Dickmanns was born in 1936. He studied aerospace and aeronautics at RWTH Aachen (1956–1961), and control engineering at Princeton University (1964/65); from 1961 to 1975 he was associated with the German Aero-Space Research Establishment (now DLR) Oberpfaffenhofen, working in the fields of flight dynamics and trajectory optimization.
Dickmanns's background includes a degree in aerospace and aeronautics from RWTH Aachen, followed by control engineering studies at Princeton University. He worked for the German Aero-Space Research Establishment (now DLR) Oberpfaffenhofen, focusing on flight dynamics and trajectory optimization.