Gerd Achgelis was a German acrobatic aviator and engineer (https://en.wikipedia...i/Gerd_Achgelis) who went to America several times in the thirties to compete in air races or shows. He was also present during the 1936 National Air Races at Los Angeles, September 4 to 7, as a stunt pilot, not competing in the actual races, but his stunts were sponsored by the Gilmore Oil Company, and on September 10, the Los Angeles Times reported in their preview for that night's Gilmore Stadium Midget races:
In the stands tonight will be Gerd Achgelis of Germany who bought an Offenhauser motor yesterday and is shipping it to his home town where he also plans to introduce the spectacular night speedway sport to German sports fans.
Gordon White's book "Offenhauser" contains a listing of the Midget engine production, partially "reconstructed from Fred Offenhauser's scrapbook and other contemporary records", and in it engine number 19 appears with the purchaser "Gerd Achelis, German aviator".
I don't know anything more about Achgelis or German aviation history than can be found online, and I can find no mention of him using an Offenhauser engine in any of his endeavours. On his 1936 trip, he was reportedly accompanied by a mechanic by the name of Herbert Melcher, of whom I know nothing, either.
Does anyone here have knowledge about Achgelis and/or Melcher, especially such that could lead to the the usage and subsequent whereabouts of the Offenhauser engine, whether in aviation or motor racing?
An Offenhauser Midget engine is a four-cylinder DOHC of monoblock construction and with a capacity of about 1,620 cc - can someone tie these data to a (possibly obscure) engine appearing in late thirties/early postwar racing in Germany, or possibly anywhere else in Europe?
