Hanna Reitsch

Born just before the dawn of powered flight truly took hold, Hanna Reitsch became one of Germany's most celebrated aviators. With a string of world records in gliding and powered flight, she was a national hero long before the unpleasantness of World War II, a testament to her undeniable skill in the cockpit.

Alas, talent in the air doesn't always translate to moral clarity on the ground. Reitsch, a self-described fan of Hitler, volunteered for increasingly perilous missions for the Nazis, earning an Iron Cross Second Class for her efforts and becoming the only woman to be awarded the Luftwaffe's Pilot's Badge in Gold with Diamonds. She was one of the last people to see Hitler alive in his bunker, offering to fly him to safety, a gesture he, perhaps wisely, declined.

After the war, she spent 18 months in an American prison, though she was never charged with war crimes, presumably because flying a plane for Hitler wasn't quite the same as, say, ordering mass murder. She continued her aviation career, setting more records and even advising Ghana's air force, proving that some people simply never run out of gas, or questionable life choices.

Despite her remarkable achievements in aviation, her unwavering devotion to a genocidal regime puts a rather large asterisk next to her legacy. Some achievements, it turns out, just aren't kvell-worthy.