Raab-Katzenstein
The Raab - Katzenstein - Flugzeugwerke GmbH ( Raka ) was a German aircraft manufacturer.
History
The company was established on November 16, 1925 in Kassel- Bettenhausen from the Dietrich- Gobiet aircraft factory AG spun off from the factory drivers Antonius Raab ( 1897-1985 ) and Kurt Katzenstein ( 1895-1984 ) with the businessman Anatole Gobiet by internal disputes with Richard Dietrich. In his memoirs, Raab wrote, Dietrich did in 1925 "discovered his sympathy for the Nazi Party " and tries to not "pure Aryan" Kurt Katzenstein and Gobiet, which would have brought him money and fame oust. The new plant there had been " no, Rassen' - prejudice ".
As a part of the workers and employees as well as the construction office alternated with the new company, succeeded in a short time the construction of a separate double-decker art aircraft. For this revised Chief Engineer Paul J. Hall his last draft DP XI of Dietrich- Gobiet, and deduced from the class 1 from Schwalbe, which led to a lengthy, but later unsuccessful action of Exfirma. The first flight of payable with a 71 kW seven- cylinder radial engine Siemens Sh 11 equipped machine with Antonius Raab on board took place on 16 January 1926. Already on 25 March 1926 it took the pattern approval and by intensive advertising, it quickly came to a sales success. So working in July 1926 already 120 workers in the production of the machine. There were a total of more than 30 pieces of Swallow produced, which were flown, for example, by the German Kunstfliegerin Vera Bissing and Gerhard Fieseler. Fieseler was on a restructured according to his wishes class Ic (D -1212 ) in the summer of 1928, German aerobatic champion. Raka operation at the airport Kassel -Waldau and the airfield Bonn / Hangelar your own business flying schools, where among other Gerhard Fieseler and Otto Peschke worked as a flight instructor also.
In the first half of 1926 Hall designed the planned as a two-seat trainer aircraft beginners RK 2 "Pelican ", which was identical in many parts with the " swallow", but an enlarged by 10.4 m span possessed. The first flight took place on 30 August 1926.
On March 15, 1927 led to the airfield Kassel -Waldau Antonius Raab sailors RK 7 " Butterfly" and Kurt Katzenstein as a pilot in the "crane " D -975, the first aircraft towing place round the world by. As an aircraft makes the glider RC 7 "Butterfly" came in 1927, and the two-seat light aircraft RK 9 " warbler " thereto, from the latter six of the circus Sarrasani were used as advertising airplanes. The company employed at that time already had 200 employees and more than 100 machines produced.
1928 Hall constructed together with the come of Heinkel Richard Bauer racing aircraft RK 25 " Ruhrland " and 1929 the RK 26 " Tiger Swallow". In the spring of 1929, Hall moved to BFW. Richard Bauer took over the development and set about the construction of a 40 meter long small airship called RK 27 This took on May 4, 1929 his first ride. Since, however, lacked government contracts, such as the sale of 16 RK 2 to China ranged also export success not to make the company financially successful. The final draft was the biplane RK 29, who took part still on tourist plane 1930.
In the spring of 1930, however, Raka had after termination of lending by banks Kassel apply the comparative method and was dissolved. Raab suspected, however, the Reichswehr had in this development " really turned " since the Raka was "not agreeable " been operating a who had refused to participate in the military rearmament. Anatole Gobiet gained by the bankruptcy the design and copyright in the RK 25 and RK 26 and sold the building rights to Sweden, where the RK 26 was operated as SK 10.