First female test pilot - Hanna Reitsch 1

[FantasticBob7000]

She talks about "adding gasoline" to make the helicopter climb... I wonder if it used collective pitch or just throttle for vertical control.

[FantasticBob7000]

Who's the dumbass idiot who flagged this video!

[eliade66]

@FantasticBob7000 Who knows...! The content of this video is far from being offensing or subject to a caution alert.

[FantasticBob7000]

@eliade66 There's some schizophrenic people out there who get a violent allergic reaction to the topic of Germany in the 30's & 40's.

[rbrooks2007]

Although she may have never married, she told me that she was on her way to see her daughter-in-law in Didcot, south of Oxford, when I held a newspaper stand and got chatting with her.

[eliade66]

@rbrooks2007

Where and when (year) that happened?

[rbrooks2007]

@eliade66 Easy! Below what was the Oxford City Chambers opposite what was Freeman Hardy & Willis shoe shop and diagonally opposite to what was called Bonn Square, I was in my ATC uniform which was after my stint at the paper stand to which she said (and I quote) "Ach! So you like to fly do you?" and then the stories started. It must have been around 41 years ago and I'd never heard of her before that until watching The World at War on tv later. It kind-of made me sick to my stomach.

[curlybobz]

Historical side note. According to Rochus Misch author of the "The Last Witness" Hannah Reitsch pleaded with Magda Göebels not to kill her children and to be allowed to fly them to saftey.

[luvpump1]

The Nazi were ahead of the rest when it comes to womens rights !!

[eliade66]

@luvpump1

Unfortunately, they were also well behind of the rest in terms of human rights.

[ericssson]

@eliade66 sure lot's of human right in the u.S at that time right ??

Blacks use to get hang and lynch and could not vote

[eliade66]

@ericssson You are right. Moreover, several other countries violated human rights at that time, including the US and the colonial "civilized" powers, such as UK, France, Italy and Japan. Today, not many countries can affirm not having done such kind of violations. However, this is not the subject of this video.

[Mascherina1964]

@luvpump1 "Kinder, Kuche, Kirche" - "Children, Kitchen, Church." This was the purpose of the Nazi education program -- raising millions of girls to be mothers of the new race of superhumans. After the war, millions of German women rebelled against this limited vision of womenhood.

Yes, there were the Riefenstahls and the Reitsches, but there were millions of others leading a limited lifestyle because of Nazi education.

THINK ABOUT IT!

[Splitskirts]

A great woman and pilot; you can really see her personality in her 1976 interview ( and yet she was 24 in 1938 !!! ). An excellent example of how one's skills should be based on merit and not gender ( if you are good you are good ! ). Thanks for uploading !

[maximuslaurius]

first woman to fly a jet , a rocket propelled aircraft AND a helicopter!

[railadvocate]

Hanna was not combat. She tested aircraft prior to production for combat or whatever application. In the case of "air brakes" she flight tested the designs until perfected or suitable for production. Hanna's works was not just in the air but in her report paperwork prepared for the manufacturer/designer after testflight.

[BillyvonDumpling]

Love that lady! If only...

[bloody001]

Sabiha gokcen is the first woman of all (combat). But oke Hanna is the first test pilot maybe..

[eliade66]

@bloody001

Indeed, Sabiha Gokcen was the first female combat pilot in the world when she took part to the unfortunately infamous Turkish campaign in Dersim in 1937.

More than 95,000 Kurdish women, children and elderly were brutally killed by the Turkish army and by direct orders issued from her adoptive father Mustafa Kamal Ataturk.

[eliade66]

@bloody001

Please note that your second message was deleted as it carried an insulting tone.

Free speech and diverging opinions are welcome here, although on a pacific way.

[bloody001]

No way, if you write there something you dont know, that is lie and insulting also... i just wrote what do you know about that history nothing. so you are insulting The father of Turkey... what he didnt do give order, anyway... You know you can delete all what you want, just live in your lies. You dont want the trues anyway... insulting you are insulting watchers, writers the true is not turning at your world but in the real world.

[jamesgrimaldi]

wow!

[Arminiushoff]

She was Brave, Smart, Beautiful, Amazing and Loyal.

[rabbithog]

i would have liked to marry Hanna Reitsch

[udoUpo]

Before the Russians did...she was part of the nazi rocket programme.

[tombestraider]

why did americans put Hanna into jail

and then took Hanna to america for flying teacher

[88Loki14]

Eine der beste Pilot aller Zeit!

[eliade66]

Free translation:

One of the best pilots of all time

[udoUpo]

Absolutely right, it is a pity that their exploits aren't publicized more!

[Ahnentreue]

Das Deutsche Reich hat viele mutige Männer und Frauen hervorgebracht. Heutzutage unvorstellbar in dieser weichgespülten Welt.

[eliade66]

Free translation:

The German Reich brought many courageous men and women out. Nowadays this would be  inconceivable in this soft-rinsed world.

[TheFlightOfficer]

Very interesting

[5lowrollD]

Thank you so much for this incredible and seldom seen film. Thank you.

[KikaBolokov]

You must be very proud. She was a very exceptional woman.

[HareichiSan]

Im a descendant of hanna Reitsch. I'm Indigo Reitsch. We pronouce Our name like RICH now.

[christylangley]

die veel vent vorward

[clarkcolt45]

impressive woman

[Celly222]

Great personality. I like hearing her talk. You can tell she loves talking about aviation.

[hammerofuglytruth]

An incredible woman who was more than equal to many male aviators of the time.

[RobGoth100]

No wonder the feminist movement don't brag that a female test pilot flew the first helicopter. She was a Nazi who worshiped Hitler. LOL

[spottydog4472]

shame - they don't make chics like this these days..............

[arbereagle666]

brave woman!

[wwood14]

One of the last century's greatest women.

[bobinobaker]

Als Pilotin war sie sicherlich ein Genie so wie Riefenstahl als Filmkünstlerin genial war.Leider haben beide aber politich völlig versagt....

[eliade66]

Free incomplete translation:

As a female pilot she was a genius [...?]. Unfortunately both completely failed politically.

[Silberfang]

Das ist eine der größten aller Schanden und Enttäuschungen. Das Versagen so vieler Menschen, die sonst als Vorbilder und Helden getaugt hätten.

[eliade66]

Free translation:

She is one the most ignominious and disappointing examples. She represents the failure of so many humans, who would have been better suited as models and heroes.

[tss77]

Nazi or not Hanna Reitsch was a very brave Woman.

[carinhall1]

Tolle Testpilotin.

Hat sich getraut die V1 zu fliegen obwohl damit mehrere Leute tötlich verunglückt sind.-Sie hat es geschafft zu landen und den Fehler an der Steuerung zu finden.

[eliade66]

Free translation:

Great test female-pilot.

She dared to fly the V1 though so many people had a fatal accident. She has managed to land and find the control problems.

[dyfa777]

COOL!

[88Thyra]

this woman , a patriotic Genius

[ericssson]

Chuck Yeager. did not even accomplish 1/2

the stuff  Hanna Reitsch did..

[tonyfruits]

i wonder if hanna was inspired by amelia earhart.

[ericssson]

amelia earhart.

great pilot from Kansas..

[ericssson]

if she's not the greatest pilot of all time, i don't know who is..

[rdvd7]

by pilot- do you mean combat pilot?

that would be erich hartmann of ww2 with an amazing 530+ enemies downed

[MyTymeBand08]

I know who is. His name is Chuck Yeager.

[swanningaround]

Even though Hanna was hated by most Americans - she was tortured as a war criminal for 18 months by them, she was still later recognized by one of them, John Kennedy, a war hero himself, and later President.

[eliade66]

Swanningaround,

I know Hanna was kept captive by Americans for approximately 18 months at the end of the war. I never heard she was tortured during this same period. If you can prove your statement with specific references, please provide them.

Thanks for your input.

[Grommo]

Hanna was not tortured. She was interrogated in the normal civilised manner and found to have been horrified at the Idea of the Holocaust. She had confronted Himmler personally outraged at pamphlets she had read from Sweden describing death camps. Himmler told her it was just propaganda and she believed him. The Simon Wiesenthal centre exonerated her of any anti jewish complicity and she was a well known admirer of Africans.

She was a die hard Nazi till the end and wore her Iron cross proudly.

[Grommo]

Being a Nazi did not mean that she was motivated by hatred of other races but she was a fanatical German patriot and believed in that (at the time widely admired) 1930s German form of Socialism which had dragged Germany out of the great depression and had helped foster incredible technological accomplishments and made enormous infrastructure improvements to the country, freeways, railways etc.

Hanna was a friend of personalities such as Charles Lindberg etc

[oldun52]

The V1 was not a rocket, but a pilotless aircraft powered by a "pulse jet" engine. as such, it had a fairly conventional flight path of moderate altitude before the fuel was cut off by a fairly crude ranging device.

It was to cure problems with this that she carried out several test flights with cockpit fitted V1s.

The Nazi weapon that formed the basis of the Space Race was the V2, a single stage IRBM powered by a peroxide/kerosene fueled rocket motor.

[eliade66]

Oldun52, thanks for your appreciated input.

[Grommo]

No, that is a myth propagated by the Operation Crossbow movie.

She only flew the Manned version of the V1, the Fieseler Reichenberg in order to figure out LANDING problems. Two test pilots had died on landing and Hanna figured out they had made their landing approach too slow and stalled.

The V1 never required manned flights to fix any stability probs.

She states all this plainly in her Autobiography.

[freiherrudet]

She was also one of the very last people to visit Hitler and stayed several days in the bunker. Great woman.

[eliade66]

She flew one of the last planes, if not the last, out of Berlin before the Soviets occupied it. She landed on a rubbled road close to Hitler's bunker in order to extract him from the already surrounded city. He refused and she flew away after few days. She was caught by the Americans and released after few months.

[THUD086]

Hanna Reitsch was truly a remarkable aviator and pioneer in female aviation, but why are you classifying her as an astronaut?

[eliade66]

Your remark is right. Hanna Reitsch did not achieve an orbital flight defined as an altitude and a velocity resulting in a ballistic trajectory circling the earth at least once. As a reference, the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale defines a spaceflight as one of an altitude of at least 100km (US limit is 50 miles or 80.4km ). I believe Hanna went below 50km (to be verified).

[eliade66]

By definition a sub-orbital spaceflight reaches an altitude higher than 100 km above sea level. This altitude, known as the Kármán line, was chosen by the FAI because it is roughly the point where a vessel flying fast enough to support itself with aerodynamic lift from the Earth's atmosphere would be flying faster than orbital speed.

[eliade66]

Moreover, although the United States does not officially define a "boundary of space", the US definition of an astronaut is a person who has flown above 80km (50 miles) above mean sea level. This is approximately the boundary between mesosphere and thermosphere.

[THUD086]

Excellent researching, eliade66, good job. Thanks.

[cobrachoppergirl]

Hanna rocks! That's what I'd be doing, test air braking straight into the ground.. hell even upside down

[wobila]

Great video my friend. Thank you! 5*****

[UAL320]

Great piece of rare video. I know a lot about WWII German aviation, but I was not aware of any interviews with Reitsch nor had I heard of the JU 90 or the towing system for the Gigant.

[drittenreichlieber]

Thanks for posting this great video. This is one of the best pieces of history of WW II. Flug Kapitan Hanna was undoubtedly the most courageous woman of the 20th century. No person, male or female can ever equal let alone surpass her records of accomplishments and feats. She must be an inspiration for every female longing for extraordinary achievements. Sieg Heil Hanna !! Mit Liebe aus Indien.

[asianreich]

Thank you for sharing. This is an amazing story. Hanna's passion for aviation is wondeful!