Kurt Braatz
4th May 2010, 21:03
Last week, Rudolf Opitz passed away in his home in Connecticut. 'Pitz', one of Germany's most famous test pilots, was nearing his 100th birthday. Widely known as one of the key people in developing and flying the Me 163 rocket interceptor, he saw combat from mid-1944 as Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 400, the first and last fighter wing in aviation history to operate rocket-powered aircraft. 'Operation Paperclip' made him emigrate to the U.S. in 1945. He became an U.S. citizen and managed to continue his career as a test pilot at Avco-Lycoming. Having been inducted to the National Soaring Hall of Fame, he had amassed some 10.000 hours of flight time in innumerable types and more than 5.000 dead stick landings.