Flying Is My Life by Hanna Reitsch

Flying Is My Life - Hanna Reitsch [epub]

Hanna Reitsch, born in 1912, wanted to be a flying missionary doctor but became a glider pilot. She set records, worked as a movie stand-in flyer and went on expeditions to South America and Africa. She was the first female honorary flight captain. A reformed Luftwaffe hired her as a civilian test pilot in 1937. She accepted, calling German warplanes "guardians of the portals of peace."

She rode the forefront of technology. Before Sikorsky perfected helicopters in 1939, she tested a primitive version. She tested the gliders which deposited troops on the French Maginot line in 1940. In 1941, 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 and spending four months in hospital. Hitler awarded her the Iron Cross, 1st class.

After the war she was unrepentant, wearing the Iron Crosses proudly and writing her 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.

Hardcover, 252 pages
Originally published 1954 by G.P. Putnam's Sons