The Barron Hilton Cup (BHC) was a worldwide soaring contest, founded by the late ex-chairman, president and chief executive officer of

Hilton Hotels Corporation Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. is an American multinational hospitality company that manages and franchises a broad portfolio of hotels, resorts, and timeshare properties. Founded by Conrad Hilton in May 1919, the company is now led by Christ ...

Barron Hilton William Barron Hilton (October 23, 1927 – September 19, 2019) was an American business magnate, philanthropist and sportsman. The second son and successor of hotelier Conrad Hilton, he was the chairman, president and chief executive officer of ...

, and the late Prof. Dr.

Helmut Reichmann Helmut Reichmann (1941 – March 10, 1992) was a German glider pilot, thrice World Gliding Champion, and co-founder, along with millionaire Barron Hilton, of the Barron Hilton Cup. He was an arts teacher and a professor of industrial design in hi ...

. The

European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company Airbus SE ( ; ; ; ) is a Pan-European aerospace corporation. The company's primary business is the design and manufacturing of commercial aircraft but it also has separate defence and space and helicopter divisions. Airbus has long been the ...

(EADS) was a partner in the event. The competition ran for 30 years, from 1980 through 2009. The winners of each two-year competition period were invited to a weeklong soaring camp at Barron Hilton's

Flying-M Ranch The Flying-M Ranch (sometimes referred to as the Hilton Ranch) is a ranch and airfield located in Lyon County, Nevada. The land, which was previously owned by hotel magnate Barron Hilton, was the base for many world-famous gliding competitions, ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

USA.The Barron Hilton Cup , FAI Gliding Commission – IGC
From 1986, the BHC was recognized by the

International Gliding Commission The International Gliding Commission (IGC) is the international governing body for the sport of gliding. It is governed by meetings of delegates from national gliding associations. It is one of several Air Sport Commissions (ASC) of the Fédérat ...

as a

Fédération Aéronautique Internationale The World Air Sports Federation (; FAI) is the world governing body for air sports, and also stewards definitions regarding human spaceflight. It was founded on 14 October 1905, and is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. It maintains worl ...

first-category event. The purpose of the competition was to promote long-distance gliding and to strengthen gliding contacts between the participating nations. The competition area was divided into five geographic regions of the world. :1. All of Europe and all of Asia except Japan :2. Eastern USA and Canada :3. Western USA, Central and South America :4. Australia and Africa :5. Japan and New Zealand

References

Gliding competitions Aviation competitions and awards {{Aviation-stub