Leutnant Hans Karl Müller was a pioneering German flying ace

Flying ace

A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down several enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The actual number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an "ace" has varied, but is usually considered to be five or more...

 during World War I. He was credited with nine aerial victories. He also taught many others to fly, as an instructor in the German Air Service, and later, as a civilian instructor in Mexico.

Early life

Hans Karl Müller was born on 19 July 1892 in Loschwitz, Germany, which was then in the Kingdom of Saxony. When World War I broke out, Müller joined the German Air Service, the Luftstreitkräfte

Luftwaffe

Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....

.

World War I

Müller became one of Germany's first military pilots when he undertook pilot's training at FEA 2. He qualified as a pilot on 31 December 1914. Three days later, he was posted to FA 3. By 1 May 1915, he was stationed at Armee Flugpark 6. His next assignment was instructor duty at Grossenhain.

On 20 February 1916, Müller moved to the Verdun

Verdun

Verdun is a city in the Meuse department in Lorraine in north-eastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital of the department is the slightly smaller city of Bar-le-Duc.- History :...

 front and joined Kasta 11. He scored his first aerial victory while with them, on 26 March 1916. By the next month, he was flying a Fokker Eindekker. On 28 June 1916, he transferred to KEK Avillers. He scored two more victories while with this unit, destroying an enemy observation balloon

Balloon buster

Balloon busters were military pilots known for destroying enemy observation balloons. These pilots were noted for their fearlessness. Seventy-six fighter pilots in World War I were each credited with destroying five or more balloons, and thus were balloon aces....

 and downing an enemy airplane over Verdun. He then became an original member of Jagdstaffel 5

Jagdstaffel 5

Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 5, commonly abbreviated to Jasta 5, was founded on 21 August 1916, as one of the first fighter squadrons of the predecessor to the Luftwaffe, the Luftstreitkräfte.It was founded upon KEK Avillers, itself an early attempt to utilize fighter planes as winged weapons...

; he joined the squadron on 21 August 1916 as a Vizefeldwebel.

Over a four month period, from 26 August through 26 December 1916, Müller scored six more aerial victories to become his squadron's leading ace. While scoring his ninth and final victory on 26 December, he was so severely wounded in the abdomen that he was removed from combat duty.

Müller was commissioned as a leutnant of 14 January 1917. Upon recovery, he served as a pilot for Siemens-Schuckert

Siemens-Schuckert

Siemens-Schuckert was a German electrical engineering company headquartered in Berlin, Erlangen and Nuremberg that was incorporated into the Siemens AG in 1966....

, the airplane manufacturer. He would never again see combat; he would survive the war, having been awarded both classes of the Iron Cross.

List of aerial victories

No.	Date/time	Aircraft	Foe	Result	Location	Notes
1	26 March 1918		French aircraft		Callette Wood
2	9 July 1916		Observation balloon Observation balloon Observation balloons are balloons that are employed as aerial platforms for intelligence gathering and artillery spotting. Their use began during the French Revolutionary Wars, reaching their zenith during World War I, and they continue in limited use today....		Verdun Verdun Verdun is a city in the Meuse department in Lorraine in north-eastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital of the department is the slightly smaller city of Bar-le-Duc.- History :...
3	3 August 1916		Nieuport Nieuport Nieuport, later Nieuport-Delage, was a French aeroplane company that primarily built racing aircraft before World War I and fighter aircraft during World War I and between the wars.-Beginnings:...		Verdun
4	26 August 1916		Either a Voisin Voisin - Companies :*Avions Voisin, the French automobile company*Voisin , the French aircraft manufacturer- People :*Catherine Monvoisin, known as "La Voisin" , French sorceress during the reign of Louis XIV...  or a Caudron Caudron The Caudron Airplane Company was a French aircraft company founded in 1909 by brothers Gaston Caudron and René Caudron . It was one of the earliest aircraft manufacturers in France and produced planes for the military in both World War I and World War II...		Verdun sector
5	31 August 1916		Observation balloon		Maasbogen
6	16 October 1916 @ 1750 hours		Caudron		South of Flers Flers Flers is the name or part of the name of several communes in France:* Flers, Orne, in the Orne département* Flers, Nord, a former commune of the Nord département, now part of Villeneuve d'Ascq...
7	22 October 1916 @ 1200 hours		Airco D.H.2		Bapaume Bapaume Bapaume is a commune and the seat of a canton in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:A farming and light industrial town located 10 miles south of Arras at the junction of the A1 autoroute and the N17 and N30 national roads its location is...
8	20 December 1916 @ 1630 hours		Caudron		South of Courcelles Courcelles -France:Courcelles is also the name or part of the name of several communes in France:* Courcelles, Charente-Maritime, in the Charente-Maritime département* Courcelles, Doubs, in the Doubs département...
9	26 December 1916 @ 1355 hours		Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2c		Le Sars Le Sars Le Sars is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:Le Sars is situated south of Arras, at the junction of the D11 and the D929 roads.-Population:-Places of interest:...

Post World War I

Müller emigrated to Mexico after war's end. He ran a flying school there until 1931. He then moved across the border to Texas. He died in San Antonio on 23 July 1977.