Wolfram Kurt Erhard Hirth (February 281900 – July 251959) was a Germangliding pioneer and sailplane designer. He was a co-founder of Schempp-Hirth, one of the most renowned sailplane manufacturers in the world today.Hirth was born in Stuttgart, the son of an engineer and tool-maker. He was the younger brother of Hellmuth, who founded the famous Hirthaircraft engine manufacturing company.As a young man, Hirth took up gliding and was soon drawn to the Wasserkuppe, then the focus of the German gliding movement, earning his pilot's licence in 1920. In 1924, Hirth lost a leg in a motorcycle accident. From then on, he would fly while wearing a wooden prosthesis.
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