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Hauptmann Englande is a character from [[Marvel Comics]] and a character in the [[Captain Britain]] comics.
{{mergefrom|Windecker Eagle}}
Translated from German to mean ''Captain Englishman'' (Possibly a reference to fellow superhero [[Captain England]]), Hauptmann Englande is a representative for an alternate Earth called ''Earth 597'' for the [[Captain Britain Corps]].
'''Windecker Industries''' was an aircraft manufacturer originally founded in 1962 as '''Windecker Research'''. It was the first company to produce and market aircraft built predominantly of [[composite materials]] (in this case, [[foam]] and [[fiberglass]]). The company was founded by Leo Windecker, a dentist from [[Lake Jackson, Texas]].
Earth 597 is an alternate Earth where the Nazis have won the Second World War, and Hauptmann Englande is the leader of the Lightning Squad, his worlds' equivalent of ''[[Excalibur]]''.
Initial tests of composite wings on convential airplane bodies proved promising, so the company built two original prototypes of all-composite aircraft, the Windecker ACX-7 Eagle. The second prototype crashed during spin testing for certification by the [[Federal Aviation Administration]]. After a redesign, the ACX-7 became the first composite aircraft to receive FAA certification, in December of 1969. Windecker went on to produce six civilian Eagles in the early 1970s.
Composite aircraft construction had a ready military application, because composites are nearly invisibile to conventional radar systems. A test of a Windecker Eagle against an [[United States Air Force|Air Force]] radar system, for instance, registered only the engine and the landing gear, not the composite body. Windecker built the Eagle 9, which was delivered to the Air Force as the YE-5 and tested secretly for five years.
Windecker Industries, losing its market after the economic downturn of 1970, quit operations in 1975. The company had received nearly fifty patents for all aspects of composite aircraft construction, and this technology was licensed to other firms such as [[Lockheed Martin]] and [[Northrop]]. In 2003, Leo Windecker was inducted into the Texas Air Hall of Fame, and he has been nominated for the National Aviation Hall of Fame. He donated his Eagle 7 to the [[National Air and Space Museum|National Air and Space Museum]] in 1985; it waits in storage, although it is planned to be put on display in the museum's new facility at the [[Dulles Airport]]
== Specifications of the Windecker Eagle AC-7 ==
* Wing Span: 32 ft (9.8 m)
* Length: 28 ft, 8 in (8.7 m)
* Height: 9 ft, 6 in (2.9 m)
* Gross Takeoff Weight: 3,400 lb (1,500 kg)
* Empty Weight: 2,150 lb (975 kg)
* Max. Speed (Sea Level): 210 mph (338 km/h)
* Cruise Speed: 204 mph (328 km/h)
* Stall Speed: 66 mph (106 km/h)
* Range: 1,100 mi (1,770 km)
* Ceiling: 18,000 ft (5,500 m)
* Rate of Climb (Sea Level): 1,220 ft/min (372 m/min)
* Takeoff Run: 855 ft (260 m)
* Powerplant: [[Continental Motors|Continental]] 10-520C
== References ==
* Burmeier, Beverly. "Plastic Fantastic." ''The History Channel Magazine'', September/October, 2005, pp. 22-23.
[[Category:Defunct American aircraft manufacturers]]
== External links ==
* [http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/aero/aircraft/windecker_eagle.htm Windecker Eagle I article] on [http://ww.nasm.si.edu www.nasm.si.edu]
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