Obviously, this ZAR story is in an alternative timeline but I'm about to incorporate a number of RW individuals. So, before moving back to aircraft profiles, a bit of alt-history to make sense of the coming developments. Apologies ahead of time for its length ...
Skep 'n lugvaartbedryf - Birth of a Domestic Aero Industry
Revisions of Zuid-Afrikaanse Lugmag requirements in the aftermath of the ZAR-Portuguese conflict put a considerable strain on the Republiek's sole aircraft builder - ZAR-Fokker. The Johannesburg-based firm was meant to support Fokker products in the ZAR and was kept on a tight leash by its parent company. Amsterdam never intended ZAR-Fokker to completely redesign or rebuild aircraft. Fortunately for the ZALM, ZAR-Fokker's administrative chief in 1930 was ir. Albert Gillis von Baumhauer who was an aircraft designer in his own right. In Jo'burg, von Baumhauer was sustained in his semi-illicit design work by his able assistant, Laurens Walraven. [1]
Work arrangements were rather ad hoc at ZAR-Fokker. Design work was sketched out in rough form by ir. von Baumhauer and then interpreted on the shop floor by Walraven. When airframe modifications were complete, flight testing was performed by Kapitein M.P. Pattist - an exchange officer from the Netherlands East Indies. [2] The arrangement worked ... but only just. However, in early 1935, serendipity delivered another skilled aircraft designer to the ZAR from the Netherlands.
From Holland to Zuid-Afrika - From Katzenstein to Kaye
Dipl. Ing. Kurt Katzenstein was a German of Jewish descent living in the Netherlands to escape the Nazis. [3] However, in 1935, Katzenstein lost his Dutch work permit and he was forced to relocate once more. [4] He decided to move his family to the ZAR - partly to make use of his new facility with the Dutch language, partly to be as far from Nazi Germany as he could get. It was a good move and, when Katzenstein presented his credentials at ZAR-Fokker, ir. von Baumhauer knew exactly who he was.
Back in 1924, Katzenstein had been working at Dietrich-Gobiet Flugzeugbau AG where he met chief pilot, Antonius 'Fritz' Raab. But that was also the year that Richard Dietrich 'awoke' to National Socialism. When Dietrich's new-found anti-Semitism tore the company apart, Kurt Katzenstein took a key aircraft design with him. In 1925, he and his former aerobatics instructor joined forces to form Raab-Katzenstein-Flugzeugwerke GmbH (RaKa) in Kassel. There, Katzenstein helped revise the promising Dietrich-Gobiet DP.XI biplane design for production by RAKA. This redesign became the well-regarded Raab-Katzenstein Kl 1 Schwalbe trainer. [5]
Kurt Katzenstein impressed ir. von Baumhauer but tiny ZAR-Fokker had no openings - even for experienced personnel. To put other talents to work, Kurt decided to attempt to fill a niche by starting a flying school in the ZAR. The new enterprise - based at Krugersdorp, a small airfield just outside Johannesburg - was to be called Kaye Lugskool (Kaye Flying School) after its founder.
Kurt Kaye, as he now called himself - a new name for a new homeland - also became an Aktiewe Reserwe Offisier (Active Reserve Officer) pilot in the ZALM. As Kaptein Kaye, the proprietor of Kaye Lugskool was well positioned to gain contracts to help training ZALM pilots. Ironically, the first ZALM work was the opposite of Kurt's aerobatics background - this was pilot ground training with the government-supplied Martinsyde Buzzard - or 'Pikkewyn' ('Penguin') as it came to be known. More appropriate military contract work follow later for the Kaye Lugskool.
Although setting up the flying school absorbed much of Kaye's time, ir. von Baumhauer offered him a chance to submit aircraft designs to ZAR-Fokker 'on spec'. The brief revolved around surplus components from the SD.7 programme. With Amsterdam anticipating follow-on orders for the trainer conversions, ZAR-Fokker had stockpiled surplus D.VII parts shipped out from Holland. When those orders failed to materialize, von Baumhauer quietly turned his attention to finding alternative uses for this burdensome collection of airframe spares. Kurt Kaye's brief was to create new aircraft concepts to make use of those parts.
As time allowed, Kaye through himself into concept sketches using D.VII components. These were submitted to von Baumhauer as a series of five concepts in September 1935. These were listed as Kurt Kaye Projek (KK P) as follows:
- KK P.30: a high-winged light plane employing the D.VII upper wing on a new fuselage;
- KK P.31: Moving that D.VII upper wing into a low-mounted (lae-dekker) position;
- KK P.32: SD.7 with widened fuselage to accommodate side-by-side (sy-aan-sy) pilots;
- KK P.33: A modernized SD.7 two-seater powered by a 180 hp Renault 6Q engine; and
- KK P.34: A modernized SD.7 two-seater with various wing arrangements.
Of these concepts, von Baumhauer judged the KK P.34 to be the most realistic in ZAR-Fokker's straitened circumstances. The concept had been put forward as an SD.7-like biplane (the KK P.34t tweedekker), as a sesquiplane (KK P.34a anderhalfdekker), and as a parsol monoplane (KK P.34h hoogdekker). It was the high-winged KK P.34h variant that caught von Baumhauer's interest. This was drawn up in more detail at the Johannesburg design office and submitted to the ZALM Tegniese Diens for their consideration. In the meantime, work on a demonstrator began.
ZAR-Fokker 'Hoogdekker' and the Growth of Kaye Lugskool
The KK P.34h concept was first realized as the SD.7h 'Hoogdekker' conversion, ZA-HDK, which tested the parsol wing arrangement. As expected, handling was negatively effected but this was eased when the all-up weight of the SD.7h was reduced through the installation of a 110 hp Siemens-Halske Sh 12 9-cylinder, air-cooled, radial in place of the heavy Mercedes D.III water-cooled engine, as planned. This German radial was available as a spare from the Fokker S.IV trainer programme. Thus equipped, the aircraft was clearly underpowered but handled better. This prototype was bought with ZALM funding but assigned under contract to Kaye Lugskool.
Timing for this expansion of Kaye Lugskool was perfect. Kaye had been joined at Krugersdorp by another German Jewish refugee - Willy Rosenstein. [6] Well-known and well-connected in Germany, this former WWI fighter pilot was helped out of Nazi Germany by his former Jasta 27 commander and wingman - Hermann Göring, of all people. [7] Not only was Rosenstein assured of getting safely out of Germany, Göring ensured the export of three aircraft and spares to accompany Rosenstein to the ZAR. At a stroke, Kaye Lugskool gained an experienced military pilot turned aerobatics instructor but also additional trainers - two Bücker Bü 131A Jungmann and one Raab-Katzenstein RK.9a Grasmücke ('Hedge-Sparrow').
Willy Rosenstein also went to bat for his former Jasta 40 colleague - 'Fritz' Raab. Kaye's erstwhile partner at Raab-Katzenstein-Flugzeugwerke GmbH had also fled Germany. The strongly anti-Nazi Raab had more options than most. Having married the only daughter of a wealthy publisher, when Raab fled to Estonia in 1933, he was in a position to establish a small airplane factory - the Raab-Flugzeugbau Gesellschaft. In Estonia, Raab had supervised the construction of RaKa Schwalbe II biplanes. But only two such trainers were completed in Estonia before Berlin began demanding Raab's extradition. It was time to put more distance between the Raabs and Nazi Germany.
Antonius Raab was considering moving his enterprise to Greece [8] when Kaye contacted him. Both Kaye and Rosenstein saw an opportunity in the constraints surrounding ZAR-Fokker. What if Raab re-established his aircraft factory in the ZAR? Kay and Raab held rights to several designs which could benefit not only the Kaye Lugskool but the ZALM as well. If Raab could provide production drawings for the Kl 1 Schwalbe aerobatic type, Kaye could reverse-engineer Rosenstein's RK 9a Grasmücke elementary trainer. The former would be pitched to the ZALM, the latter would be built for the Kaye Lugskool. Raab enthusiastically agreed to this scheme.
Finding a Focus for LuZAR - Schwalbe becomes 'n Zuid-Afrikaner
The Raabs prepared to leave for Zuid-Afrika, packing not only personal belongings but also complete Kl 1 drawings and two Estonian-made but unassembled Schwalbe II airframes. [9] All a revived Raab-Katzenstein-Flugzeugwerke needed a production facility. That was already in the works. With ZAR-Fokker ensconced at Jo'burg, Kaye and Rosenstein had concluded that any rival firm should be established in another location. At first, setting up in the Orange-Vrijstaat seemed obvious. However, Pretoria was offering incentives for enterprises willing to set up in the Olifants Gebied in former Portuguese territory. [10]
At the end of the ZAR-Portuguese conflict, the Artillerie Korps had taken over a series of sheds at a concrete works at Matola near 'LM'. Now the 'Kanondonkies' were preparing to vacate the premises and the Portland Company was willing to consider a lease. Since the works was on the rail line linking Lydsaamheid with Pretoria, the location was ideal - both for receiving shipments from Lydsaamheid's port and for delivering airframes inland to the Transvaal. When the Raabs arrived at Lydsaamheid (as Lourenço Marques city had been renamed in 1928), their belongings and the crated Schwalbe II airframes were immediately transferred to ZASM flat cars and sent the short distance to Matola and the site of the future aircraft-building endeavour.
To say that 'Fritz' and Frau Raab were unimpressed when they arrived at Matola would be a major understatement. The bubbling enthusiasm of Kaye and Rosenstein was hard to fathom until the strategic advantages of the location were explained. The former officers' quarters would act as a management 'gasthaus'. The Raabs could live in Lydsaamheid with 'Fritz' commuting by rail to the Matola fabriek as needed. Kaye and Rosenstein would continue running the Kaye Lugskool at Krugersdorp - their Matola commute would be by air. And a new name was agreed upon. In a complete break with the past, the firm's name would be Lugbedrywe van Zuid-Afrika (Aerial Industries of South Africa) or LuZar.
From Scheming to Action - The LuZAR RK 36
In one of the leased Portland Company buildings, an aircraft assembly shed was established. The two Eesti-1 Schwalbe II airframes were extracted from their shipping crates and assembly begun. The first Schwalbe II was essentially complete in September of 1936 ... except for its powerplant. The Eesti-1 had been designed for a British Lynx radial producing 200 hp but this powerplant was available in the ZAR. An obvious substitute was the Polish-built Wright J-5 Whirlwind as in the ZALM's Lublin SV.32 trainer/recce aircraft. Alternative engines considered were the 220 hp Lorraine 7M Mizar and the 230 hp Salmson 9ab radials. All three options were submitted to the ZALM Tegniese Diens.
To speed evaluation of the Schwalbe II, the 'TD' ordered that an Avia-built Whirlwind engine be delivered to Matola from ZALM stores. This J-5 radial was quickly installed in a Schwalbe II airframe. By the time this Schwalbe II (c/n 703) was ready to fly, it had assumed a new identity - as the prototype LuZAR RK 36A Lewerik (Lark). [11] That seemed to fix the future of the Lewerik but fate would intervene. European buying agents had been asked to establish purchase prices for both the Lorraine and Salmson alternatives.
It happened that the Société des moteurs Salmson had twenty undelivered 9ab radials available at very agreeable prices. The procurement agent was authorized to make the purchase. The Pretoria-owned freighter, SS Walvis, would then collect these engines at Le Havre for delivery to Lydsaamheid. [12] This was quickly accomplished and, fitted with a new Salmson 9ab, the second Schwalbe II (c/n 704) became the prototype RK 36B Lewerik II military trainer ...
(To be continued)
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[1] In 1919, von Baumhauer had been chief designer at the oddly-named Dutch firm of Van Berkel's Patent. There, he had mentored the young Laurens Walraven who later followed von Baumhauer to Fokker. Another former Van Berkel connection was R.J. Castendijk who had recommended von Baumhauer to replace him as head of ZAR-Fokker in 1929.
[2] More specifically, Maurits Pattist came from the LA-KNIL Technische Dienst or technical office - making him ideal for military trails flying. Both Pattist and Laurens Walraven had been members of the Vliegclub Bandoeng in the Indies. When his old boss recruited Walraven for ZAR-Fokker, an offer was also extended to Kapitein Pattist on Walraven's recommendation. Pattist replaced Lt ten Bosch as ZAR-Fokker test pilot when the latter returned to the Netherlands in 1931.
[4] To this point, the RW Katzenstein story is RW. He did lose his Dutch work permit and relocate to South Africa. There, he changed his name to Kurt Kaye and joined the SAAF. During WWI, Katzenstein had served as a military flight instructor before becoming a fighter pilot with Jasta 30 and Jasta 55.
[5] Both DP.XI and Kl 1 had actually been designed by Paul J. Hall. When Oberingenieur Hall left to go to BFW, rights to the Kl 1 (and RK 2 Pelikan) designs stayed with Raab-Katzenstein. Once the prototype Kl 1 was improved, three production models of Schwalbe were built - the Kl 1a (84 hp 7-cylinder Siemens Sh 11), the Kl 1b (Sh 11-powered with carberettor and fuel tanks adapted for inverted flight), and the Kl 1c (100-110 hp Siemens Sh 12 9-cylinder radial).
[6] RW Willy Rosenstein scored nine confirmed kills over Flanders. He lived in Stuttgart until 1936 before emigrating to South Africa with his wife and two sons (one adopted). His eldest son, 2 Lt. Ernest Willy Rosenstein was killed in April 1945 when his dive-bombing Spitfire (MH892) crashed in flames near Parma, Italy.
[7] By coincidence, it was RW Hauptmann Kurt Katzenstein, who had first taught Hermann Göring to fly.
[8] RW, Raab did go to Greece at the invitation of Gen. P. Gazis of the Royal Hellenic Air Force. There he established AEKKEA (Anonymos Etaireia Kataskevis Kai Ekmetallefseos Aeroplanon), resurrecting several Raab-Katzenstein aircraft types and a number of distinct designs.
[9] The RW Eesti-1 Schwalbe IIs were built at Viljandi in south-central Estonia for the Sakalamaa Õhuasjanduse Ühing (Sakalamaa Air Association). The two airframes completed in Estonia - ES-AGU and ES-EHA - were both powered by British 200 hp Armstrong-Siddeley Lynx radial engines.
[10] After the Portuguese officially ceded their former Lourenço Marques province, this territory was initially called 'Cis Limpopo' by Pretoria. Upon accepting a League of Nations mandate in 1928, the term Limpopo Protectorate was adopted. When this territory was formally incorporated into the ZAR in 1933, Limpopo became the Olifants Gebied (or Olifants Territory).
The Portuguese province of Lourenço Marques was named after its capital city. As noted earlier, Pretoria had renamed 'LM' city as Lydsaamheid. This was the Afrikaanse version of a Dutch name - Lijdzaamheid - for a Dutch East India Company fort and factory built on that spot in 1720. This settlement only lasted a decade but, it was hoped, the name hinted at a credible claim to the territory beyond the rights of conquest.
[11] Originally, the Schwalbe II was to be rebranded as the Swael (Afrikaanse for Swallow). Lewerik was chosen instead when it was decided that all future LuZar designs should have alliterative names.
[12] The Walvis (Whale-Fish) name was inherited from the Walvisch - one of the five original Dutch migrant ships to the Cape. The ship had been built (as Numantia) for the Hamburg-Amerika Linie in 1901. Seized by the Portuguese in 1914, she became the Companhia Colonial de Navegação's SS Cassequel in time for the ZAR-Portuguese conflict. Used to carry supplies from Nova Lisboa to Lourenço Marques, the SS Cassequel lost her single screw on entering the South Channel (unexpectedly strong tidal forces driving her into a sand bank shoal). Powerless and moored mid-channel, the Cassequel was recovered after the Portuguese surrender, repaired, and reflagged as the ZAR's first major vessel.