Lajos Rotter

Lajos Rotter studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Budapest, graduating in 1923. He studied aviation from a young age, publishing his first book in 1921, Vitorlázórepülés (Gliding). In 1923 he won the Orell Füssli Institute competition for invited papers on helicopter design. In his professional life he worked as an engineer in the aviation industry, while his hobby was studying, designing, and flying gliders. Between 1949-52 he was the technical director of the Hungarian Aircraft Repair Works, Székesfehérvár.

Rotter won numerous competitions designing gliders and was asked by the Hungarian government for special designs several times. In 1933 the Hungarian Association of Boy Scouts asked him to design a glider which would represent Hungary at the Boy Scouts Jamboree. The glider set Hungarian records for time and distance flown. He represented Hungary at the ISTUS Conference (Internationale Studienkommission für den motorlosen Flug / International Commission to Study Motorless Flight) in Berlin in 1935 and Budapest in 1936. In 1937 ISTUS awarded him their highest honor, the Golden Ring, at their conference in Salzburg. After World War II, In 1947 Rotter was elected as president of the Gliding Club of MADISZ (Hungarian Democratic Youth Association).