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Alexander M. Lippisch
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Alexander M. Lippisch

German-American aerodynamicist
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Also known as: Alexander Martin Lippisch
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Quick Facts
Born:
Nov. 2, 1894, Munich
Died:
Feb. 11, 1976, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, U.S. (aged 81)
Also Known As:
Alexander Martin Lippisch
See all related content

Alexander M. Lippisch (born Nov. 2, 1894, Munich—died Feb. 11, 1976, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, U.S.) was a German-American aerodynamicist whose designs of tailless and delta-winged aircraft in the 1920s and 1930s were important in the development of high-speed jet and rocket airplanes.

Lippisch designed the world’s first successful rocket-propelled airplane (a tailless glider fitted with two solid-fuel rockets, flown June 11, 1928, in the Rhön Mountains, Germany) and was largely responsible for the first operational liquid-fuel rocket aircraft (the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet fighter, first used by the Luftwaffe in 1944). After World War II Lippisch moved to the United States and in 1965 established the Lippisch Research Corporation, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He was an early proponent of the delta-wing configuration.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.