Friedrich Schmiedl was an Austrian civil engineer who, beginning in 1918, carried out numerous experiments with solid-fueled rockets. In February 1931, he began a postal service using remote-controlled rockets that landed by parachute to carry mail between neighboring towns, primarily Schöckel and Radegund, and Schöckel and Kumberg. So successful was Schmiedl's innovative method of delivery that another Austrian inventor, Gerhard Zucker, proposed a service that would carry rocket mail across the English Channel. Unfortunately for Zucker, all of his long-range solid-fueled rocket mail prototypes exploded at launch.