Franz Rudorfer

Name:

Franz Rudorfer

Country:

Austro-Hungarian Empire

Rank:

Oberleutnant

Units:

Flik 19D, 51J

Victories:

Born:

29 July 1897

Place of Birth:

Vienna, Austria

Died:

19 November 1919

Place of Death:

Rudorfer volunteered for service before the war began. After serving in the 59th Infantry Regiment, he volunteered for the air service in May 1917. He was trained as an observer at the Officers Flight School (Flosch) in Wiener-Neustadt and joined Flik 19 on the Isonzo front in July 1917. Here Rudorfer scored his first victory and began teaching himself to fly. When he acquired the necessary skills, he joined Flik 51J as a pilot and scored ten more victories flying the Albatros D.III. He eventually received his pilot's certificate two months after the war had ended.

Victories

	Date	Time	Unit	Aircraft	Opponent	Location
1	15 Nov 1917		Flik 19D	Hansa-Brandenburg C.I ¹	Balloon	SE of Treviso
2	17 Apr 1918		Flik 51J	Albatros D.III (153.141)	SAML	Monte Grappa
3	01 May 1918		Flik 51J	Albatros D.III (153.141)	Sopwith	Near Cimadolmo
4	01 May 1918		Flik 51J	Albatros D.III (153.141)	Balloon	San Biagio
5	06 Jun 1918	1220	Flik 51J	Albatros D.III (153.141)	SPAD Scout	Salettuol
u/c	06 Jun 1918	1900	Flik 51J	Albatros D.III (153.141)	Sopwith
6	21 Jun 1918		Flik 51J	Albatros D.III (153.141)	Sopwith	Piave River
7	30 Jul 1918		Flik 51J	Albatros D.III	Scout	Spresiano
u/c	11 Sep 1918	1930	Flik 51J	Albatros D.III (253.?)	Two-seater	E of Maserada
8	07 Oct 1918		Flik 51J	Albatros D.III (253.122)	Sopwith Camel	Ceggia
9	24 Oct 1918		Flik 51J	Albatros D.III (253.124)	Balloon	Breda di Piave
10	27 Oct 1918		Flik 51J	Albatros D.III (253.?)	Sopwith	Papadopoli Island
11	27 Oct 1918		Flik 51J	Albatros D.III (253.?)	Sopwith	Papadopoli Island

1	Pilot Josef Schantl

Books

Above the War Fronts: by Norman L. R. Franks, Russell Guest, Gregory Alegi / Hardcover / Grub Street (September 1997)
Air Aces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire 1914-1918: by Dr. Martin O'Connor / Hardcover / Flying Machines Press (January 1986)
Austro-Hungarian Aces of World War 1: by Chris Chant, Mark Rolfe (Illustrator) / Paperback / Osprey Publishing (February 25, 2002)