Word: neuss
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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Willy, a nimble-fingered radio mechanic in the Ruhr town of Neuss, had dreamed since he was twelve of inventing a new flying machine. By wartime he had worked out plans for a parachute which would operate on the helicopter principle. The Gestapo interrupted these labors, carting Willy off to a forced-labor camp because he was a conscientious objector. But in searching his house afterwards, they discovered and were fascinated by Willy's plans. With magnificent artfulness, they conceived a simple test of Willy's device: they strapped Willy's parachute on his own back, took...
Finally this summer Willy Weihrauch produced a working specimen of his beloved Der Roterer (Little Spinner), weighing 87 Ibs. and powered by a two-cylinder, 14-h.p. engine. Behind cousin Johannes' cinema in Neuss and before a select gathering of neighbors, he set the blades to rotating, poised lightly on his toes and took off. At 10 ft. he crashed into a wall. Both man and machine needed repairs after that. This month the Little Spinner was ready for the air once more, and Willy persuaded a Swiss friend to take it on its second flight...
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