By Bill Stansbeary
Cliff Robertson, Academy Award winning actor and outstanding soaring pilot, makes a grand presentation to the champions, guests and participants at the Barron Hilton Cup awards ceremonies.
The Barron Hilton Cup has been the closest thing to heaven above earth for aviation sports competition for the last 25 years. This world’s largest gliding competition offers international participation and encourages pilots with international experience as well as newcomers to the sport of soaring.
The Barron Hilton Cup has long been a global event in association with the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company. Notable aviators joined the group of soaring pilots at a weeklong soaring camp at the Flying M Ranch south of Reno, Nev., making it a true celebration of friendship and flight, ending with an awards day on July 21.
The host was Barron Hilton, co-chairman of the Hilton Hotels Corporation. Honored guests were astronauts Neil Armstrong, Bill Anders and Ulf Merbold; aviator-adventurer Steve Fossett; Academy Award winning actor Cliff Robertson; and Chuck and Victoria Yeager. EADS was represented by Thomas Enders, co-chief executive officer; Ralph Crosby, president, EADS of North America; Christian Poppe, senior vice president, communications; and Allan McArtor, chairman, Airbus North America Holdings, Inc.
The Barron Hilton Cup representatives were Hannes Linke, competition director; Annette Reichmann, administrative director; Frank Franke, promotional director; and Patrick Barry, managing director.
This year’s Barron Hilton Cup champions were Uwe Hartman, Germany, open class; Herbert Weiss, Germany, 15-meter class; Petr Starek, Czech Republic, standard class; Jiri Kupec, Czech Republic, club class; Sven Killinger, Germany, double-seater class; Shinzo Takizawa, Australia; Nicholas Reekie, New Zealand; Gordon Boettger, U.S., West; Robert Templin, U.S., East; Holger Karow, Germany, open class world; and Christine Grote, Germany, women’s sports class.
The Barron Hilton Cup was founded in 1981 by two sportsmen who shared a fascination for soaring flight: Barron Hilton and Helmut Reichmann, a three-time world gliding champion, who was killed in a tragic accident 11 years later. With its extremely powerful weather conditions, strong thermals and the hospitality of Barron Hilton, the Flying M Ranch provides the best soaring conditions in the world. Some describe it as “aviation heaven.”
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- Patrick Barry, Barron Hilton Cup managing director, is the master of ceremonies at the Flying M Ranch during the awards presentation to outstanding soaring pilots from all over the world.
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- Ralph Crosby Jr., EADS North America chairman and CEO, makes special presentations of aviator jackets to the champions of the Barron Hilton Cup.
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- Annette Reichmann, Barron Hilton Cup administrative director, helps organize the talent at the Hilton Ranch.
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- Allan McArtor, chairman, Airbus North America Holdings, Inc., an EADS joint company with BAE systems, enjoys the ideal conditions for long distance soaring at the Flying M Ranch.
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- Gordon Boettger, champion of Barron Hilton Cup, U.S., West, shares the enthusiasm for soaring with Steve Fossett, world class aviator and adventurer.
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- Seventeen-year-old Jens Braun from Germany flies a radio-control model aircraft of the Extra 300S in extreme aerobatics on the front lawn of the Flying M Ranch.
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- Marc Paganini, president and CEO of American Eurocopter, arrives on the scene in a Eurocopter AS 350.