Uwe W. Jack Many years of my work as an author were recognized by the Hugo Junkers Award for the best (German-language) aerospace publication in 2019. But starting this career was rather difficult. I was born in 1956 in the American sector of Berlin divided into a western and a Russian part. As long as I can remember, I am fascinated by aircraft and rockets. My grandfather sparked this passion when he gave me a model of a Messerschmitt Me 262 and a Redstone rocket for my seventh birthday. Starting with a disaster At school, I never was an ambitious boy. When I was ten, bad pupils got the chance to improve their grades with a short presentation. I choose rocketry as my theme. The centerpiece for my presentation was a two feet long paper model of a rocket that I build at home. On one side the tabular fuselage was white with black squares, had a pointed nose and triangular fins at the end. Turned around, the fuselage was cut open to show the interior: A crew compartment at the top, two fuel tanks, and a rocket engine at the bottom. When I came to the fuel-tanks, my teacher stopped me. There must be something wrong - her car and all other cars in the world had only a single fuel tank. Why should any vehicle need two different fuels? As a ten-year-old boy, I was unable to convince such an ignorant teacher. So rocketry could not improve my grades. Listening to veterans Beginning as a high school student, I took every opportunity to listen to aviation veterans, mostly Luftwaffe crew-members. In the early 1970s, some Apollo astronauts visited Berlin and through good contacts, I had the chance to speak to men who walked on the surface of the moon. So I decided to become a rocket engineer - and to build my own liquid-fueled rocket engine. The device was very small and was assembled on my kitchen table. Air-pressure for fuel injection was provided by a car tire. The engine produced only a maximum thrust of under one pound - but worked. After I started studying aerospace engineering, I ask the librarian for books describing the design of small rocket engines. The chairman of the institute, Heinz-Hermann Koelle, heard this and commanded me into his office. He was a legend: the former deputy to Wernher von Braun at Huntsville, he was in the team that launched Explorer 1 in 1958 and was responsible for the design of the Saturn I. After he saw some pictures of my engine the next day, he seems to be impressed. We had a long talk about rocket history and I was invited several times when former Peenemünde engineers visited Berlin. They offered me a job in the US space industry, but my wife does not want to leave Berlin, so I stayed and dropped out of studies. Since it was forbidden for Germans to work in Berlin in the aerospace business - I had to look for other professions. In the printing and aviation industries Printing was my second passion, I learned to operate a printing press at the age of 14. Working with a company that was implementing computers in the graphics process in the early 1980s was a real challenge. We had a very creative and dynamic team - a fine time! When the Berlin wall came down, this company sadly collapsed in 1990. Fascinated by the new digital printing technology, I worked there until a small aviation company near Berlin was looking for someone to write aircraft documents and manuals and to help marketing an uncrewed autonomous reconnaissance aircraft. For some years I crawled deep into the interiors of aircraft and into the art of collecting data from a flying sensor-platform. When a German aviation magazine offered me to join its editorial staff where I should be responsible for aerospace history and spaceflight, I didn't hesitate for a second. That’s where I was for interesting years. Then I retired to have time for my own projects. But after a few months, the FliegerRevue called me back to work… Searching for new information between dusty papers In 1975 I started my private investigation on aerospace secrets. In the archive of the Deutsches Museum in Munich, I met the british historian David Irving, who at this time was respected for his books on German secret weapons and the Luftwaffe. Although we're at the opposite ends of the political spectrum today, he taught me a lot about research. A picture or document is not the reality, he told me, it is only one of many layers of a complex history and just reflects the insight that the creator had. Since then I am always critical when looking at pictures or reading documents. Having searched tons of documents, I discovered some mysterious facts that stand in contrast to the published aerospace history, especially on Luftwaffe aircraft. Over years I helped other authors but decided that it is now time to see my name printed on the cover.

Meet the author

Receiving a publishing award from Bernd Junkers (left), the grandson of the famous aviation-entrepreneur Hugo Junkers.

With a Messerschmitt Me 262 - my favorite aircraft, because my grandfather built this type in 1944/45.

Meeting Adolf Galland (middle), the commanding General of the Luftwaffe fighter force of WW2. To the left stands Feldwebel Zech, one of the first to fly the “longnose” Fw 190 to protect the Luftwaffe jet units. A much younger Uwe is to the right in 1986.

With two remarkable pieces of rocketry. The unfortunate Europa rocket and an engine of the V-2.

Searching for documents of the early rocket pioneers in an archive.

Even though I don't own a pilot's license, I can't resist climbing into every cockpit. This time it is a Junkers Ju 52 Trimotor.

In Fort Worth, Texas, I had the chance to “fly” the fascinating Lockheed Martin F-35.

Questions and Answers Why are there documents for free download and why do you publish your work?? For decades I have searched archives for rare documents and interviewed aviation witnesses. As a young man, I didn't have any original photos or documents. The author Heinz J. Nowarra helped me at the time and left me a lot of photos. That gave me the courage to continue studying the history of aviation. With the free distribution of many of my documents, I would like now to help other historians and motivate young people to also devote themselves to the many exciting puzzles of aerospace history. This is my mission. I see myself as a part of the community of historians and would like to share my findings and - of course - the joy of research with others. Yes! “Jack” is my family name. It is most likely that my ancestors came from the United Kingdom. Jack is the acronym for the Apostle St. Jacob. Three hundred years ago, the German state of Prussia gave immigrants from the UK a piece of land, a house, and a cow to settle down. My family did this at the German-Russian border. The “W.” stands for Willi This is to honor my grandfather Willi Jack (1909 - 1995). He was a locksmith working for the aircraft company Henschel south of Berlin and was loaned to Messerschmitt in autumn 1944 to produce the Me 262. As a Socialdemocrat he does not want to carry a rifle for the nazis (therefore he was working in the aviation industry). He shared his meals with the Russian POW’s working at Messerschmitt. For this, he was sentenced to prison with water and bread - postponed to after the “final victory”. Which of the astronauts did you like most? With Alan Bean (Apollo 12) I had a long conversation of about one hour. He had a good sense of humor and was very charming. I loved his straightforwardness. When I asked questions about his experiences in aircraft, he always ground his teeth when I called him “pilot”. Too late I remembered that as a Navy man, I must have called him “aviator” - sorry Alan! Unfortunately, I never met Alan Shepard. He is my favorite Astronaut. I was very impressed by his attitude of never giving up. After an inner-ear disease grounded him, he struggled back into a spacecraft seat and landed with Apollo 14 on the moon. When his landing radar failed, he took over manually and made the most accurate landing of all moon missions. So: “Never give up!” What is your favorite aircraft and rocket? The Messerschmitt Me 262 is my star not only for family reasons. It changed aviation technology. The X-15 rocket plane comes immediately afterwards. It pushed the limits of aviation into space. For me, the Atlas rocket is the symbol of uncompromising design. I admire the work of the engineers in making such a low structural weight fly reliably. Do your children share your passion? No and never! I flopped teaching my daughter and my son how interesting aircraft and rockets are. They are great adults now - even without this passion. And life gave me a second chance. My little grandson can tell the difference between an airplane and a helicopter and my younger granddaughter will one day - never give up! What do you do when you are not writing? When I am not searching for aerospace secrets or writing, I read science fiction books and I love to listen to my wife when she talks about dolphins, or to follow her on her hunt for new handbags. What annoys you the most? I get annoyed by the people who after a one-hour lecture or an 20- page-article, comment: “ You gave the maximum speed with Mach 1.8 - I have a book that describes it more precisely as Mach 1.79.” More and more people do not see the whole picture, but only tiny errors attract their attention. I see this as a dangerous development - don't let these people stop you!

Text:  English plus German