History of Ingenieurbuero Isler AG

The mechanical engineers Werner Hausammann and Rolph Isler - as employees of the Federal Aircraft Institute at Emmen, Switzerland - were working on the development of the combat aircraft N-20. The design of this aircraft with its 'line through' delta wing (the jet turbine is an integral part of the wing) was considered very advanced. But in 1953, by order of the governmental ministry of defence the project was dropped.

When they received a large order from the NLR (Nationaal Lucht- en Ruimtevaart- laboratorium), Werner Hausammann and Rolph Isler decided to found their own independent company in 1954. With the design and turn-key supply of the test section of a transonic wind tunnel, the young company became well-known as expert on this very special field.

Their reputation was further increased with the introduction of a unique design for adjusting a Laval Nozzle to generate supersonic flow. When the nozzle throat varies, the nozzle plate is simultaneously deformed by a single synchronized drive to establish the so-called ‘Mach-lines’. US and Canadian companies used multiple, complex and costly drives. Today most European high speed wind tunnels still use the described system. The last adjustable Laval nozzle was installed by Ingenieurbuero Isler AG during 2015 in the ISL (Instutut franco-allemand de recherches de Saint-Louis, France).

A further speciality of the company is the design and construction of model support systems in subsonic wind tunnels. It requires a system that allows, under heavy load conditions, precise adjustments of angles of attack, yaw and roll of the wind tunnel model in the flow stream. The largest support systems of this kind are installed in the wind tunnel of the Federal Aircraft Institute in Emmen (now RUAG Aerospace) and in the DNW (Dutch-German wind tunnel).

Since 1996 Ingenieurbuero Isler AG works on the design of test facilities for experimental optimizations of burners and combustion chambers for gas turbines and jet engines. Outstanding special know-how required for the construction of the extreme high temperature parts was acquired in the recent years.