Fliegen, mein Leben. Testpilotin im Dritten Reich

by Hanna Reitsch

Hanna Reitsch, born in '12, wanted to be a flying missionary doctor but became a glider pilot. She set records, worked as a movie stand-in flyer & went on expeditions to S. America & Africa. She was the 1st female honorary flight captain. A reformed Luftwaffe hired her as a civilian test pilot in '37. She accepted, calling German warplanes "guardians of the portals of peace." Historian Judy Lomax tells how her values were instilled by a mother who wrote daily, warning against pride & praying for her safety. She rode the forefront of technology. Before Siskorsky perfected helicopters in '39, she tested a primitive version. She tested the gliders which deposited troops on the French Maginot line in '40. In '41, Hitler awarded her the Iron Cross, 2nd class, for dangerous work developing means for cutting the cables of British barrage balloons. The most dangerous machine she tested was the Messerschmitt 163 interceptor rocket. 90 seconds from takeoff it climbed at 65-degrees to 30,000' at 500 mph--the fastest humans had ever gone. On a 5th flight, the takeoff dolly jammed. She crashed, retaining presence of mind to write a report before passing out & spending four months in hospital. Hitler awarded the Iron Cross, 1st class. When she confronted Heinrich Himmler with concentration camp rumors, he had her believe he was outraged at such Allied propaganda. Learning of a piloted suicide version of the V1, she tested prototypes. After the war she was unrepentent, wearing the Iron Crosses proudly & writing memoirs. She continued flying, generously helping women pilots from other countries. Aged 65, months before dying, she set a new women's glider distance record.

Genres: World War II, Memoir

332 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1954

About the author

Female pioneer aviator. Reitsch was the first woman to fly an helicopter, a rocket plane, a jet fighter and a glider across the Alps.

During the second world war she was awarded the Iron Cross First Class and the Luftwaffe Combined Pilots-Observation Badge in Gold with Diamonds. She was the only woman to every receive those awards.

After the war she was interiogated for 18 months about the last days she spend in the Fuhrerbunker. Her family committed suicide when they got driven away from their hometown, which is now Polish territory.

After the war she was also banned from flying, but after a couple of years gliding was allowed. In 1952 she won third place in the World Gliding Championships in Spain.

Reviews

[Jukka Häkkinen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hanna Reitsch oli kuuluisa Luftwaffen koelentäjä Natsi-Saksan aikana. Hänen omaelämänkerrassa on mielenkiintoisia kuvauksia purjelentämisen alkuajoista ja lentämisen riemusta. Toisaalta kuvaukset ovat joskus ehkä liiankin pitkiä ja toisteisia ja suorastaan pitkäveteisiä. Natsi-Saksan ajan Reitsch ohittaa aika lyhyesti.

[Judy Robbins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely a must to read!

[Dale W. Basham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful read about a great flyer. I can understand her love of flying. Myself since age six discovered an intense desire to spend my life as a pilot. It was as if it was my destiny. I had a very successful and exciting life first as civilian Instructor, then graduated number one in my Air Force pilot training class and rising to the rank of LCol, flight Examiner and later as Squadron Commander. After service was an airline Captain and check airman. Just like Hanna, at the peak of my career I had a heart attack, fell from a two story roof landing on cement side walk with multiple injuries the worst of which was a Spinal cord injury and cracked skull. I spent over three months in an orthopedic ward after the spin surgery. While reading of her very serious injuries I could sympathize with her. I am now starting to read another of her books.

[Bob Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great female pilot who never fessed up

Hanna Reitsch rightfully goes down in the annals of flight as one of history’s greatest female pilots along side the likes of Jackie Cochran and Amelia Earhart.
From that historical viewpoint, this book is a very interesting read. It’s her story, written by her.
But in the light of history, as both the WWII allies and even Germans now know and understand it, her lack of understanding or even recognition about what her country was doing - torture, concentration camps, genocide - borders on the fantastic, what one might expect from a devoted Nazi. By her own admission, she was ready to die with Hitler in the bunker.
So maybe this book is about something more that airplanes. It also speaks to the nature of blind fanaticism.
And given today’s climate, perhaps that is a lesson also worth pondering.

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This biography of pioneering Nazi test-pilot Reitsch was written several years after her release by the Allies and thus may be read as defensive and self-serving. Indeed, most of the material antedates the war, the emphasis being on the joys of flying throughout. Still, assuming there was no ghostwriter, the impression left on this reader was mostly positive, Reitsch coming across as charming if naive. Indeed, so caught up did I become in her feelings that I found the reading of this memoir an emotional experience.