During one lecture, a captain completely ignored him, and told Franz, that 'you have no right to give me orders, you are just a civilian'. Franz nearly washed him out of the school.ДЇranz found that he did actually like being an instructor except for one thing: he was a civilian, and some of the officers did not give him any respect because of that. One of his students was Gerhard Barkhorn. He was the chief instructor at a pilot school for officers in the Luftwaffe in Dresden, he was, however, still a civilian. Franz knew he really did not have much of a choice.ДЄfter his Spanish mission, Franz wanted to go back flying for Lufthansa, but they had given him to the Luftwaffe. Germany was sending 'volunteers' to fight in the Spanish civil war.

Franz was to serve as a civilian instructor pilot, in particular to train pilots on the route to Spain with 'supplies' on board. Lufthansa offered him a job, and Franz jumped at the chance.ДЇour years and 2000 flying hours later, Franz had flown all over Europe.ДЇranz was walking through an airport when a German Air force office waved and approached him: 'Your orders, your country needs your service'. Franz dropped out of university and completed his flight training. It was called Airline Pilot School, and its instructors taught Franz to fly planes at no cost, as the government (The National Socialist German Workers' Party or Nazi) paid for the training because they wanted pilots. Franz reasoned that it was a part of church policy, and his faith remained intact, but he felt ashamed for his mother because for six weeks his name was read out during mass at the cathedral in Regensburg among the list of the excommunicated.ДЇranz still wanted to fly, so during the weekends he began flight training at the local airport. The club was found out, and, unknowingly to Franz the Catholic Church had outlawed duelling, and he was excommunicated (It was not until about 1957 that Franz would attend mass again). While there were rules to minimise serious injuries, it was still dangerous. There he had discovered an underground duelling club. Then do it, Father Josef said: 'Your mother will get over it'.ДЄfter High school, Franz, studied aeronautical engineering at the university in Wurzburg. Franz answered: I would love to fly every day. Franz was caught out, and Father Josef asked Franz did he really wanted to become a priest, and what did he really want to do. Franz himself had a deep faith, and had no problems with his mother's choice, except for one: by 1932, he had a girlfriend. His brother advised him 'The eagles know where the good air is-follow them.'ДЄnna, Franz's mother, had decided that Franz would become a priest. On his second flight with a sandbag attached, Franz soared 100 feet over Bavaria. Both Franz and the glider could be fixed. The adults forgot that the glider was built for a heavier pilot. In the summer of 1927, at the age of 12, Franz was ready for his first flight, and crashed.

They did not have enough money to buy a glider, but by collecting and selling scrap metal, after a few months they had enough money to buy some blueprints, so under the supervision of the adults, they built a glider. Franz senior, and a friend of the family, a Catholic priest named Father Josef, who during World war 1 had also been a pilot, encouraged the local boys into their love of flying by beginning a glider club. His mother was a deeply devoted Catholic and had hoped that one of her sons would become a priest. His father Franz had been a pilot during World War 1, and now managed horses on a nearby estate. He had one older brother, Gustel, known to everyone as August. He was known as Franz, the 2nd son of Franz Stigler and Anna, (maiden name unknown).

Franz stigler