Hans-Werner Grosse is an ex Luftwaffe fighter pilot and glider pilot who has established 46 world records approved by FAI Gliding Commission. His free distance world record of from his home city of Lübeck (Germany) to Biarritz (France) was set on 25 April 1972 in a Schleicher ASW 12. After starting in Lübeck and eleven and a half hours in flight, he landed in Biarritz in southwestern France. He held this record for more than 30years. It was not broken until 9 January 2003 (by Klaus Ohlmann in Argentina).