Wilfried “Fred” Baron von Engelhardt was born in the Castle of Liebenberg (north of Berlin, Germany) as the great-grandson of Fürst Philip zu Eulenburg.
von Schoenbeck, who flew as a pilot in World War I in the famous squadron of the "Red Baron" and who was later the Commander of the German Flight Test Center in Rechlin, Fred early on developed a passion for aviation.
Young Fred often met with famous German pilots, Hanna Reitsch and Ernst Udet to name a few.
While his step-father frequently piloted a Fieseler Fi 156 Storch and would sometimes land on the castle's estate, Fred got attached to helicopters.
His family had to flee to Austria after the war ended, and Fred earned his high school diploma in Linz in 1947.
He would definitely have opted for an aerospace program; however; the Allies banned courses on aeronautical engineering at German and Austrian universities.
His log book shows his first flight in a Hiller H12B, registration PH-NFL, on August 2, 1954 (Fred had flown fixed wing aircraft before, mainly gliders and – not official - his step-father's “Fieseler Storch”.
His mentor was the engineer Hans Derschmidt, a member of the Bölkow group who developed a swept rotor system with variable sweep and who recommended Engelhardt to the company owner Mr. Boelkow (“he is not only a pilot – he also has some solid understanding of helicopter technology”).
Fred took courses in theology at Linz University and completed an education as a medical professional in Traditional Chinese Medicine.