Walter Ager
Dipl. Ing. Walter Ager
Walter Ager, as a development engineer, operations manager, and certifying stuff, shaped the company TOST over decades. He worked for us from 1952 to 2003 and was indispensable.
As a glider pilot himself (and a fighter pilot during the war), he knew the needs of a pilot firsthand. Thus, increasing safety in aviation sports and at the airfield was his top priority.
Many products that made TOST famous were his ideas, originated from his drawing board, and became successful through his ingenious implementation in production. This includes, for example, the conversion of existing drum brake wheels in gliders to technically superior, more modern disc brake wheels. The hydraulically actuated wheels made braking for the increasingly heavier gliders safer, more reliable, and more controllable.
Another example is the rappel systems (for installation in helicopters), which enable police and SWAT teams to “land quickly on site.” These were developed by Walter Ager in collaboration with the police helicopter squadrons of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg and manufactured by us in a wide variety of types.
A milestone in managing the company’s administrative tasks was the introduction of the first IT system. Walter Ager introduced it as early as 1981 with self-developed programs for invoicing and inventory management. The continuous adaptation of both hardware and software was important to him and provided ongoing improvements in our work.
At the Technical University of Munich, he worked as a lecturer in the field of FEM – Finite Element Methods. With the help of this method, the strength of TOSTwheels was also calculated and continuously monitored.
Until his death in 2003, Walter Ager was a defining personality at TOST. His extensive technical knowledge, his determination combined with patience, and his constant search for new ideas and solutions brought groundbreaking products from TOST.