Carl Oskar Ursinus (March 11, 1877 - July 6, 1952) was a pioneer of German aviation and is remembered mainly for his contributions to sailplane designs and the sport of gliding. He has been nicknamed the Rhönvater ("Rhön father") because he founded Germany’s first gliding club at the Wasserkuppe in the Rhön Mountains in 1920. March 11 is the 70th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (71st in Leap year). ... 1877 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... July 6 is the 187th day of the year (188th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 178 days remaining. ... 1952 - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... Aviation or Air transport refers to the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ... Gliders are un-powered heavier-than-air aircraft. ... A modern glider crossing the finish line at speed Gliding (or soaring) is a recreational activity and competitive sport where individuals fly un-powered aeroplanes known as gliders or sailplanes. ... A nickname is a short, clever, cute, derogatory, or otherwise substitute name for a person or things real name (for example, Nick is short for Nicholas). ... The Wasserkuppe (German: water peak) is a high plateau (elevation 950 m or 3100 ft), the highest peak in the Rhön Mountains within the German state of Hessen. ... The Rhön Mountains are a group of low mountains in central Germany, located in the state of Hesse, close to its borders with Bavaria and Thuringia. ... 1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ...

Ursinus was born in Weißenfels and attended Technical College in Mittweida. After graduation, he worked for Borsig on compressors for locomotives and spent some time working on mining machinery in Romania for the firm. Mittweida is a town in Saxony, capital of the district Mittweida. ... Compressor has several meanings: A gas compressor is a mechanical device that takes in a gas and increases its pressure by squeezing a volume of it into a smaller volume. ... Great Western Railway No. ...

In 1908, back in Germany, Ursinus began to publish a magazine titled Flugsport (“Sports Flying”), since he had become fascinated by the new technology of flight. The magazine helped establish a network amongst Germany’s aviation enthusiasts and led to the organisation of Germany’s first international airshow. 1908 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Utterly Butterly wing-walking display team flying Boeing Stearman PT-17 biplanes An airshow is an event at which aviators display their flying skills, normally to the public, but occasionally to invited guests, or employees and their families only. ...

He was conscripted into the German Army in 1914 and requested a position in aircraft design. The request was approved and he was posted to Gothaer Waggonfabrik designing warplanes. The famous series of Gotha bombers used by the German air corps throughout World War I were all based on an Ursinus design of 1915 that was refined and manufactured as the Gotha G.I. Ursinus' real passion, however, was for seaplanes, and in 1916 he designed a revolutionary seaplane fighter with retractable floats that was unfortunately destroyed before testing was complete. 1914 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... Gothaer Waggonfabrik (Gotha, GWF) was a German manufacturer of rolling stock established in the late nineteenth century at Warnemünde. ... A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground targets, primarily by dropping bombs. ... Missing image Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... 1915 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... The Gotha G series of bombers were the main German twin-engine bombers of World War I. Built by Gothaer Waggonfabrik, the first unsuccessful variant was the G.I. It had an unusual shape, with a fuselage upon the upper wing of the biplane, and only a small number were... A DeHavilland Single Otter floatplane in Harbour Air livery A seaplane is an aircraft designed to take off and land on water. ... 1916 is a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar) Events January-February January 1 -The first successful blood transfusion using blood that had been stored and cooled. ...

Following the war, the Treaty of Versailles prohibited Germany from building powered aircraft, and the attention of German aviators therefore turned to gliding. A plateau particularly suited to gliding, the Wasserkuppe, became a focal point for this activity, and in 1920, Ursinus organised a competition there. Over the next decade, this grew in importance to become an international event. Ursinus also constructed the first clubhouse on the Wasserkuppe in 1924. He was pursuing experiments in human-powered flight when the outbreak of World War II intervened. Woodrow Wilson with the American Peace Commissioners The Treaty of Versailles of 1919 is the peace treaty created as a result of six months of negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 which put an official end to World War I between the Allies and Central Powers. ... 1920 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... 1924 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Three human powered vehicles: the Gossamer Albatross II and two bicycles. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ...

Following the war, powered flying was once again forbidden in Germany, but Ursinus lived just long enough to see this prohibition lifted.

Today, he is regarded in Germany as the father of gliding, and Germany’s association for homebuilt aircraft, the Oskar Ursinus-Vereinigung ("Oskar Ursinus Association") bears his name. Also known as amateur-built aircraft, homebuilt aircraft are constructed by one or more persons for whom this is not a professional activity. ...