Erich Warsitz

About

Legendary test pilot who became the first man to fly a jet aircraft and - two days later - a liquid-fueled rocket.

Before Fame

His preliminary flights on rocket-propelled aircraft were less than successful. Often, his test plane's fuselage caught on fire.

Trivia

He was kidnapped near the end of WWII by Russian army officers and was forced into a Siberian labor camp.

Family Life

His biography, "The First Jet Pilot: The Story of German Test Pilot Erich Warsitz," was written by his son.

Associated With

Kurt Tank was another pioneering German test pilot in the 1930s.