Hanna Reitsch

Hanna Reitsch (March 29, 1912 - August 24, 1979) was a German aviation pioneer and the only woman to receive the Iron Cross First Class and the Luftwaffe badge for combined pilots and observers in gold with diamonds during World War II. Reitsch was the first woman to fly a helicopter, a rocket plane, and a jet fighter. Throughout her career, she set over forty altitude and endurance records in aviation, both before and after World War II, and several of her international gliding records still stand today. Reitsch was born in Hirschberg, Silesia. Her father was an ophthalmologist and wanted her to become a doctor. She had an interest in aviation and thought she could become a flying doctor in North Africa, which is why she studied medicine for a time. Reitsch began flying gliders in 1932. In 1933, she left medical school at the invitation of Wolf Hirth to become a full-time glider pilot and instructor.