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BFerdinand Schulz (born 18 December 1892 in Pissau/Waldensee near Seeburg (now Piszewo near Jeziorany) in East Prussia; † 16 June 1929 in Stuhm (now Sztum)) was a German pioneer of gliding. With the simplest, self-built gliders, he achieved record flight durations in the updraft of the dunes of Rossitten (today Rybachi) and held all world records in gliding in 1927. He contributed significantly to a broad enthusiasm for gliding at home and abroad. In Nida, Lithuania, a bilingual monument was erected in 1998, which also bears his name.
Life.
Ferdinand Schulz was born as the son of a teacher and also took up this profession. He returned from the First World War with several awards as the leader of an air squadron. He discovered the suitability of the dunes of Rossitten for gliding and founded a gliding school there, which later belonged to the Rhön-Rossitten Society. His most famous pupil was Günther Groenhoff. On the approach to Stuhm, where he was supposed to throw a wreath on the occasion of the inauguration of a war memorial, he and his co-pilot fell through the fracture of the wing of his motorized plane onto the market square, and both died. The tomb of "Icarus of East Prussia" stands in the cemetery in Heilsberg (today Lidzbark Warmiński).
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May 1924: With his self-designed FS3, nicknamed Besenstielkiste, Ferdinand Schulz flew a world record in continuous flight with 8 hours and 42 minutes in Rossitten. (Like his FS2 in 1921, his FS3 had not been approved in 1923 due to safety complaints at the Rhön competition.)
October 1925: Schulz took part in the 3rd Soviet Gliding Competition in Crimea and set two new records: endurance flight record (12 hours and 6 minutes) and altitude flight record (435 meters).
1927: With the West Prussia, Schulz set a commuter record in Rossitten with 455.8 km in 14 hours and 7 minutes and a speed record (10 km with an average speed of 54.45 km/h). In addition, he achieved an altitude record of 652 meters in Grunau/Silesia (today Jeżów Sudecki).
The Icarus of East Prussia

On June 17, 1929, the whole of East Prussia was shocked by the sad news of Ferdinand Schulz's death. Like many things in history, this would have been forgotten long ago if it were not for the grave in the Heilsberg cemetery: not far from the 13th station of the Stations of the Cross of the Waldfriedhof (today the municipal cemetery) on a square stands the grave monument - so unique and high that it can hardly be overlooked. But who was he?

Ferdinand Schulz is one of the most famous inhabitants of East Prussia in the period between the world wars. His passion was flying. On May 11, 1924, he set the world record for continuous flight of 8 hours and 42 minutes with his glider. Since then, he has rushed from one world record to another. In 1926 he represented Germany at the All-Russian Gliding Flights in the Crimea, where he set a new endurance record. In 1927 he held all gliding world records. Everyone was proud of their achievements. But on June 16, 1929, an inconceivable accident happened. The experienced pilot (who has survived several crashes) is to fly over Bismarckplatz in the town of Stuhm in honour of the fallen soldiers at the inauguration ceremony of a war memorial with his motorised aircraft, the "Marienburg", and throw off a wreath of honour. When the time came, the engine noise sounded. The plane gained altitude for a while in order to execute the drop precisely, until suddenly there was a bang. One of the wings broke off, damaging both the rudder and elevator. Shortly afterwards, the other wing also broke off. From this moment on, the famous pilot and his student and co-pilot Bruno Kaiser no longer have any influence on the course of events. The fuselage of the plane spun a few more meters and fell down to the market square (about 50 meters from Bismarckplatz). The two bodies were first transferred to the Marienburg. The friend, student and co-pilot of Ferdinand Schulz was buried in the Jerusalem cemetery among the fallen of the First World War. The most famous pilot in East Prussia, on the other hand, was laid to rest in the forest cemetery after a short celebration in the Heilsberg church with great sympathy from the population. On his last journey, he was accompanied by planes with mourning ribbons, which circled over the city.

More details about him: Born on 18.12.1892 as the first of the twelve children of a teacher in Waldensee near Seeburg. His father Ferdinand wanted his son to become a teacher. But his son had other plans. Neither the grammar school in Braunsberg nor the preparatory institute in Rößel could dissuade him from his idea. Even as a child, he had a strong inclination towards the natural sciences. He liked to do handicrafts and delighted his family with ever new inventions such as a circular saw that was connected to a wind turbine or a self-made radio. During his time at the Toruń teachers' seminary, he took part in the annual "Toruń Fortress Exercise". The aviators of the army, who after a short demonstration of their skills were available to the seminarians for explanations, impressed the young Ferdinand. A new passion grew in him. He spent every free minute at the airfield. Soon he was able to prove his skills. After two wounds in the First World War, he applied for a transfer to the air squadron. The transfer was approved on 22.02.1917gt and he was allowed to make his first front-line flight on 02.01.1918. By the end of the war, he had completed 97 flights. Awarded several times with the Iron Cross I and II Class, the Wounded and Aviator Badge, he returned to his homeland as a squadron leader and lieutenant in the reserve. But before he had handed in his plane (which, according to the regulations of Versaailes, was to be destroyed like all motorized aircraft) in Frankfurt/Oder, he flew to his homeland, where he made a few laps over his village.
In his home village, he took over the lessons for his sick father. In his spare time, he studied Otto Lilienthal's studies on motorless flight. Based on the model of the Lilienthal aircraft, he built his first machine: Ferdinand Schulz 1 (FS 1). But since it didn't really work out with his plane, he built a second FS 2 (also of the Höuml type; gliders). With it he drove to the 2nd Röhn competition on the Wasserkuppe, where his plane was not admitted to the competition. Outside the competition, he achieved remarkable performances (e.g. 365 meters in 46 seconds) and attracted attention. One year later, he came to the 3rd Röhn Competition with his new SF 3 high-wing aircraft. But he was also excluded this year because the safety precautions and the type of control were criticized. His machine bakam the name "broomstick box" by his glider colleagues. With this he took part in the first coastal gliding competition in 1923 (23 May) and won the main prize. The following year, he not only won first prize, but also set a new world record in continuous flight with 8 hours 42 minutes and 9 seconds. In October 1925 he took off on 3rd All-Russian gliding flights and set two new records: in duration (12 hours 6 minutes and 2 seconds) and in altitude (435 meters). In 1927, he set further records in Rossitten with the "West Prussia": a commuter record (455.8 km in 14:07 hours), a speed record (10 km at 54.45 km/h) and an altitude record of 652 metres in Grunau in Silesia.
After the victorious powers of the World War lifted the ban on some types of motor-driven aircraft in May 1926, Ferdinand acquired a two-seater aircraft for school purposes with the help of the city of Marienburg and named it the "Marienburg". After Ferdinand's father's death, his family had moved to Springborn near Kiwitten. Ferdinand, as the eldest of the children, continued to help his family and even made a pilgrimage to Rome with his mother in the Holy Year of 1925. But he rejected an ordinary middle-class life (such as starting his own family) until his accident. His whole life was dedicated to his family and his passion.

The "Icarus von Rossitten", as he was later called, built gliding models based on Lilienthal's model as a boy or made simple wings with which he sailed over the ice surface of the neighbouring Lauternsee. The son of a teacher, he attended the teachers' seminar in Toruń, and during the war his dream came true: he was transferred to an air squadron and returned home as a lieutenant in 1918. Initially employed as a teacher in Tuchel, he soon became unemployed, as this part of West Prussia had to be ceded to Poland. After a period as a teacher, he took part in the first glider competition on the Wasserkuppe (Rhön) in 1921. He was unsuccessful because his self-built plane was too heavy. He was banned from starting the "Besenstielkiste" built the following year. On May 11, 1924, he set a world record with an improved broomstick box by staying in the air for 8 hours and 42 minutes. Then one success followed the other: in the next endurance flight, he improved his own record to more than 14 hours, won the world record in the doubles and the distance record over 60 km at the then sensational altitude of 500 meters along the Kuhric Spit to Memel. This resulted in his appointment as a flight instructor in Rossiten. Although he then switched to powered flight, he remained the idol of glider pilots. On June 16, 1929, he was killed by a pilot. He was buried in the forest cemetery in Heilsberg.Even as a schoolboy, Schulz tried to make use of the wind for locomotion while skating on the ice of Lake Lauternsee, which was adjacent to his home village. After attending the village school, where his father Ferdinand Schulz taught, Schulz came to Thorn to attend the teachers' seminar. On 1 April 1914 he was promoted to Inf.Rgt. 128, took part in the First World War, was wounded as a non-commissioned officer on 9 November 1916 at the Somme, was sent to the St. Quentin war hospital, then to the reserve hospital in Kassel, from where on 31 January 1917 as a garrison fit for service to the substitute Btl. to Prussian Stargard; on February 26, 1917, Schulz was written fit for service. From 1 January 1918 onwards, he flew as an attack pilot at the front, was awarded the E.K.I. and was discharged as a lieutenant at the end of the war. Schulz initially became a junior teacher in Tuchel/Westpr., but lost this position due to the construction of the Polish Corridor. After the death of his father, Schulz taught for some time in the school of his hometown and then received a job in Neumark (district of Stuhm/Westpr.).

After the First World War, the Germans were forbidden to fly by the victors (until 1924); Otto Lilienthal and his first gliding flight on 29 June 1895 near Lichterfelde near Berlin were therefore remembered; the Wright brothers (and others) had continued these efforts. Orville Wright sailed 9:45 minutes on October 24, 1911, a feat that would not be surpassed until 1921 on the Rhön. In Germany, too, further attempts had been made in this area before the First World War and the Wasserkuppe had been discovered as a suitable terrain. After the war, it was Oskar Ursinus, known as the "Rhön Father", who called for model and gliding in March 1920; War pilots and interested young people followed him in July 1920 to the 1st Rhön Competition.

In his spare time, the World War II aviator Schulz designed and built a glider, the legendary "broomstick box" (so called by him); Rods and duvet covers were the material. The aircraft appeared so primitive that it was not admitted to the Rhön Competition in 1921. At that time (30.8.1921) Wolfgang Klemperer set a world record in continuous gliding in 13:03 minutes on the Wasserkuppe. With his primitive "broomstick box", Schulz succeeded on May 11, 1924 in raising the world record in continuous gliding to 8:42:09 hours over the slopes of the Curonian Spit on the lagoon near Rossitten in his homeland of East Prussia; this year, Schulz also took part in the Rhön competition. He flew sitting on a small board; he had to put his feet one behind the other on the runner because it was so narrow. The "broomstick box" did not have a standing control stick, but two hanging from the wing spar, one for the aileron, the other for the elevator. His world record was surpassed on July 26, 1925 by the Belgian Massaux, who brought the record to 10:28 hours. However, a few months later (2.10.1925) Schulz regained the world record over the Crimea (on type "Moritz") with 12:07 hours and increased it (on type "West Prussia") on 3 May 1927 over Rossitten to 14:07 hours (this record was not surpassed during his lifetime). A few days later (14.5.1927) Schulz succeeded in a distance record flight of 60.2 kilometres from Rossitten to Memel; it reached a height of 503 meters. Also in the two-seater hHe set a world record in continuous flight, on June 3, 1926 over Rossitten with 9:21 hours. After these successes, Schulz was appointed as a flight instructor in Rossitten, where he also worked as an elementary school teacher. At Rossitten, the widest point of the Curonian Spit between the lagoon and the Baltic Sea is located at 4 kilometres. The church village had had an ornithological station since 1901, and there was also a natural history museum. In addition, Rossitten now made a name for itself in the history of gliding. This was the merit of Schulz, who flew his records on the eastern slopes of the dunes. The glider camp was located near the Predin mountain, not far from it were the take-off site and landing field, also an aircraft hangar; there was a subcamp north of the next village, Pillkoppen, about 11 kilometres away. The height of the dunes was between 33 and 60 meters. The mostly loose sandy bottom (an advantage in the case of unsuccessful landings) placed special demands on the methods of take-off and transport. Schulz did not remain alone in gliding, he also returned to powered flight. On 16 June 1929, an aviation monument was to be inaugurated in Stuhm by the West Prussian Aviation Association. Schulz took on the task of dropping a wreath from the aircraft. On approach, a wing came loose and the plane crashed into the city's market square; Schulz and his flight student Bruno Kaiser were killed. At the request of his mother Rosa Schulz, née Scharneck, Schulz was buried in the forest cemetery in Heilsberg.

Despite his successes, Schulz was and remained a quiet, modest person, a successful educator at school and in gliding. Schulz had a decisive influence on the development of gliding. The West Prussian Aviation Association erected a memorial stone to the pioneer of gliding in July 1930 at the Willenberg gliding site.