Hanna Reitsch portrayed as test pilot on a manned V1 (Fi 103R)
She was approached by SS-Obersturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny, a founding member of the SS-Selbstopferkommando Leonidas (Leonidas Squadron). They adapted the V-1 flying bomb into the Fieseler Fi 103R Reichenberg including a two-seater and a single-seater with and without the mechanisms to land.The plan was never implemented operationally, "the decisive moment had been missed."[28]
In her autobiography Reitsch recalled after two initial crashes with the Fi 103R she and Heinz Kensche took over tests of the Fi 103R. She made several successful flights before training the instructors. "Though an average pilot could fly the V1 without difficulty once it was in the air, to land it called for exceptional skill, in that it had a very high landing speed and, moreover, in training it was the glider model, without engine, that was usually employed.
