Martin Kreutzer

	Martin Kreutzer
	Martin Kreutzer was born on July 12, 1891 at Cologne and was the chief designer for Fokker Aeroplane at the age of 22 after the departure of a designer known only as Palm. Palm was one of the early designers at the Fokker works, but he remains one of the unknown men in aviation.¹ Kreutzer may have possibly met Anthony Fokker when he was studying engineering at Bingen Technical College or Erste deutsche Automobil-Fachschule in Mainz. He worked well with Palm for a period, but Martin’s technical school engineering knowledge was limited to mechanical engineering. He knew little about aeronautics, had no previous experience with aircraft design and his workshop experience was limited, but he was well liked and fit in well with Fokker works. He was dependent on Reinhold Platz for advice and within one year, he became Platz’s right-hand man and assisted in the design of new aircraft types. In early 1914, he learned to fly on Fokker Spiders at Goerries, earning his pilot certificate No. 725 dated April 8, 1914. He flight tested Fokker production aircraft and although he made engineering recommendations, he was not considered a test pilot. That job remained Fokker's who was assisted by pilot Bernard de Waal. He died on June 28, 1916 in an airplane crash.²

Endnotes:

1. A.R. Weyl. Fokker: The Creative Years. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1965. 30.
2. Ibid. 58-59.