162)
The “25 Euro Silver-Niobium Coin Series: (v) 2003 onwards minted by the Austrian
Mint by using Niobium and Niobium metal insertion technology for the first time
anywhere in the World of Numismatics:
Fifth
Coin in the Series: “Austrian Aviators” (2007):
Austrian
Aviators:
In 1907, Franz Xaver Wels flew several
hundred metres with the kidney shaped “Zanonia glider”. Ignaz “Igo” Etrich developed the
glider into a recognisable aeroplane called the “Taube” (the Dove)
because of its bird-like wings and tail. With this machine, in 1910, Etrich’s
colleague Karl Illner made
the first successful motorised flight in Austria from Wiener Neustadt to Vienna
and back.
Ignaz
“Igo” Etrich (25.12.1879 – 04.02.1967):
He was an Austrian flight
pioneer, pilot and fixed wing aircraft developer.
He went to school at
Leipzig and also studied the works of Otto Lilienthal and got interested in
aviation and problems of bird flight.
A model of the Otto Lilienthal Glider
(Otto
Lilienthal was a German pioneer of aviation who became known as the “Glider
King”. He was the first person to make well-documented, repeated, successful
gliding flights which led to influencing scientific and public opinion about
the possibility of flying machines becoming practical. He died of injuries sustained
during a glider flight, when his glider stalled and he was unable to regain
control. Berlin’s busiest airport, Berlin Tegel “Otto Lilienthal” Airport is
named after him).
With his father, a factory
owner, Ignaz Etrich built a laboratory for researching and developing
aeroplanes. His father acquired some advanced gliders of the time for him.
After Franz Xaver Wels, a colleague, and he had studied the books of Prof. F.
Ahlborn about the flying seeds of Zanonia
macrocarpa (or the Javan cucumber
belonging to the pumpkin family from the tropical Asian forests of the Malay
Archipelago and the Indonesian islands. The unusual winged seed or “samara” of
this species spans about 13 cms can glide for great distances. It can move
through the air like a butterfly in flight – it gains height, stalls, dips and
accelerates once again producing lift, a process termed “phugoid” oscillation”),
he worked together with Wels and Karl Illner (both of whom became well-known
pioneers in the design and development of flying craft) to develop his first
gliders called “Zanonia” inspired by
the seeds of “Zanonia macrocarpa”.
.jpg)
Images of the "Zanonia macrocarpa" seed
This seed was, also, the
inspiration for the 1904 stable wing planform designed by Igo Etrich (In aviation, a planform is the shape and
layout of a fixed-wing aircraft’s fuselage and wing. Planforms are grouped into
low speed flight (found on general aviation aircraft) and those used for high
speed flight (found on military aircraft and airliners).
In
1906, Karl Illner became the first Austrian to fly an Austrian-built
glider.
Next, Igo Etrich set up a
second laboratory in the Weiner Prater at the Rotunda, Vienna.
In 1907, he built
an aircraft the Etrich I, (nicknamed the “Praterspatz” or the “Prater Park Sparrow”), in his new research
facility. Due to the low power of the motor and limited space for flying, this
aircraft initially proved to be unsuccessful.
An image of the Etrich I
In 1908, Frans
Xaver Wels visited Paris and witnessed the first successful flight of the
Wright Brothers Bi-plane. Upon his return, he suggested to Etrich to change their
concept of trying to fly a mono-plane and instead research the designs of
bi-planes. Wels separated himself from
Etrich and worked as an independent inventor, as Etrich was still keen on
building a monoplane. Karl Illner and Pavel Podgornik joined Etrich, in his
continuing his work on monoplanes.
In 1909, Etrich
rented two hangars (or aircraft sheds as they were called) and continued to
develop his design, the “Taube”
(Dove).
In 1910, Etrich and
his team successfully built a second monoplane called the Etrich II or Etrich “Taube” (Dove) which crashed in its
maiden flight, in which Etrich nearly broke his back.
Etrich continued with his
development of the “Taube”, and in
view of Etrich’s serious accident while testing the Etrich II, Karl Illmer made
all the test flights on the aircraft from now on.
One
of the specifications that Etrich and his team worked upon was the requirement
of the military that an aircraft should be able to successfully land on a
freshly plowed field.
In 1912, Etrich founded “Etrich Fliegerwerke” in Liebau (present
day Lubawka, Poland) and designed an aircraft with an enclosed cabin for
passengers, which he called the “Luft-Limousine”.
This was the first airliner with an
enclosed cab.
Later, moving to Germany,
Etrich founded Brandenburgische
Flugzeugwerke which he sold in 1914 under the name of Hansa-Brandenburg.
The second version of the
“Taube” was patented in Austria. Due to its excellent performance, Etrich
signed a licensed production agreement with another aircraft designer Edmund
Rumpler who modified the design of the Taube slightly, claiming to be the
developer of this model called the “Rumpler Taube” and refused to pay licensing
fees to Etrich.
When World War I broke
out, Etrich made the design of his Taube freely available and dropped the
law-suit against Rumpler.
After World War I, Etrich
moved to Czechoslovakia where he built the “Sport-Taube”
which was faster than any Czechoslovak military plane of the time. This
aeroplane was promptly confiscated by the authorities on the pretext that he
had built the plane for smuggling purposes.
In 1955, Etrich
received the “Order of Merit Bendesverdienstkreuz”
of the Federal Republic of Germany.
In 1959, Igo Etrich
was awarded the “Prize Karl Renner”. In
Vienna, a district is named after him.
The Etrich Limousine and
the Wels/Etrich Zanonia glider and Sport-Taube are exhibited in the National
Technical Museum in Prague, while the Etrich II is exhibited at the “Technisches Museum” in Vienna.
Franz
Xaver Wels (18.02.1873-18.10.1940):
Franz Xaver Wels attended
secondary modern school in Graz and finished handicraft school as an industrial
engineer in 1891.
From 1893 to 1891,
he served in the Army, after which he spent some time in England.
In 1900 Wels got
into aviation engineering.
In 1901, his
interest in flying machines led him to a meeting with the Austrian aviation
pioneer Wilhelm Kress in which Wels offered to fly Kress’s aircrafts, but Kress
was reluctant to let anyone take the role of a pioneer in flying an engine
aircraft. However, following the recommendation of Kress, Wels got an
assignment with Igo Etrich in Trutnov (Czech Republic) to research literature
on flying machines. He worked for several years with Etrich, who himself, was a
pioneer in the field of aircraft designing and flight. Wels found an
interesting piece of information in publications/books of F. Ahlborn from
Hamburg in which Ahlborn wrote about the flying seeds of “Zanonia macrocarpa”. Wels developed the research further and
created several models of gliders, ultimately coming up with one which had a
range of six metres which proved to be the first successful gliding experiment
in the “Zanonia macrocarpa”. Later he
could fly this glider for several hundred feet.
On 03.03.1905,
further studies led Igo Etrich and Franz Wels’ patent of a “flying machine” –
which had wings, propellers and one engine which was designed by Wels. First,
the airplane was tested without the engine, as a glider with a range of 15
metres, but it proved to be unstable.
In 1907, they
tested a smaller motor airplane the “Etrich I” which too was unsuccessful.
On
02.10.1907, Wels using a scientifically remodelled glider was successful
in flying the machine.
In 1908, Wels
visited Paris and witnessed the first successful flight of the Wright Brothers
Bi-plane. Upon his return, he suggested to Etrich to change their concept of
trying to fly a monoplane.
Meanwhile, Wels separated
himself from Etrich and worked as an independent inventor, as Etrich was still
insisting on building a monoplane, resulting in a difference of opinion between
them.
Between 1905 and 1938,
Wels patented some 33 inventions but had no major commercial success with them.
When he was still associated
with Etrich, he built the propeller-driven snowmobile.
During World War I,
he was assigned to a hospital for seriously wounded personnel and civilians and
he got interested in Prosthetics and designed and patented prostheses for such
persons.
Also, during this time, he
got involvement with Etrich in the field of bionics and he studied the movement
of fish.
In the 1920s, he
was associated in researching and designing mechanisms for improving sporting
and transport facilities. During this period, he designed and patented several
aircraft and amphibious vehicle designs.
In 1934, Wels set
up an experimental workshop and devoted himself to developing the “cyclodal
aircraft” which was a kind of helicopter with a horizontal rotor.
In 1935, he
patented his invention but could not finance the construction of the prototype.
His last invention was a fin-drive.
He passed away in Vienna shortly
afterwards in an impoverished state, a forgotten genius, who had spent a
lifetime trying to master aircrafts and motorising and speeding up land and amphibious crafts, as well as making
life easier for those who had lost/injured
their limbs, through his pioneering work in Prosthetics, among his other
researches.
Karl
Illner (14.07.1877-06.08.1935):
A signed photo of Karl Illmer in the cockpit of his aircraft
He was an Austrian aviation pioneer. He was a pilot and employee of Igo Etrich.
He was an Austrian aviation pioneer. He was a pilot and employee of Igo Etrich.
On 08.08.1909, he
had a successful flight with the Etrich I (nicknamed the “Prater Sparrow”), the
first flight going a distance of 40 metres at a height of 4 metres.
On 17.05.1910, he
completed the first Austrian cross-country flight from Wiener Neustadt to
Vienna and back.
On 18.09.1910, at
an International Air Competition held in Wiener Neustadt, he walked away with
almost all the first prizes.
On 10.10.1910, he
flew a cross-country flight from Vienna to Horn and back. To commemorate this
achievement, the municipality of Horn in Lower Austria, erected a memorial
stone in his honour.
He participated in several
air shows in Berlin and Budapest, where he was an extremely popular aviator.
The
2007 “25 Euro Silver-Niobium Coin – Austrian Aviators”:
The Obverse of the 25 Euro Silver-Niobium coin shows the inside
of a cockpit of a modern passenger aircraft with the control panels and
windscreens. On the upper periphery on the silver outer ring is inscribed the
country name “Republik Osterreich” (“Republic
of Austria”) and on the lower periphery is mentioned the denomination of the
coin “25 Euro”. On the right is mentioned the year of issue “2007”.
The colour of the Niobium insert (pill) is turquoise.
The colour of the Niobium insert (pill) is turquoise.
On the Reverse of the 25 Euro Silver-Niobium
coin both the aircraft, the kidney shaped “Zanonia glider”
and the “Taube”, with its
bird-like wings and tail, feature in the Niobium core on the reverse of this
coin, with the Zanonia glider spilling over onto the silver outer ring.
Karl
Illner is shown waving from the cockpit of the “Taube” just
before the historic flight, part of the craft spilling over onto the silver
outer ring as well. On the bottom of the silver ring is given the signature of “Igo Etrich”. The
silver outer ring bears the inscription “Luftahrt
in Oesterreich” (meaning “Aviation in Austria”).
The
specifications of the coin are:
Face value: 25 Euros;
Metallic composition: Outer ring: Silver (Ag) 900 – 9 gms, Niobium 998 – 6.50
gms; Diameter: 34 mm; Weight: 16.50 gms; Edge: smooth.
The mintage of this coin
was limited to a maximum of 65000 pieces.
2014 - Evolution
2015 - Cosmology
Links:
1) The 25 Euro Silver-Niobium Coin Series issued by the Austrian Mint: First Coin: "700 Years of Hall City in Tirol or Tyrol"
For posts on COTY (Coin of the Year) winners since 2015 in a competition held by Krause Publications of Germany, please visit the following links:
The following coins have
been issued in this Series:
2003 – 700 years of Hall City in Tyrol or Tirol.
2004 – 150 years Semmering
Alpine Railway
2005 – 50 years of
Television
2006 – The European
Satellite Navigation
2007 – Austrian Aviators
2008 – Fascinating light
2009 – Year of Astronomy
2010 – Renewable Energy Sources.
2011 – Robotics
2012 – Bionics
2013 – Drilling tunnels
2014 - Evolution
2015 - Cosmology
Links:
1) The 25 Euro Silver-Niobium Coin Series issued by the Austrian Mint: First Coin: "700 Years of Hall City in Tirol or Tyrol"
Links to posts on Federal Republic of Germany issues and other posts on this blog:
For posts on COTY (Coin of the Year) winners since 2015 in a competition held by Krause Publications of Germany, please visit the following links:
Choudhary Roy S has commented:
ReplyDelete"The coin is so nicely designed ...
Color is very good..!!"
It is indeed so. The Designers & master engravers of this coin Series have done a brilliant job.
DeleteYour writing has impressed me. It’s simple, clear and precise. I will definitely recommend you to my friends and family. Regards and good luck
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Thank you for your appreciative comment.
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