Emil Meinecke

Leutnant Emil Meinecke (20 July 1892 – 2 May 1975) was a German flying ace during World War I. He was credited with six confirmed aerial victories. After the war, he stayed in aviation, rising to the post of chief test pilot for Fokker. His post there ended with Germany's defeat in World War II. Meinecke then returned to his trade as an aircraft mechanic during the Berlin Airlift. He eventually became a Canadian citizen in 1950.

Biography Emil Meinecke was born in Mannheim in the Grand Duchy of Baden on 20 July 1892. He apprenticed as an aircraft mechanic as a teenager, qualifying in 1910. He then worked for German pioneer aviator Karl Jatho who taught him to fly. Meinecke finally soloed in 1913.

Emil Meinecke joined the German military aviation effort when World War I began in 1914. When he enlisted on 20 August 1914, he had not yet completed requirements for his International Flying Certificate, but carried a letter of recommendation for pilot training from Jatho. On 25 July 1915, Meinecke qualified for his Military Pilot's Certificate. He was then assigned to Johannisthal Air Field in Berlin as a flying instructor.

Meinecke was posted to duty training Turkish aviation cadets in the Ottoman Empire on 1 October 1915. Then, in April 1916, he was posted to Flieger-Abteilung 6 at San Stefan as a fighter pilot

Honors and awards By war's end, Emil Meinecke had won a number of military honors. He had received the Ehrenbecher für den Sieger im Luftkampfe, or Honor Goblet for Victory in Air Combat as well as both the First and Second Class Iron Cross. as well as a Medal for Bravery.

Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter Maidos Victim: Greek Naval Lieutenant Spyros Hambras

Sopwith Gulf of Saros, Turkey

Sopwith Camel Destroyed Vicinity of Şile, Turkey

On 22 February 1929, he tested the Fokker F.XIV at Schiphol, the Netherlands. He followed this up by testing the first Fokker with retractable landing gear, the tri-motored Fokker F.XX, on 3 June 1933 . On 27 February 1936, Meinecke flew the maiden test flight of the Fokker DXXI from Welschap Airfield. In 1936, he flew a replica Fokker Spider for Queen Wilhelmina at Schiphol.

During World War II, Meinecke remained in the Netherlands, serving as a ferry pilot and test pilot for Fokker. In one incident, on 5 May 1941, he flew as the chase plane pilot in a sortie of two Fokker G.1s; the test plane, flown by Hidde Leegstra and Piet Vos, two Dutch pilots, eluded him as they defected to England.

The end of the war saw him once again working as a mechanic. In 1949, he mechanised for the 53rd Troop Carrier Squadron USAF during the Berlin Airlift. Meinecke emigrated to Canada in 1950, and became a Canadian citizen on 1 June 1956. He died in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.