Rudi Berndt Papers (MS-632)

Rudi Julius Karl Berndt was born February 19, 1921, in Stettin, Germany (now Szczecin, Poland), to Otto and Elisabeth Berndt. Rudi’s father Otto was a high voltage electro-mechanic by trade, and it was partially because of this that Rudi became interested in electrical engineering.

Rudi Berndt was educated in Stettin, attending grammar and secondary school, then trade school. He also attended college in Stettin at the State Engineering College, to which he had a state scholarship.

In May 1940, Berndt was ordered to present himself at the local Wehrmacht Induction Center for examination and potential military service. However, he had been born with a club foot, and consequently he was released from any military service obligation, and was therefore able to continue his college studies. In June 1941, he completed his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering, graduating with distinction.

In the summer of 1941, Berndt was hired at the Graf Zeppelin Research Institute [Forschungsanstalt Graf Zeppelin, or FZG] Stuttgart-Ruit. He joined the parachute research and development team, which included Helmut Heinrich (Berndt’s immediate supervisor) and Theodor W. Knacke, both leaders and innovators in the field.

Heinrich and Knacke had worked together at the Institute of Aeronautical Engineering at the Technical University of Stuttgart [Flugtechnischen Institut an der Technischen Hochschule Stuttgart, or FIST], which in 1941 was absorbed by the Graf Zeppelin Research Institute (FZG). Their research at FIST and the FZG focused on the development of parachutes for aircraft and weapons (bombs, mines, etc.). Knacke, along with Georg Madelung, Rudolf Isermann, and Albert Keller, invented the FIST ribbon brake parachute [bänder-bremsschirm], which was constructed from a grid-like pattern of ribbons (as opposed to a solid piece of fabric). Heinrich invented the guide surface parachute.

Berndt’s duties as an instrumentation engineer at the Graf Zeppelin Research Institute included the design and development of test equipment and instrumentation for wind tunnel and free-flight testing of parachutes for aircraft runway deceleration, ejection seat and bomb retardation and stabilization, and high altitude cargo delivery.

Berndt worked at the FZG until July 1946, with the exception of a brief time in the 1945. The laboratory had been relocated to Lake Constance, on the Swiss border, and he was taken prisoner by the French Army. The French offered Berndt a position in parachute research, which he ultimately declined. He was released in May 1945 to rejoin his family near Stuttgart, in the American occupation zone.

In the summer of 1946, Berndt accepted an offer of employment from the U.S. Army Air Forces, as part of Operation Paperclip (or Project Paperclip), a secret program of the Joint Intelligence Objectives Agency (JIOA) to recruit leading German scientists, engineers, and technicians. At age 25, Berndt was one of the youngest recruits for Operation Paperclip.

On September 6, 1946, Berndt set sail from Bremerhaven, Germany, aboard the U.S.A.T. George Washington, bound for New York City, arriving on September 16. There were about a dozen German scientists onboard, including Reinhold Gross (Berndt’s friend and co-worker), Dr. Karl Gottfried Guderley, and Dr. Otto Walchner. Upon arrival in New York, the Operation Paperclip scientists were taken by bus to Fort Hunt, Virginia, near Washington, D.C., where they remained for almost two months.

On November 2, 1946, a group that included Berndt, Dr. Guderley, Dr. Walchner, Dr. Hans von Ohain (the inventor and developer of the turbojet engine), and Dr. Walter Dornberger (the commander of the German Army Rocket Test Station at Peenemunde) was escorted to the train station and boarded an overnight train to Dayton, Ohio, bound for Wright Field. There, he was reunited with his team leaders Dr. Heinrich and Mr. Knacke.

Berndt’s wife Ingeborg, son George, and daughter Elke, joined him in the U.S.A. in 1948. The family resided in Springfield. Berndt became a U.S. citizen in 1954.

From 1946 to 1956, Berndt was a general engineer in the Parachute Branch, Equipment Laboratory, Wright Air Development Center (WADC), at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. He directed projects that resulted in airbag decelerators for C-130 load platforms, the T-10 troop personnel parachute, and the parachute systems used to drop the D4 bulldozer.

From 1956 to 1960, he was a research engineer. He planned and directed programs that led to the development of specialized parachute performance instrumentation, as well as programs to extend the operational capabilities of parachutes into the supersonic speed regime. He also directed efforts that led to the pilot ejection seat stabilization systems, as well as the development of the time sequencing and instrumentation system for the Stratospheric Altitude Balloon Gondola.

In 1960, Berndt became a manager, serving as Section Chief, Advanced Technology Section, Retardation and Recovery Branch (1960-1963); Section Chief, Advanced Technology Section, Recovery and Crew Station Branch, Air Force Flight Dynamics Laboratory (1963-1974); and Branch Chief, Recovery and Crew Station Branch (1974-1976). Under his direction, detailed technology such as parachute opening, drag, and stability in both the subsonic and supersonic speed regimes was successfully developed. He was also involved in the development of supersonic aerodynamic decelerators. He developed predictive methodologies for the time required to fill solid cloth type parachutes use to para-drop equipment and personnel. He was involved in the development of the para-foil steerable airdrop parachute.

From 1976 until his retirement in 1990, Berndt served as Assistant for Plans and Programs to the Chief of the Vehicle Subsystems Division. He developed and implemented vast changes within the division's research and development planning and tracking process. He personally developed a tracking system allowing the division chief to know at a glance the exact status of all division personnel and funding levels. That system was adopted by others in similar positions at other organizations. He also developed the procedures to be followed by project engineers in the development of purchase request packages.

Berndt received numerous outstanding performance ratings and Special Act of Service awards throughout his career at WPAFB. He was also U.S. Air Force nominee for the Arthur S. Flemming Award (honoring outstanding federal employees) in 1961. He was author or co-author of many technical reports, research articles, and conference presentations.

Rudi Berndt retired from the U.S. Air Force on November 30, 1990, and celebrated with a retirement party the following February, around the time of his 70th birthday. He was a long-time member of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, Young Men’s Literary Club, and Mitchell Hills Country Club. He died on January 12, 2004, at Eaglewood Village Care Center in Springfield, Ohio, and is buried in Ferncliff Cemetery in Springfield.