Toni Bender: The sport has lost a legend

Tributes have continued to be paid to the legendary free flight pilot, Toni Bender, who died suddenly at the age of 68 while camping in the Karwendel mountains near Innsbruck last week.

“With Toni, we lose a true friend and the most loyal employee you can only wish for as a company. We say goodbye to a truly extraordinary person,” Nova posted online.

“Toni had been part of my journey since the very beginning,” recalled the photographer Adi Geisegger. “His film Lucky Icarus was so much more than just a film to me – it captured what we as paraglider pilots feel and brought that feeling to a wider audience – the freedom, the fascination of flying and everything that makes our sport so special.

He added: “Toni, to me you were already a king back then – and you always will be. Thank you for the inspiration, the memories, and for everything you gave to our sport.”

In a post on Paragliding Forum Hannes Papesh recalled that Toni was responsible for the modern EN standard. Around 2007 the DHV was all set to move to a new testing standard. “But there was one person they hadn’t reckoned with: Toni Bender!” recalled Hannes.

“When Toni stood up and laid out the manufacturers’ position, the whole situation turned around! He was the hero to all the pilots present. He was the all-time champion, the film star, and the very first professional test pilot. And ultimately, he was the most powerful and influential man in the room!”

The EN standard was ultimately revived. “Toni Bender was the father of paraglider tests as we know them today,” added Hannes.

Toni’s influence on other pilots was legendary. It’s quite possible the Red Bull X-Alps would never have happened without Toni’s ground-breaking north to south crossing of the Alps in 1999 – the subject of his documentary Lucky Icarus.

Watching the TV documentary of his flight was the late Austrian pilot, Red Bull Air Race champion, Base jumper and mountaineer Hannes Arch. It was after watching it that Hannes resolved to create a race with his friend Ulrich Grill. “I thought it would be cool to base a paragliding competition on this format and together with Red Bull, the idea was born!”

The first X-Alps launched a few years later, in 2003 this time with the goal of a lengthways crossing of the Alps from the mountains to the sea. But Toni was always the inspiration and is still credited today on the X-Alps website.

Toni was born in 1958 and grew up on Lake Starnberg, to the south of Munich. Initially his first love was windsurfing but that all changed after Mike Harker made his famous flight from the Zugspitze in 1973. Toni was in Garmisch-Partenkirchen at the time and although still only 15 he was fascinated. Toni chatted to Mike and cheekily was able to persuade him to show him how to fly.
As legend has it, the lesson lasted all of 20 minutes.

Thereafter there was no turning back. Further studies were abandoned, Toni flew hang glider comps, then transferred to paragliding in the late 80s, became an instructor and ultimately joined Nova, where he worked for 30 years as a test pilot.

“Toni flew pretty much everything and everywhere: hang gliders, rigid wings, paragliders, kites – the lot,” recalled Cross Country magazine’s editor, Ed Ewing. “One of our favourite Toni stories – and there are many – was when he told us that in the early days of hang gliding they would soak a long-sleeve T-shirt and wear that before launch. What for, we asked? “Because we had no varios – so we knew we were going up by the temperature change on our skin.”

Toni’s was a familiar sight in the scene as a brand ambassador for Nova. Known as Toni on Tour, he’d run testing weekends around Europe, helping new pilots with their queries as well as regaling others with his many stories.

On a tribute page set up by Nova, many describe him as a friend and mentor. “Above all, Toni was someone who never lost his passion for flying. There was always that young-at-heart sportsman in him,” Nova said.

A free spirit to the end, Toni died while camping after completing a via ferrata. It understood he suffered complications resulting from dehydration. He is survived by his sister, Susanne.

Watch: Happy Icarus – Paragliding Across the Alps with Toni Bender

Nova have opened a condolence page for pilots to share their memories of Toni