Misplaced Pages

#974025

39-405: BFW may refer to: Bayerische Flugzeugwerke AG , later Messerschmitt AG, German aircraft manufacturer Bleed from Within , Scottish heavy metal band Boiler feedwater "BFW", a song by TISM from their 2001 album De RigueurMortis Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with

78-406: A "dead factory, which possesses no plant worth mentioning, and consists very largely of dilapidated and unsuitable wooden sheds situated in a town that is extremely unfavorable for industrial activities and whose status continues to give little cause for enthusiasm". Apparently Popp was still in close contact with Castiglioni and was perhaps even privy to the latter's plans for merging BMW with BFW. It

117-651: A charge of fraud was issued, but Castiglioni had taken care to be in Italy when the crash came. The Austrian State said that if he deposited $ 4,200,000 ($ 74,670,291 in present-day value), he could return unmolested. Castiglioni built up a large art collection and a theatre in Vienna . He was the richest man in Central Europe and much beloved by the Viennese whom he assisted financially on Sundays and odd occasions. He

156-633: A heavy Amerika Bomber design, the Me 264 , which flew in prototype form — with three prototype airframes built, the first of which flew in December 1942 — but was too late to see combat. For ten years after World War II , the company was not allowed to produce aircraft. One alternative the company came up with was the three-wheeled motorcycle / bubble car or Kabinenroller (cabinscooter) KR175  / KR200 , designed by an aircraft engineer, Fritz Fend . The cars were actually made by Fend's own company in

195-721: A large US loan for his friend Josip Broz Tito in Yugoslavia . When Tito refused to pay his commission, Castiglioni succeeded in getting Yugoslavian assets in Italy worth millions sequestered. In 1916, he was awarded the Franz Joseph Order with ribbon on the Military Service Cross for his services to aviation and in 1918 with the St-Georges Order for his achievements in the war material production. Castiglioni became rich in ventures during

234-628: A majority holding in Austro-Daimler with its chief designers Puch and Porsche . Press "czar" and sponsor of the arts (financed Max Reinhardt and helped him to organize the Salzburg Festival ). After a series of setbacks, his financial empire broke up in 1926. He retired to Switzerland , then to Milan where he set up a private bank and once again amassed a considerable fortune. After the Second World War, negotiated

273-456: A month of being set up, the company was able to supply aircraft to the war ministries of Prussia and Bavaria . However, major quality problems were encountered at the start. The German air crews frequently complained about the serious defects that appeared in the first machines from BFW. The same thing had happened with the aircraft from the predecessor company run by Gustav Otto. It was only organizational changes and more intensive supervision of

312-562: A month. By the beginning of March 1924, one United States dollar was worth 28 francs. Then, however, investment bank Lazard , on the behalf of Banque de France and powered by J.P. Morgan & Co. , bought immense amounts of francs, causing the franc to rise again, to 15 franc per dollar. Castiglioni, Mannheimer and their partners lost millions. In September 1924, the Austrian Depositenbank , of which Castiglioni had been president, collapsed. A warrant for his arrest on

351-498: A stagnation of the careers of him and BFW, which was started again in 1933. Milch still prevented Messerschmitt's takeover of the BFW until 1938, hence the designation "Bf" of early Messerschmitt designs. Messerschmitt promoted a concept he called "light weight construction" in which many typically separate load-bearing parts were merged into a single reinforced firewall, thereby saving weight and improving performance. The first true test of

390-841: Is known that he was passionate about flying. Camillo's education was primarily law, gaining employment as an attorney and legal officer of a bank in Padua , quickly learning international finance and how to manage capital. He was the son of a rubber maker, so naturally Camillo found work with the Austro-American Gummiwarenfabrik AG (rubber products) in Vienna as an agent for the Kaufmann automobile tire division in Constantinople . Camillo found great success in this position, demonstrating his abilities to negotiate and structure financial deals. In fact, Camillo

429-488: The Me 210 , designed as a follow-on to the 110, was an aerodynamic disaster that almost led to the forced dissolution of the company. The design problems were eventually addressed in the Me 410 Hornisse , but only small numbers were built before all attention turned to the 262. Later in the war, in competition with the Junkers Ju 390 and the unbuilt, February 1943-initiated Heinkel He 277 , Messerschmitt also worked on

SECTION 10

#1732782572975

468-608: The Wiener Bankverein acquired the majority of BMW's share capital. 1922 Castiglioni purchased all the equipment relating to engine construction, the associated know-how and the rights to the name "Bayerische Motoren Werke AG" from the BMW AG, which was renamed Süddeutsche Bremse AG. Castiglioni in turn renamed the Bayerische Flugzeugwerke to BMW AG and allowed the renamed company to continue production at

507-640: The BFW plant. From the establishment of BMW AG until November 9, 1922 and then from 1924 to 1929, he was a member of the Supervisory Board and President of BMW AG. 1928 Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board. His was one of the voices that urged BMW in 1928 to purchase the Eisenach Automobilwerke. Due to financial difficulties in 1929 he was obliged to surrender his holding of BMW shares to a consortium of banks ( Deutsche Bank , Disconto , Bankhaus Hagen etc.). A consortium led by

546-454: The Bf 109 and 110, retained their earlier designation in official documents, although sometimes the newer designations were used as well, most often by subcontractors, such as Erla Maschinenwerk of Leipzig . In practice, all BFW/Messerschmitt aircraft from the Bf 108 four-seat touring monoplane, to the Bf 163 light observation aircraft (which competed unsuccessfully for the government contract won by

585-654: The Deutsche Bank and the Diskonto-Gesellschaft purchased the BMW shares previously held by Camillo Castiglioni, who was facing problems of liquidity. In February 1924, Castiglioni partnered with Fritz Mannheimer , and later other influential bankers to speculate on the devaluation of the French franc . They shorted hundreds of millions of franc, eventually causing the franc to drop almost 40% in less than

624-610: The Messerschmitt works at Regensburg, and Willy Messerschmitt had very little to do with the vehicles other than ruling that they carried his name. Production of the KR200 ceased in 1964. The Messerschmitt factory also produced prefabricated houses, which were designed as "self-building-kits" mainly based on an alloy framework. On 6 June 1968, Messerschmitt AG merged with the small civil engineering and civil aviation firm Bölkow , becoming Messerschmitt-Bölkow. The following May,

663-528: The arising enthusiasm for airplanes and ballooning, as well as to take advantage of the lucrative business the hobby generated, Camillo established one of his first companies, Luftfahrzeug-Gesellschaft , in 1907. Being a pure commercial firm – it acquired the Etrich balloon patents and sold balloon fliers in Austria Hungary. There were many contests that these inspired balloon drivers entered, and Camillo

702-480: The assembly line that succeeded in resolving these problems by the end of 1916. BFW then started turning out over 200 aircraft a month, with their workforce growing to 3,000 and becoming one of the largest aircraft manufacturers in Bavaria. The end of the war hit BFW hard, since military demand for aircraft collapsed. The company's management were forced to look for new products with which to maintain their position in

741-403: The birth of aviation as an industry, going from a ballooning hobby, to makeshift glider craft requiring tires, to fully operational aircraft operated by engines. He met many influential men in his business, and came to realize that aviation sparked not only his passion for flight, but also recognized the tremendous financial opportunity of aviation's potential as an industry. In order to draw from

780-548: The capital was provided by the Bank für Handel und Industrie , Berlin, 30% by MAN AG and 34% by Hermann Bachstein, Berlin. The first Chairman of the Board of Management was Peter Eberwein, who had previously been employed at Albatros Flugzeugwerke . Due to the need for immediate aircraft production for the ongoing war, there was no time for development work and BFW manufactured aircraft under licence from Albatros Flugzeugwerke . Within

819-516: The concentration camp to oversee the work being done by the inmates. Messerschmitt, and its executive Willy Messerschmitt also occupied the famed Villa Tugendhat in Brno , Czech Republic , designed by Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich in the 1920s; the Messerschmitt aircraft factory office and the Gestapo occupied the property during the war. Messerschmitt had its share of poor designs as well;

SECTION 20

#1732782572975

858-572: The concept was in the Bf 108 Taifun sports aircraft, which would soon be setting all sorts of records. Based on this performance the company was invited to submit a design for the Luftwaffe 's 1935 fighter contest, winning it with the Bf 109 , based on the same construction methods. From this point on Messerschmitt became a favorite of the Nazi party, as much for his designs as his political abilities and

897-478: The factory location in southern Germany away from the "clumping" of aviation firms on the northern coast. BFW was reconstituted as "Messerschmitt AG" on 11 July 1938, with Willy Messerschmitt as chairman and managing director. The renaming of BFW resulted in the company's RLM designation prefix changing from "Bf" to "Me" for all newer designs that were accepted by the RLM after the acquisition date. Existing types, such as

936-510: The firm acquired Hamburger Flugzeugbau (HFB). The company then changed its name to Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB). In 1989 MBB was taken over by DASA . DASA later operated as "EADS Germany", which is now Airbus . Camillo Castiglioni Castiglioni was born in Trieste , then part of Austria-Hungary , to the chief rabbi. His older brother was Arturo Castiglioni . It is not known when Camillo developed his interest in aviation, but it

975-458: The market. Since World War I aircraft were largely built from wood to keep their weight down, BFW was equipped with the very latest joinery plant. The company still held stocks of materials sufficient for about 200 aircraft, and worth 4.7 million reichsmarks. The machinery and the materials were then used for the production of furniture and fitted kitchens. In addition, from 1921 onwards, the company manufactured motorcycles of its own design under

1014-425: The names of Flink and Helios. In the autumn of 1921, Austrian financier Camillo Castiglioni first announced his interest in purchasing BFW. While most of the shareholders accepted his offer, MAN AG initially held on to its shareholding in BFW, but Castiglioni wanted to acquire all the shares. He was supported in this by BMW's Managing Director Franz Josef Popp who, in a letter to the chairman of MAN, described BFW as

1053-531: The period of inflation, acquiring a majority interest in Alpine Montan AG . The Austrian aviation company Österreichische Luftfahrtsgesellschaft was founded by him. Castiglioni significantly influenced the development of BMW AG in its early years. The granting of a license agreement by Austro-Daimler to the Rapp-Werke in 1917 was partly attributable to Castiglioni. 1918 At Castiglioni's insistence

1092-408: The rival Fieseler Fi 156 design) were prefixed "Bf", all later types with "Me". During the war Messerschmitt became a major design supplier, their Bf 109 and Bf 110 forming the vast majority of fighter strength for the first half of the war. Several other designs were also ordered, including the enormous Me 321 Gigant transport glider, and its six-engined follow on, the Me 323 . However, for

1131-651: The second half of the war, Messerschmitt turned almost entirely to jet -powered designs, producing the world's first operational jet fighter, the Me 262 Schwalbe ("Swallow"). They also produced the DFS -designed Me 163 Komet , the first rocket -powered design to enter service. Messerschmitt relied heavily on slave labour to produce much of the parts needed for these aircraft during the second half of World War II; these parts were assembled in an enormous tunnel system in Sankt Georgen an der Gusen , Austria . Slave labour

1170-507: The south German engineering company MAN AG and several banks purchased the unprofitable aircraft builder Otto-Flugzeugwerke , starting a new company, Bayerische Flugzeugwerke AG (abbreviated B.F.W. ). The articles of association were drawn up on 19 and 20 February, and completed on 2 March 1916. Details of the company were recorded in the Commercial Register with an equity capital of RM 1,000,000 on 7 March 1916. 36% of

1209-508: The title BFW . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=BFW&oldid=1163166129 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Messerschmitt Messerschmitt AG ( German pronunciation: [ˈmɛsɐʃmɪt] )

BFW - Misplaced Pages Continue

1248-511: Was a German share-ownership limited , aircraft manufacturing corporation named after its chief designer Willy Messerschmitt from mid-July 1938 onwards , and known primarily for its World War II fighter aircraft , in particular the Bf 109 and Me 262 . The company survived in the post-war era, undergoing a number of mergers and changing its name from Messerschmitt to Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm before being bought by Deutsche Aerospace ( DASA , now part of Airbus ) in 1989. In February 1916,

1287-560: Was a near-catastrophe for the designer and the company. Many of the prototypes crashed, one of them killing Hans Hackmack, a close friend of Erhard Milch , the head of Deutsche Luft Hansa and the German civil aviation authorities. Milch was upset by the lack of response from Messerschmitt and this led to a lifelong hatred towards him. Milch eventually cancelled all contracts with Messerschmitt and forced BFW into bankruptcy in 1931. However, Messerschmitt's friendship with Hugo Junkers prevented

1326-643: Was also a patron of the arts and for some time supported the famed producer Max Reinhardt , for whom he built a theater. So fond was he of appearing in the public limelight that he lived with all the pomp and ceremony of royalty, even traveling in the Kaiser Karl's private parlor car, which he bought. Because of his famous banking activities, his life was documented in a 1988 movie on television titled Camillo Castiglioni oder die Moral der Haifische (in English: Camillo Castiglioni, or

1365-513: Was no different- he bought his own balloon and successfully took his balloon driver examination on 24 August 1909. During the First World War, he became one of the richest and most influential financiers in Central Europe. The first major investor in the series production of aircraft. In 1914, he purchased the German aircraft company Hansa- und Brandenburgische Flugzeugwerke , which employed Ernst Heinkel as its chief designer. Acquired

1404-564: Was probably in the spring of 1922 that Castiglioni and Popp persuaded MAN to give up its shares in BFW, so that now the company belonged exclusively to Castiglioni. Then, in May of the same year, when the Italian-born investor was able to acquire BMW's engine business from Knorr-Bremse AG , nothing more stood in the way of a merger between the aircraft company BFW and the engine builders BMW. Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW/Bavarian Aircraft Works)

1443-450: Was provided by inmates of the brutal KZ Gusen I and Gusen II camps, and by inmates from nearby Mauthausen concentration camp , all located near the St. Gorgen quarries. 40,000 inmates from Spain, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, France, Russia, Hungarian Jews and twenty other nationalities were murdered during the production of these aircraft at KZ Gusen . Messerschmitt officials maintained barracks at

1482-537: Was reformed in 1926, in Augsburg , Bavaria , when Udet Flugzeugbau GmbH was changed into a joint-stock company. In the early stages, BMW AG held a stake in this company and was represented by Josef Popp , who held a place on the Supervisory Board. Willy Messerschmitt joined the company in 1927 as chief designer and engineer and formed a design team. One of the first designs, the Messerschmitt M20 ,

1521-483: Was so successful, he was promoted to director of the export department of the parent company in Vienna. Around 1901, along with Viktor Silberer and Franz Hinterstoissera Camillo helped to create the Viennese aero club (later Austrian aero club). He eventually was made deputy director, then in 1904 he was appointed to general director of the company. Through his experience in the rubber and tire production field, Camillo saw

#974025