Free Hitler's Heroine: Hanna Reitsch by Sophie Jackson Page A

Luftwaffe, which it had been building up secretly for years. The world swayed a little and anxiety trickled into everyone except the most ignorant. Hanna could not avoid this; airfields, once deserted, now buzzed with officers and aircraft. Men gave stiff-armed salutes and hung up swastika flags. Peacetime conscription was introduced and Hanna sensed the world was turning in a dangerous direction. Forever the patriot, she blotted out the worst of her fears, concentrating on a planned trip to Lisbon in May to demonstrate German gliding – the PR wagon was off again. Hanna thought of the trip as a means of showing Germany in its best light and downplaying people’s fears – everything would turn out all right, after all.
    Almost instantly her desire for a peaceful and non-controversial time in Lisbon was shattered when, having made an unplanned stop on a French military airfield, her companion was discovered to be carrying a camera. It had been strictly forbidden for such equipment to be brought and it caused natural consternation among the French, who started to ask whether Hanna was a spy. Things rapidly got out of hand. Rumours reached the local inhabitants that two Germans had been detained on suspicion of espionage and a crowd gathered at the airfield. When they spotted Hanna or her companion they spat and jeered at them. The French threatened to dismantle Hanna’s plane, but that was the least of their worries if they could not prove themselves innocent. The French were cagey and took hours over their interviews. Hanna asked, unsuccessfully, to make a phone call, and in the end it was only via the intervention of a French soldier that she was granted her request. She managed to contact the German consul, who was far from pleased to hear of her predicament. Through various channels he got an order through to the French commandant that the Hanna Reitsch was to be released at once and allowed to fly on to Lisbon. Political pressure asserted, the commandant reluctantly released his suspects.
    After the frightening ordeal in France, Lisbon proved a ray of comic relief. The festival was lively and exuberant, the Germans were welcomed with open arms and the displays went well. But it was with some relief that Hanna returned to Germany and to her old job at Darmstadt. Hanna had impressed enough people to earn herself a promotion and now worked under the supervision of Hans Jacobs, the chief test pilot. A number of experimental gliders came her way, none quite so difficult or as well remembered as the Sea Eagle. The Sea Eagle was a first: a sea-going glider primarily to be used in scientific expeditions (though, of course, with military potential). Hanna’s role as test pilot was to work out its kinks and flaws, to check its balance, examine it for possibly dangerous faults and to experiment with its limitations. She was also there to discover if it was actually possible to launch and land a glider at sea. The Sea Eagle was a beautiful glider with tilted wings that did indeed resemble the bird of the same name. She was narrow and could only carry her pilot in a rather cramped cockpit, with little insurance against submerging in the ocean on a heavy landing. Her wingspan was over 56ft, strongly gulled to keep them clear of spray, but she was a lightweight at only 240kg. She needed to reach around 36mph to get airborne.
    Hanna’s first flight in the Sea Eagle was abortive. The motorboat hired to tow the glider into the air was not powerful enough and could not reach take-off speed. Tests were transferred to a lake at Bodensee and Dornier supplied a Maybach speedboat to act as tow. The Maybach had the speed to launch Hanna into the air, but starting from water proved a new challenge. Originally a 300ft towrope was used, but its weight and the drag caused by it slicing through the water proved an irritation. On her first flight Hanna rose to 30ft, but almost immediately the towrope began to drag her back down and she cast off for