Richard Vogt (aircraft designer)

On behalf of Dornier, Vogt was briefly sent to Italy and then, in 1923, to the Kawasaki in Kobe, Japan, which was a licensed manufacturer of Dornier aircraft. In Japan he was appointed to the rank of chief designer, and he trained the young Japanese engineer Takeo Doi to be his successor. Doi would go on to design the Ki-61 Hien . During that period Vogt designed several types including the KDA-5 Army Type 92 biplane fighter plane, KDA-2 Army Type 88 biplane reconnaissance, KDA-3 single-seat fighter, and (in cooperation with Doi) a modified version of the KDA-5 Army Type 92-I biplane fighter. He stayed with Kawasaki until 1933.

The BV 138 Seedrache (English: Sea Dragon) three-engined patrol flying boat was produced in greater numbers than any other B&V type.

A BV 141 tactical reconnaissance prototype with an unusual asymmetrical shape.

In 1933 he was offered the position of Chief Designer at Hamburger Flugzeugbau, an aircraft manufacturer recently set up by Blohm & Voss shipbuilders. During his flight back from Japan he worked on the idea of a tubular steel main wing spar which could also double as an armoured fuel tank. Almost all of his subsequent designs would feature such a combined hollow steel spar and fuel tank.

Vogt's next major innovation was an asymmetric aircraft layout in which the thrust line was offset to one side, allowing the pilot a clear view on the other side. It appeared in the Ha 141 reconnaissance aircraft, of which about twenty were built.

Shortly before World War II broke out, Hamburger Flugzeugbau was reformed as the aircraft division of Blohm & Voss and changed its name accordingly. The designation of Vogt's aircraft changed from Ha to BV, with many of the types then under development changing their designations, for example the Ha 141 became the BV 141.

Other important, more conventional designs included a series of ever-larger flying boats. The BV 238 was the largest and heaviest aircraft manufactured until the end of the war by any Axis power. Vogt also developed a series of gliding munitions, but the advanced control systems caused problems and although quite large quantities were manufactured, none ever saw operational service.

His design style was noted by the British journal Aeroplane in the caption to a cartoon:[1]

Richard Vogt, that original man,
Turns out aeroplanes uglier than
Most any other designer can.
Here is shown on Baltic Sea
A typical Vogt monstrosity—

The One-Three-Eight by B. & V.

Vogt's final innovation was a tailless "pfeilflieger" (swept wing) design, well suited to the new jet engines then under development. A series of designs culminated in the P 215 all-weather fighter, which received an order for three prototypes just weeks before the war ended.[2][3]

After World War II, Vogt was recruited by the US Air Force under "Operation Paperclip", and he moved to the United States. He worked as a civilian employee for the Research Laboratory of the US Air Force in Dayton, Ohio from the beginning of 1947 to 1954. Subsequently he became the chief designer of the Aerophysics Development Corporation and worked there until the parent company decided to close the business in 1960.

From August 1960 to August 1966, he served as a staff member on the team of George S. Schairer, who was the chief aerodynamicist in the research and testing division of Boeing. At Boeing, Vogt was especially involved in the design of vertical takeoff systems and hydrofoils. He also investigated the effect of the length and shape of wings on the flying range, and he proved that small extensions attached to both tips of the wings improved the aerodynamics and increased the operation range of the aircraft. This finding has been widely used in the design of modern aircraft, where the extension parts are well known as the wing tips or winglets. His last assignment was the after-launch evaluation of the design of the Boeing 747.

• Hermann Pohlmann; Chronik Eines Flugzeugwerkes 1932-45, 2nd Impression, Motorbuch, 1982.