Franz Wognar

Franz Wognar (1890-1943) was an Austrian-Hungarian World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories. Wognar joined the Austro-Hungarian Armed Forces in 1913 as a trained mechanic. As the war broke out in 1914, he transferred to the Austro-Hungarian Aviation Troops. After pilot training, he was posted to fly two-seater reconnaissance aircraft over the early Battles of the Isonzo in northern Italy. Wognar flew reconnaissance, aerial photo, and artillery direction missions throughout 1916. Between 26 January and 16 September 1917, Wognar would score five victories. His fifth victory, over an Italian observation balloon, was extraordinary because very few pilots succeeded in balloon busting with a two-seater plane. Wognar was reassigned to test pilot duty. He ended the war with one Gold and four Silver awards of the Medal for Bravery.

Biography Franz Wognar was born in Trnava, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire; due to subsequent changes in national boundaries, his birthplace is in present-day Slovakia. He was of Slovakian heritage. He married a Slovenian woman in 1918.

Aviation career Wognar trained as a mechanic before enlisting in the Austro-Hungarian Army in 1913. He later transferred to aviation service

Wognar was posted for duty with Fliegerkompanie 2 as a pilot of two-seater reconnaissance aircraft in July 1915. He flew with Flik 2 over the Battles of the Isonzo, the main battle front in northwestern Italy. In addition to reconnaissance missions, Wognar flew aerial photography missions and bombing sorties, directed artillery fire, supported ground troops with tactical attacks, escorted friendly bombers to their targets, and flew interceptions of enemy two-seaters. He was especially skilled in directing artillery fire. Although eventually a few single-seat fighters were assigned to Flik 2, Wognar usually still flew two-seaters. Knoller-Albatros B.Is were his usual mounts during 1915.