Fri, Jun 19, 2009
Manfred Radius began his career in flying sailplanes in 1961 at
age 17 in Hamburg, Germany. He has logged in excess of 4,000
flights and accumulated over 1,900 hours in at least 60 types of
sailplanes. Manfred immigrated to Canada in 1969 and became a
gliding instructor in 1972, adding the glider aerobatic
instructor's endorsement in 1977. He is a former member of the
Flight Training and Safety Committee of the Soaring Association of
Canada.
In 1974 he reached a high point in his career when he achieved
an altitude of 35,000 feet above sea level over the Rocky Mountains
near Colorado Springs. Flying the same sailplane in which he
performs at air shows, Manfred flew a distance of 375 miles
over the Appalachian Mountains in May of 1986, a flight lasting 8
hours and 45 minutes.
For many years, Radius was the only one in North America who
competed in glider aerobatic championships. In 1977, in 1979 and in
1981, he competed in the prestigious German Glider Aerobatic
Championships, and in 1977, received an award as the 'best foreign
aerobatic pilot'. In 1985 he competed in the First World
Championship in Glider Aerobatics, held in Austria, representing
Canada as its leading glider aerobatic pilot.
Manfred Radius is a top professional air show performer who
ushered in a new era in sailplane demonstrations. He has the
distinction of having introduced world championship-level
performances to air shows in North America.
Manfred's award-winning main act, The Ultimate, contains samples
of all aerobatic maneuver families, including unique maneuvers
performed by only himself with a glider at air shows in North
America. The grand finale of The Ultimate is the spectacular
inverted ribbon cut.
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