The 1940 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XII Olympiad, were originally scheduled to be held from September 21 to October 6, 1940, in Tokyo City, Empire of Japan. They were rescheduled for Helsinki, Finland, to be held from July 20 to August 4, 1940, due to the 1937 Japanese invasion of China, but were cancelled due to the outbreak of World War II. Helsinki and Tokyo eventually hosted the 1952, 1964, and 2020 Summer Olympics.
Hanna Reitsch was a German aviator and test pilot. Along with Melitta von Stauffenberg, she flight tested many of Germany's new aircraft during World War II and received many honors. Reitsch was among the very last people to meet Adolf Hitler alive in the Führerbunker in late April 1945.
Hans Jacobs was a German sailplane designer and pioneer. He had been taught sailplane design by Alexander Lippisch, designer of many gliders during the 1920s and the 1930s. As the head of the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug at Darmstadt in the years before World War II, he was responsible for a number of highly successful designs, including the DFS Rhönsperber, DFS Rhönadler, DFS Habicht, DFS Weihe, DFS Kranich, and the DFS 230 assault glider. Hans also designed a glider-seaplane, the "Sea Eagle", test flown by Hanna Reitsch. In 1936, Hans developed self-operating dive brakes, on the upper and lower surface of each wing, for gliders. He designed the DFS 230 used in the Battle of Fort Eben-Emael.
Wolfram Kurt Erhard Hirth was a German gliding pioneer and sailplane designer. He was a co-founder of Schempp-Hirth, still a renowned glider manufacturer.
The Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug, or DFS, was formed in 1933 to centralise all gliding activity in Germany, under the directorship of Professor Georgii. It was formed by the nationalisation of the Rhön-Rossitten Gesellschaft (RRG) at Darmstadt.
Olympic sports are contested in the Summer Olympic Games and Winter Olympic Games. The 2020 Summer Olympics included 33 sports; the 2022 Winter Olympics will include seven sports. Each Olympic sport is represented by an international governing body, namely an International Federation (IF).
The DFS Olympia Meise was a German sailplane designed by the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug (DFS) for Olympic competition, based on the DFS Meise.
Contrary to the methods used by the Reich Air Ministry (RLM) for the allocation of aircraft designations, the designers and manufacturers of sailplanes and gliders in Germany enjoyed the freedom of choosing their own designations for their products up until 1945.
Canoeing was an official Olympic sport for the first time at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. It had been a demonstration sport twelve years earlier at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. A total of nine events were contested at the 1936 Games, all in canoe sprint for men. In total, 158 canoeists from 19 nations took part in the canoe races. All these countries had sent in entries before the deadline, the only late entry came from Latvia, which was as a result excluded from participating in the canoeing competitions.
The DFS Habicht is an unlimited aerobatic sailplane that was designed in 1936 by Hans Jacobs with support provided by the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug. Four planes were made available for the Olympic Games of 1936, where the maneuvers of the Habicht over and literally inside the Olympic stadium enthralled spectators.
Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sport in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to remain airborne. The word soaring is also used for the sport.
Heini Dittmar was a record-breaking German glider pilot.
The Slingsby T.25 Gull 4 is a British glider designed and built by Slingsby that first flew in 1947.
Elliotts of Newbury was a British company that became well known for manufacturing gliders.
The Eon Olympia was a glider produced from 1947 by Elliotts of Newbury.
Akaflieg Berlin is one of around thirteen flying groups, or Akaflieg, currently attached to German universities. Akaflieg Berlin, is the abbreviation of Akademische Fliegergruppe Berlin e.V., a group of students enrolled at several Berlin universities, though they are mainly from TU Berlin, who are involved with the development and the design of gliders, as well as research in aerodynamics. Founded in 1920 Akaflieg Berlin was founded in 1920 and is one of the oldest gliding clubs in Germany, flying their gliders from Kammermark airfield near Pritzwalk, which they share with the AFV Berlin, which mainly consists of former members of Akaflieg Berlin, jokingly referred to as the “elderly ladies and gentlemen”. As at 2007/2008 Akaflieg Berlin was the executive group of the Idaflieg, the controlling body for all German university flying groups.
The CVV-4 Pellicano was a single seat Italian glider designed for a competition to select an aircraft for the 1940 Olympic Games. The DFS Olympia Meise was preferred to it after the trials in Italy in 1939.
The Zlín Šohaj series of club gliders began as a post World War II development of the DFS Olympia Meise. A large number were built in the 1940s and '50s.
The Rotter Nemere or just Nemere was a Hungarian high performance, single seat sailplane designed and built for the 1936 ISTUS gliding demonstration held in 1936 alongside the Berlin Olympic Games.
