Hanna Reitsch - Later Flying Career

Later Flying Career

After her release Reitsch settled in Frankfurt am Main. Following the war German citizens were barred from flying powered aircraft but within a few years gliding was allowed, which she took up. In 1952 Reitsch won third place in the World Gliding Championships in Spain (the only woman to compete). She continued to break records, including the women's altitude record (6,848 m (22,467 ft)). She became German champion in 1955.

During the mid-1950s Reitsch was interviewed on film and talked about her wartime flight tests of the Fa 61, Me 262, and Me 163. In 1959 she was invited to India by prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru to begin a gliding centre. In 1961 Reitsch was invited to the White House by US President John F. Kennedy. From 1962 to 1966 she lived in Ghana, where she founded the first black African national gliding school.

She gained the Diamond Badge in 1970. Throughout the 1970s, Reitsch broke gliding records in many categories, including the "Women's Out and Return World Record" twice, once in 1976 (715 km (444 mi)) and again in 1979 (802 km (498 mi)) flying along the Appalachian Ridges in the United States. During this time she also finished first in the women's section of the first world helicopter championships.