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Handbuch des Segelfliegens or the “Handbook of Gliding”, was written by German gliding pioneer and sailplane designer Wolf Hirth, co-founder of Schempp-Hirth, a renowned glider manufacturer (the company manufactured assembly parts for Messerschmitt Me 323 and Me 109 during World War II). His older brother Hellmuth Hirth was the founder of the famous Hirth aircraft engine manufacturing company.

This is the 1938 edition of Handbuch des Segelfliegens with a foreword by NSFK Korpsführer Generalleutnant Friedrich Christiansen and a second one by the Head of the Glider Department of the NSFK, Josef Kunz. The 6-1/2 x 9-3/8 inch linen hardcover book has 156 pictures and covers the history and basics of gliders and sail flying, thermal conditions, lift, soaring, techniques for long and short flights, etc. Wolf Hirth used his own experiences, as well as practical tips and information from fellow glider pilots.

Handbuch des Segelfliegens has 286 pages plus an additional 24 pages of advertising by airplane builders, airplane engine and instrument manufacturers, as well as the magazine Der deutsche Sportflieger. The book was published in 1938 by Franck'sche Verlagshandlung of Stuttgart.

Above, part of the list of the first 300 recipients of the Internationale Segelflugleistungsabzeichen, the International Glider Pilot badge in silver (shown at the top of this USMBOOKS web page). The winner list includes Richard DuPont of Elmira NY, Hanna Reitsch of Darmstadt, and other glider pilots from the USA, Austria, Hungary, England, Switzerland, and many from Poland.

On the front flyleaf there is a dedication dated 13 May 1938 from the Reichssegelflugschule of Laucha an der Unstrut, a sailplane airport used to train future Luftwaffe flyers that was located just southwest of Reinhard Heydrich’s city of birth, Halle an der Saale. The dedication on the front flyleaf was written and signed by glider pilot and pioneer Willy Hahn, who later became a very successful manufacturer in Germany. His WIHA company is still active in sail flying today. The sticker from a bookstore in Rostock where this book was purchased during the Third Reich is still affixed inside the front cover.

This 84 year old hardcover example of Handbuch des Segelfliegens by Wolf Hirth is in very nice used condition with a tight spine and no odor.