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Helmut Reichmann
Like Barron Hilton, Helmut Reichmann is perhaps best known for
sharing his love of
soaring with other pilots around the world.
Of course Reichmann will always be remembered as Germanys as
first three time
world soaring champion and co founder of the Barron Hilton Cup.
He was killed in
the mid - air accident 1991 at age 40, but not before he had
built the Barron Hilton
Cup into one of the most prestigious flying competitions in the
world.For Helmut, every mile was a new mile, said Hannes Linke, a
respected soaring
official who succeded Reichmann as competition director of the
Barron Hilton Cup.
He wanted every soaring pilot to experience the satisfaction
that comes from
increasing their knowledge of cross country flying. It became
his lifes work.
Reichmanns intensity was obvious in his steely gaze and
determined jaw. Yet his
delight in teaching and fliyng shown brightly through a twinkle
in his eye. His
devotion to soaring, and education was never more apparent than
his final flight.
On holiday from the Academy of Arts in Saarbrueken, he spent
three days in the south
of France flying with young pilots of the German Junior National
Team.Returning from a successful cross-country flying lesson, the
team rendezvoused with
four pilots from another gliderport. The mid-air occurred with
one of the pilots that
had just joined them as all eight planes circled in the same
thermal.
As much as Reichmann would want other pilots to learn from the
miscalculations
involved in the incident, none of the other pilots flying that
day actually saw the
impact occur. Both Helmut and Lars Goetz were lost.
Reichmann leaves a legacy of education and personal achievement
which will long be
remembered by the soaring community around the world. His early
successes were
inspired by his longtime friend, Hartmut Lodes, who first
encouraged him to attempt
competitive cross-country flying. He became German Junior
Champion in 1965, thenwon the German National Championship in 1968,
1971 and 1973.
He seemed to breeze to his Standard Class win in an LS1 at the
1970 World
Championships in Marfa, Tex., but had a tougher time winning in
1974 at Waikerie,
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Australia, flying in the one and only LS2 ever built. In 1978,
he won the first-ever 15-
Meter Class World Championship in an SB-11 in a similarly
hard-fought competition
at Chateauroux, France Reichmann's book, "Cross Country
Soaring," is still regarded
as one of the most authoritative works on the subject yet
written, and his second book,
"Flying Sailplanes," provides an informative look at the sport
of soaring in general.
In "Silence on the Wind," the book he co-authored with Frank
Franke, Reichmann
captures the beauty of soaring, and the deep friendships that
exist within the sport."I've seldom met anyone so dedicated to his
sport, and so generous in sharing his
knowledge and experience," said Franke. "He was a teacher, and
at the same time, an
artist -- in the air and on the ground."
While Reichmann understood aerodynamic and navigational advances
as well as
anyone, he felt more comfortable flying with basic
instrumentation. "His doctoral
thesis explored and explained the mathematical resolution of
'speed to fly,' and he was
the master at assessing climb rate, altitude, wind and distance,
particularly for his final
glide," Linke said. "He had a great feel for the abilities of
his ship, and he could
squeeze more performance out of a machine than anyone I
know."
Barron Hilton first met Reichmann in 1979. "When you flew with
Helmut, he was partflight instructor and part tour guide," said
Hilton. "He seemed to study every inch of
the terrain under him. He especially enjoyed introducing
European pilots to the area
around the ranch, taking them up and down the cloud streets over
the White Mountains
or down the slope of 'Rabbit Run' west of the ranch."
On a particularly good weather day during Hilton's 1986 soaring
camp, Reichmann
forfeited his turn to fly an ASW 22 so Linke could use it to
make a long flight of his
own, rather than spend the day towing or handling other chores.
Reichmann had
encouraged everyone to take a shot at a 1,000 kilometer multiple
turnpoint flight, but
was left with the last plane available in the draw, a Twin
Astir, which seemed to "list
to starboard" when it sailed through the air."I had to take care
of a minor repair, so I couldn't take off with the others,"
Linke
recalled. "I just flew locally that day, and after I landed, I
followed Helmut's progresswith Barron and the others on the radio.
It was quite a vigil."
Reichmann took off at 11 a.m. with his sister, Sus, in the back
seat, and headed south
with two other pilots for the Whites. Even though Sus was
airsick in the back seat
during most of the flight, she encouraged him to take up the
chase with the others.
Of course, Reichmann wasn't able to keep up with Klaus
Wedekind's Pegase or Peter
Fischer's Nimbus 3. But after nine hours and fifteen minutes --
and more than 1,000
kilometers -- he nursed the last bit of glide out of the Twin
Astir and landed back at theFlying M Ranch in the deepening
twilight tired, triumphant, and relieved.
"It was probably one of the most remarkable flights of his
career, yet it will never
show up in the record books," Linke lamented. "All three had
photographic evidence
of their flights, but only single-seater aircraft are included
in the classes specified for
official documentation."
The Barron Hilton Cup continues under Linke's stewardship,
dedicated to the spirit of
Reichmann's career in aviation and education. His wife, Annette,
continues to process
documentation for the 5,000+ flights submitted for each Hilton
Cup competition
period. His home gliderport, Marpingen in Saarland, has been
renamed in his honor.
"He persuaded the U.S. Air Force to use its heavy equipment to
fill the gap betweentwo hills to create the airport," Linke said.
"It is only fitting that it should bear the
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