Heini Dittmar

{{Short description|German aircraft designer and pilot}}

File:Heini Dittmar.jpg

Heini Dittmar (March 30, 1912 in Bad Kissingen – April 28, 1960 near Mülheim an der Ruhr, West Germany) was a record-breaking German glider pilot.

Inspired by the example of his glider flying brother Edgar, Dittmar took an apprenticeship at the German Institute for Gliding (DFS). In 1932, flying his self-built glider Condor I, he won a first prize at the Rhön Glider Competition.

Dittmar then became a research pilot. In 1934, he, Hanna Reitsch, Peter Riedel, and Wolf Hirth were members of Professor Georgii's South American Glider Expedition,Reitsch, H., 1955, The Sky My Kingdom, London: Biddles Limited, Guildford and King's Lynn, {{ISBN|1853672629}}{{rp|65}} where in Argentina he achieved a new world gliding altitude record (about {{Convert|4350|m}}).[http://www.segelflugmuseum.de/index.php?id=4288&psid=36acea5862043b7b5f446800cda5e2eb Heini Dittmar] at the Deutsches Segelflugmuseum. Later the same year, he achieved a new world record for long-distance using a Fafnir II and was awarded the Hindenburg Cup. In 1936, he achieved the first crossing of the Alps in a glider. He then crowned his career as a glider pilot by becoming the first Gliding World Champion after his victory at the first Rhön International Gliding Competition in 1937.[http://www.sport-komplett.de/sport-komplett/sportarten/f/flugsport/hst/32.html First gliding world champion] www.sport-komplett.de

During and after the Second World War, Dittmar worked as an aircraft designer and test pilot. On 2 October 1941, flying the Messerschmitt Me 163A V4 KE+SW, he became the first human to fly faster than {{Convert|1000|km/h|abbr=on}}.{{rp|175}} This record was achieved over the FAI-specified 3-km distance and was measured using an Askania theodolite. Later, on 6 July 1944, he reached a speed of {{Convert|1130|km/h|abbr=on}} in the Me 163B V18 bearing the Stammkennzeichen code of VA+SP, nearly losing the complete rudder surface in the process to flutter.(in German) Käsmann, Ferdinand C.W., Die schnellsten Jets der Welt (Berlin: Aviatic-Verlag GmbH, 1999, {{ISBN|3-925505-26-1}}), pp. 17, 122.de Bie, Rob. [http://robdebie.home.xs4all.nl/me163/production.htm "Me 163B Komet - Me 163 Production - Me 163B: Werknummern list."] robdebie.home. Retrieved: 28 July 2013.[http://www.walterwerke.co.uk/walter/me163c1a.htm "Me 163."] walterwerke.co.uk. Accessed: 28 August 2010. It is unclear, however, if sufficient altitude was attained to make this a true supersonic flight.{{source?|date=March 2018}}

Dittmar died in a crash in 1960 while test-flying a light aircraft of his own design, the HD-153 Motor-Möwe, near Essen/Mülheim airport.[https://books.google.com/books?id=iEfJSMyE5tUC&pg=PA7&dq=heini+dittmar&sig=ACfU3U0QeSmFI7eJj5q_5hacRlcq5Bljzw#PPA8,M1 50 Jahre Deutsche Motorflugzeuge], Page 8.