The inaugural Willy Messerschmitt Lecture

Summary

Willy Messerschmitt’s most notable impact on aviation history occurred during the wartime period 50 years ago. While there is a general belief that the business approach under the extraordinary circumstances of this period is in no way relevant to today’s business environment, this paper will, nevertheless, attempt to illustrate that some elements of Messerschmitt’s approach may still be worthy of consideration.

Messerschmitt’s approach had not been that of “big business” but rather comparable to that of an artist-craftsman. Since the approach of an artist is best reflected by reviewing his “oeuvre”, this paper will be proceeding accordingly. Figure 1 shows Messerschmitt in 1935.