on the Focke-Achgelis Fa 223 “Drache” and first flew in 1948.

In 1950, Focke worked as a designer for the North German Automobile Company in Wilhelmshaven.

In 1952, Focke and his former team joined Brazil’s Centro Técnico Aeroespacial (CTA), the air force’s technical center, to develop a Convertiplane called the “Convertiplano.” The design used parts from a Supermarine Spitfire Mk 15 and a Wright engine. The project involved 40 workers and $8 million, with over 300 takeoffs achieved.

While at the CTA, Focke also designed the BF-1 Beija-Flor (hummingbird) two-seater helicopter, which first flew in 1959. A second model, the BF-2, was tested but later damaged in an accident. Development of the Beija-Flor was eventually stopped.

Focke returned to Germany in 1956 and worked at the Borgward company in Bremen to develop the “Kolibri” (hummingbird) three-seater helicopter, which first flew in 1958. At Borgward, he built a wind tunnel in a disused hangar. This wind tunnel was rediscovered in 1997 and now serves as a museum centerpiece honoring him.

After Borgward closed in 1961, Focke became a consulting engineer for Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke and Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Luft- und Raumfahrt. In 1961, he was awarded the Ludwig-Prandtl-Ring by the German Society for Aeronautics and Astronautics for his contributions to aerospace engineering. Focke died in Bremen on February 25, 1979.

In 1993, Focke was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.