Sándor Farkas, “Sam” (Újpest, 2 January, 1936 –
Verőce, 27 June 2022) aerobatic pilot, test pilot,
instructor.
Career
editAviation has always been his biggest ambition.
His first experience with aviation was Easter
Monday, 1949, when he was allowed to sit in a
Vöcsök glider for the first time in his life.
He made his first aerobatic stunts in the spring
of 1955 under the supervision of Ernő Mandl.
From 1961 to 1964 he was Airport Commander
of Békéscsaba, Hungary. From 1964 he
worked at the Budapest Presidency of the
Hungarian Defense Association.
In 1967 he won the Hungarian National
Aerobatic Championship in Nyíregyháza. In
1968, together with Mihály Erdős, Pál Kovács,
Gyula Farkas and Jenő Durucz, he was a
member of the Hungarian team at the 5th
World Aerobatics Championship in Magdeburg,
East Germany.
As a result of a discussion in November 1968
at a training seminar in Győr, he decided to
leave Hungary: he left the country in December
that year. He began teaching aerobatics in
Germany. One of his students, Manfred
Strößenreuther, became multiple German and
then European and World Champion. Obtained
a test pilot license and worked at the
Messerschmit-Bölkow aircraft factory as a test
pilot. He later started his own business with his
private plane.
In the years 1969-1978, he used to be
alternately number 3 or 4 at the German
Championships. It was at this time he took part
in the European Championships in
Carcassonne, Rochford and Zadar, among
others, as well as in several other international
competitions.
In 1978, he was contracted to Africa as an
instructor to the Nigerian Air Force in Nigeria,
where he trained his apprentices for 4 years on
a Dornier Do 28D2 Skyservant. After returning
to Germany in 1983, he became the first
Hungarian pilot on Antarctica where he flew
with his special flying laboratory, Polar 2, a
Dornier Do 228, as part of an expedition by the
Alfred Wegener Institute, and was stationed
aboard the research ship Polarstern and in the
Neumayer I research station. While in
Antarctica, he often flew in very difficult
weather situations, measuring ice cracks with
radar equipment and making cartographic
images with special cameras. Later he worked
for the Grob Company as a test pilot, where he
did the flight tests of G112 and G115. He then
joined the German Federal Aviation
Administration (LBA), where, as a project
manager, he carried out type certifications and
test flights until his retirement age (65). In 2002
he moved back to Hungary.
Sources
Magyar Szárnyak XXX. évfolyam 2003. 31.
szám Magyar János : Volt egy csapat.
ISSN 1416-6577
Hungarian Wings XXX. grade 2003. No. 31
János Magyar: Once there was a team.
ISSN 1416-6577
Gépmadarak a szabolcsi égen (Bp. 2005)
ISBN 963 460 6261
Machine birds in the Szabolcs sky (Bp.
2005) ISBN 963 460 6261
Népszabadság 1984. augusztus 5: Repülő
laboratóriumokkal az Antarktiszon
Népszabadság August 5, 1984: With flying
laboratories in Antarctica
Hivatkozások[ szerkesztés ] References
Neumayer I station [1] Neumayer I station [1]
[[Category:People from Újpest]] [[Category:2022 deaths]] [[Category:1936 births]]