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Famous Personalities

Hanna Reitsch

Born on 29 March, 1912, in Hirschberg, Silesia.
- 1931: Abitur diploma and glider licence
- 1932: medical studies (to become a flying medical doctor in Africa) and pilot licence
- 1934: change to research, test and commercial pilot
- 1937: first flight in a glider across the Alps; first woman as an aircraft captain and first helicopter pilot
- 1938: flight with the FW-61 within the Deutschlandhalle
- 1942: first female pilot in the rocket aircraft Me-163a
- 1944: first female pilot in a jet aircraft; test flights with V1
- 1952: third place in the World Gliding Championship in Spain
- 1962-1966: established a glider school in Ghana
- 1970: co-founder of the Hubschrauberzentrum e. V. Bückeburg and honorary member of the club
- 1971: "Honorary Fellow Award of the Society or Experimental Test Pilots"
- co-founder of the international organisation fort he advancement of women in helicopter aviation, "Whirly Girls";
she was "Whirly Girl” no. 1
- 1975: "Pionierkette der Windrose" (International Commission of Aerospace Activities)
- holder of many (world) records in gliding
died in Frankfurt, October 24, 1979