![Waco CG-4A USAF](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Waco_CG-4A_USAF.JPG)
Military gliders (an offshoot of common
gliders) have been used by the militaries of various countries for carrying troops (
glider infantry
Glider infantry (also referred to as airlanding infantry esp. in British usage) was a type of airborne infantry in which soldiers and their equipment were inserted into enemy-controlled territory via military glider. Initially developed in the l ...
) and heavy equipment to a combat zone, mainly during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. These engineless aircraft were towed into the air and most of the way to their target by military transport planes, e.g.,
C-47 Skytrain or Dakota, or bombers relegated to secondary activities, e.g.,
Short Stirling. Most military gliders do not soar, although there were attempts to build military sailplanes as well, such as the
DFS 228
The DFS 228 was a rocket-powered, high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft designed by the ''Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug'' (DFS - "German Research Institute for Sailplane Flight") during World War II. By the end of the war, the aircraf ...
.
Once released from the tow craft near the front, they were to land on any convenient
open terrain
Open terrain, open country or open ground is terrain which is mostly flat and free of obstructions such as trees and buildings. Examples include farmland, grassland and specially cleared areas such as an airport.
Such terrain is significant in ...
close to the target, hopefully with as little damage to the cargo and crew as possible as most landing zones (LZ) were far from ideal. The one-way nature of the missions meant that they were treated as semi-expendable leading to construction from common and inexpensive materials such as wood. Most nations seriously attempted to recover as many as possible, to re-use them, so they were not originally intended to be disposable, although resource-rich nations like the US sometimes used them as if they were, since it was easier than recovering them.
Troops landing by glider were referred to as ''air-landing'' as opposed to
paratroops. Landing by parachute caused the troops to be spread over a large drop-zone and separated from other airdropped equipment, such as vehicles and anti-tank guns. Gliders, on the other hand, could land troops and ancillaries in greater concentrations precisely at the target landing area. Furthermore, the glider, once released at some distance from the actual target, was effectively silent and difficult for the enemy to identify. Larger gliders were developed to land heavy equipment like
anti-tank guns, anti-aircraft guns, small vehicles, such as
jeeps, and also light tanks (e.g., the
Tetrarch tank
The Light Tank Mk VII (A17), also known as the Tetrarch, was a British light tank produced by Vickers-Armstrongs in the late 1930s and used during the Second World War. The Tetrarch was the latest in the line of light tanks built by the company ...
). This heavier equipment made otherwise lightly armed paratroop forces a much more capable force. The
Soviets
Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union.
Nationality policy in ...
also experimented with ways to deliver light tanks by air, including the
Antonov A-40
The Antonov A-40 ''Krylya Tanka'' (russian: крылья танка, meaning "tank wings") was a Soviet attempt to allow a tank to glide onto a battlefield after being towed aloft by an airplane, to support airborne forces or partisans.Winc ...
, a gliding tank with detachable wings.
By the time of the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
,
helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...
s had largely replaced gliders. Helicopters have the advantage of being able to extract soldiers, in addition to delivering them to the battlefield with more precision. Also, advances in powered transport aircraft had been made, to the extent that even light tanks could be dropped by parachute. And after the widespread use of
radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...
in the military, silence in the air is no longer sufficient for concealment.
Development
The development of modern gliders was spurred by the
Versailles Treaty
The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 19 ...
following
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, under the terms of which Germany was prohibited from constructing certain high powered airplanes.
["An American Darius Green in Europe," ''Literary Digest,'' August 26, 1922, pp. 46, 48.] As a result, German aircraft designers turned their attention toward the practical development of unpowered aircraft, with a pilot remaining in the air in a glider for more than 20 minutes and a national glider competition emerging by 1922.
The early sporting objectives of gliders were quickly overtaken in the Soviet Union and in Germany by military applications, mainly the training of pilots. By 1934, the Soviet Union had ten gliding schools and 57,000 glider pilots had gained licences.
In 1932, the Soviet Union demonstrated the TsK Komsula, a four-place glider, designed by GF Groschev that could also be used for cargo. Larger gliders were then developed culminating in an 18-seater at the military institute in
Leningrad
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
in 1935. Luftwaffe Colonel
Kurt Student
Kurt Arthur Benno Student (12 May 1890 – 1 July 1978) was a German general in the Luftwaffe during World War II. An early pioneer of airborne forces, Student was in overall command of developing a paratrooper force to be known as the '' Fallsch ...
visited Moscow as part of the military collaboration programme with the Soviet Union. He reported back to his superiors in Berlin details of a 1,500 man parachute drop and the large transport gliders that he had seen.
The Luftwaffe opened a parachute school as a result in 1937. Further field testing convinced Student that a vehicle was needed to deliver the heavy weapons for the lightly armed parachute troops. This idea was dismissed until October 1938 by which time Student had risen to major-general and was appointed Inspector of Airborne Forces.
Development of a troop-carrying glider was assigned to
Hans Jacobs
Hans Jacobs (30 April 1907 in Hamburg - 24 October 1994) was a German sailplane designer and pioneer. He had been taught sailplane design by Alexander Lippisch, designer of many gliders during the 1920s and the 1930s. As the head of the ''Deut ...
of the
Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug
The ''Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug'' (), or DFS , was formed in 1933 to centralise all gliding activity in Germany, under the directorship of Professor Walter Georgii. It was formed by the nationalisation of the Rhön-Rossitten G ...
to develop the
DFS 230
The DFS 230 was a German transport glider operated by the Luftwaffe in World War II. It was developed in 1933 by the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug (DFS - "German Research Institute for Sailplane Flight") with Hans Jacobs as the he ...
which could carry 9–10 fully equipped troops or 1,200 kg (2,800 pounds).
German military glider
![Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-567-1503C-32, Gran Sasso, gelandeter Lastensegler](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-567-1503C-32%2C_Gran_Sasso%2C_gelandeter_Lastensegler.jpg)
The Germans were the first to use gliders in warfare, most famously during the assault of the
Eben Emael fortress and the capture of the bridges over the Albert Canal at Veldwezelt, Vroenhoven and Kanne on May 10, 1940, in which 41
DFS 230
The DFS 230 was a German transport glider operated by the Luftwaffe in World War II. It was developed in 1933 by the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug (DFS - "German Research Institute for Sailplane Flight") with Hans Jacobs as the he ...
gliders carrying 10 soldiers each were launched behind
Junkers Ju 52s. Ten gliders landed on the grassed roof of the fortress. Only twenty minutes after landing the force had neutralized the fortress at a cost of six dead and twenty wounded.
Hitler was anxious to gain maximum publicity and so several foreign attachés were given guided tours of the fortress. Consequently, the British, American and Japanese became quickly aware of the methods that had been used.
By mid-1940, both Japan and Britain had active glider programs.
Development then began of even larger gliders such as the
Gotha Go 242
The Gotha Go 242 was a transport glider used by the ''Luftwaffe'' during World War II. It was an upgrade over the DFS 230 in both cargo/troop capacity and flight characteristics. It saw limited combat action. There were multiple variants.
Deve ...
(23 trooper) and
Messerschmitt Me 321
The Messerschmitt Me 321 ''Gigant'' was a large German cargo glider developed and used during World War II. Intended to support large scale invasions, the Me 321 saw very limited use due to the low availability of suitable tug aircraft, high v ...
(130 trooper) to transport heavy armaments in anticipation of
Operation Sea Lion
Operation Sea Lion, also written as Operation Sealion (german: Unternehmen Seelöwe), was Nazi Germany's code name for the plan for an invasion of the United Kingdom during the Battle of Britain in the Second World War. Following the Battle o ...
and
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...
.
Gliders were also used by Germany in Greece in 1941. On April 26, 1941, the troops from six DFS 230 gliders captured the bridge over the
Corinth Canal
The Corinth Canal ( el, Διώρυγα της Κορίνθου, translit=Dhioryga tis Korinthou) is an artificial canal in Greece, that connects the Gulf of Corinth in the Ionian Sea with the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean Sea. It cuts through the ...
accompanied by 40 plane-loads of German paratroopers. (Fortuitously, the British were able to demolish the bridge a few hours later.) Next, General Student then convinced Hitler that
Crete
Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...
could be captured using only airborne troops. Consequently, on May 20, 1941, 500 German transport aircraft carrying paratroopers and 74 DFS 230 gliders took off from the Greek mainland. During the capture of the island, 5,140 German airborne troops were either killed or wounded out of the 13,000 sent. Among the 350 German planes destroyed in the operation, half had been Ju 52s, which seriously depleted the force needed for the invasion of the Soviet Union shortly after. As a result, Hitler vowed never to use his airborne force in such large numbers again.
Some German glider operations continued later in the war, some examples being the
rescue operation
Rescue comprises responsive operations that usually involve the saving of life, or the urgent treatment of injuries after an accident or a dangerous situation.
Tools used might include search and rescue dogs, mounted search and rescue ho ...
of
Benito Mussolini at
Gran Sasso
Gran Sasso d'Italia (; ) is a massif in the Apennine Mountains of Italy. Its highest peak, Corno Grande (2,912 metres), is the highest mountain in the Apennines, and the second-highest mountain in Italy outside the Alps. The mountain lies wi ...
and emergency re-supply operations in Russia, North Africa and Eastern Europe towards the end of the war. The
Junkers Ju 322 ''Mammut'' ("Mammoth") was the largest such glider ever built, but it was never used operationally. Not all military gliders were planned for transport. The
Blohm & Voss BV 40
The Blohm & Voss BV 40 was a German glider fighter designed to attack Allied bomber formations during the time of the bombing raids over Nazi Germany.
Design
The BV 40 was the smallest glider that could accommodate an armoured cockpit and two ...
was a German glider
fighter designed to attack Allied bomber formations but was not used.
British military gliders
![Royal Air Force Operations in the Middle East and North Africa, 1939-1943](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Royal_Air_Force_Operations_in_the_Middle_East_and_North_Africa%2C_1939-1943._CM6931.jpg)
The British glider development started in mid-1940, prompted by the assault on
Eben Emael
Fort Eben-Emael (french: Fort d'Ében-Émael, ) is an inactive Belgian fortress located between Liège and Maastricht, on the Belgian-Dutch border, near the Albert Canal, outside the village of Ében-Émael. It was designed to defend Belgi ...
. Among the types developed were the 28 trooper
Airspeed Horsa and the 7-ton capacity
General Aircraft Hamilcar
The General Aircraft Limited GAL. 49 Hamilcar or Hamilcar Mark I was a large British military glider produced during the Second World War, which was designed to carry heavy cargo, such as the Tetrarch or M22 Locust light tank. When the Britis ...
cargo glider. The Hamilcar could carry vehicles, anti-tank guns and
light tanks into action. The
General Aircraft Hotspur
The General Aircraft GAL.48 Hotspur was a military glider designed and built by the British company General Aircraft Ltd during World War II. When the British airborne establishment was formed in 1940 by order of Prime Minister Winston Church ...
– originally planned as a compact assault glider carrying a small number of troops – was used for training the British Army pilots who formed the
Glider Pilot Regiment
The Glider Pilot Regiment was a British airborne forces unit of the Second World War, which was responsible for crewing the British Army's military gliders and saw action in the European theatre in support of Allied airborne operations. Establis ...
. The
Slingsby Hengist
The Slingsby Hengist was a British military glider designed and built by Slingsby Sailplanes Ltd. Like other British troop carrying gliders in the Second World War, it was named after military figures whose name began with H, in this case the ...
was a backup design which was not required when the similar capacity American-built Waco CG-4 (given the British service name "Hadrian") became available in large numbers through lend-lease. Four hundred of the 3,600 Horsas built were supplied to the USAAF.
The most famous British actions using gliders included the unsuccessful
Operation Freshman
Operation Freshman was the codename given to a British airborne operation conducted in November 1942 during World War II. It was the first British airborne operation conducted using Airspeed Horsa gliders, and its target was the Vemork ''No ...
, against a German heavy water plant in Norway in 1942; and the
capture of the Caen canal and Orne river bridges
The capture of the Caen canal and Orne river bridges (wrongly known as Operation Deadstick (which in fact was a specialized glider exercise), and in official documents as Operation Coup de Main) was an operation by airborne forces of the Briti ...
in a
coup-de-main
A ''coup de main'' (; plural: ''coups de main'', French for blow with the hand) is a swift attack that relies on speed and surprise to accomplish its objectives in a single blow.
Definition
The United States Department of Defense defines it as ...
operation at the very start of the
invasion of Normandy. Other glider actions included
Operation Dragoon (the invasion of southern France),
Operation Market Garden (the landing at
Arnhem Bridge
John Frost Bridge (''John Frostbrug'' in Dutch) is the road bridge over the Lower Rhine at Arnhem, in the Netherlands.
The bridge is named after Major-General John Dutton Frost (1912–1993), who commanded the British forces that reached and d ...
to try and seize a bridgehead over the lower Rhine) and
Operation Varsity
Operation Varsity (24 March 1945) was a successful airborne forces operation launched by Allied troops that took place toward the end of World War II. Involving more than 16,000 paratroopers and several thousand aircraft, it was the largest ai ...
(crossing of the Rhine). Out of the 2,596 gliders dispatched for Operation Market Garden, 2,239 were effective in delivering men and equipment to their designated landing zones.
Although gliders are still used in the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
in the
Royal Air Force Gliding & Soaring Association
The Royal Air Force Gliding & Soaring Association is a British organisation which provides recreational flying in gliders to RAF personnel.
Purpose
The Royal Air Force Gliding & Soaring Association (RAFGSA) is a voluntary organisation which ex ...
and for cadet training by the
Air Training Corps
The Air Training Corps (ATC) is a British volunteer-military youth organisation. They are sponsored by the Ministry of Defence and the Royal Air Force. The majority of staff are volunteers, and some are paid for full-time work – including C ...
, they are not used in combat operations. No troop-carrying gliders have been in British service since 1957.
American military gliders
United States Army, Army Air Forces, and Air Force
Major General
Henry "Hap" Arnold
Henry Harley Arnold (June 25, 1886 – January 15, 1950) was an American general officer holding the ranks of General of the Army and later, General of the Air Force. Arnold was an aviation pioneer, Chief of the Air Corps (1938–1941), ...
, Acting Deputy Chief of Staff for Air (becoming Commanding General of the
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
on March 9, 1942), initiated a study with view to develop a glider capable of being towed by aircraft. This directive was set into motion through Classified Technical Instructions (CTI-198 on 24 February 1941, and CTI-203 on 4 March 1941), which authorized the procurement of 2-, 8-, and 15-place gliders and equipment. Eleven companies were invited to participate in the experimental glider program, but only four responded with any interest,
Frankfort Sailplane Company (XCG-1, XCG-2),
Waco Aircraft Company
The Waco Aircraft Company (WACO) was an aircraft manufacturer located in Troy, Ohio, United States. Between 1920 and 1947, the company produced a wide range of civilian biplanes.
The company initially started under the name Weaver Aircraft C ...
(XCG-3, XCG-4),
St. Louis Aircraft Corp. (XCG-5, XCG-6), and
Bowlus Sailplanes
Bowlus is an American luxury travel trailer with a front door, aerodynamic shape and polished aluminum body.
Hawley Bowlus designed and built the travel trailer using his knowledge of aircraft construction. Aspects of the design were used on the f ...
(XCG-7, XCG-8). Only Waco Aircraft Company was able to deliver the experimental glider prototypes that satisfied the requirements of Materiel Command, the eight-seat
Waco CG-3
The Waco CG-3A was a US light troop military glider of World War II.
Design and development
The CG-3A was the United States Army Air Force
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service c ...
(modified to become a production nine-seat glider) and the fifteen-seat
Waco CG-4
Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...
. In October 1941,
Lewin B. Barringer
Lewin is a Germanic name, usually originating from either of two different sources, the Old English Leofwine or a variant of the Jewish Levin. People with the name include:
* Albert Lewin (1894–1968), American film director, producer, and sc ...
was made Glider Specialist, Air Staff, HQ of the Army Air Forces, answering to General Arnold, and placed in charge of the glider program. The shock of the
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, ju ...
on 7 December 1941 prompted the United States to set the number of glider pilots needed at 1,000 to fly 500 eight-seat gliders and 500 fifteen-seat gliders. The number of pilots required was increased to 6,000 by June 1942.
After Barringer was lost at sea on a flight to Africa in January 1943, the program came under direction of
Richard C. du Pont. Bigger gliders, such as the 30-troop
Waco CG-13A and the 42-troop
Laister-Kauffman CG-10A were designed later.
The most widely used type was the Waco CG-4A, which was first used in the
invasion of Sicily
The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers ( Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It bega ...
in July 1943 and participated in the
D-Day assault on France on 6 June 1944, and in other important airborne operations in Europe, including
Operation Market Garden in September 1944 and
the crossing the Rhine in March 1945, and in the
China-Burma-India Theater
China Burma India Theater (CBI) was the United States military designation during World War II for the China and Southeast Asian or India–Burma (IBT) theaters. Operational command of Allied forces (including U.S. forces) in the CBI was offi ...
. The CG-4A was constructed of a metal and wood frame covered with fabric, manned by a crew of two and with an allowable normal cargo load of 3,710 lb,
allowing it to carry 13 combat-equipped troops or a jeep or small artillery piece. The CG-10 could hold 10,850 lb of cargo, such as two
howitzers, at a time.
The final glider mission of the war was at
Luzon
Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...
on 23 June 1945. By the end of the war, the United States had built 14,612 gliders of all types and had trained over 6,000 glider pilots. The designs of the Waco Aircraft Company were also produced by a wide variety of manufacturers including
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...
and
Cessna Aircraft Company
Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufacturing c ...
as well as furniture, piano and coffin manufacturers.
Following World War II, the United States maintained only one regiment of gliders. Gliders were used in military exercises in 1949, but glider operations were deleted from the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
′s capabilities on 1 January 1953.
However, the
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...
continues to use
sailplane
A glider or sailplane is a type of glider aircraft used in the leisure activity and sport of gliding (also called soaring). This unpowered aircraft can use naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to gain altitude. Sailpla ...
s at the
United States Air Force Academy
The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and U ...
to train cadets in the fundamentals of flight.
[.]
United States Navy and Marine Corps
In April 1941,
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
officer
Marc Mitscher proposed that the Navy develop amphibious gliders with
flying-boat
A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...
hulls with a goal of deploying an amphibious glider force capable of delivering an entire
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division.
B ...
of 715 men to a hostile beachhead, the gliders to be towed by
Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina
The Consolidated PBY Catalina is a flying boat and amphibious aircraft that was produced in the 1930s and 1940s. In Canadian service it was known as the Canso. It was one of the most widely used seaplanes of World War II. Catalinas served w ...
amphibian aircraft. The Navy's
Bureau of Aeronautics
The Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer) was the U.S. Navy's material-support organization for naval aviation from 1921 to 1959. The bureau had "cognizance" (''i.e.'', responsibility) for the design, procurement, and support of naval aircraft and relate ...
developed specifications for two types of amphibious glider, a single-hulled type which could carry 12 passengers and a twin-hulled type that could carry 24 passengers. Two companies, the
Allied Aviation Corporation and the
Bristol Aeronautical Corporation, received contracts to produce 100 gliders, and plans called for the procurement of 12,000 more amphibious gliders if the concept proved successful.
[Guttman, Robert, "Flying-Boat Gliders," ''Aviation History'', September 2016, p. 13.]
No twin-hulled glider was built, but each company constructed the prototype of a single-hulled amphibious glider, the
XLRA-1 by Allied Aviation and the
XLRQ-1 by Bristol Aeronautical. The two prototypes made their first flights in early 1943, but by the time they did the Navy and Marine Corps already had concluded that the use of gliders to deliver Marines to beachheads was impractical. No further examples of the two glider types were built, and the Navy officially terminated the amphibious glider program on 27 September 1943. Testing of the two prototypes continued until early December 1943, apparently in connection with the development of a glider bomb.
[
The Marine Corps established a glider training unit in early 1942 at ]Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island
Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island (often abbreviated as MCRD PI) is an military installation located within Port Royal, South Carolina, approximately south of Beaufort, the community that is typically associated with the installation. ...
, South Carolina
)'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
, using non-amphibious Pratt-Read LNE-1
The Pratt-Read TG-32 was a 1940s American military training glider, designed and built by the Gould Aeronautical Division of the piano manufacturer Pratt, Read & Company of Deep River, Connecticut, for the United States Navy. The Pratt-Read gli ...
and Schweizer LNS-1 gliders. In addition, the Navy took delivery during World War II of 15 U.S. Army Air Forces Waco CG-4A
Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...
non-amphibious gliders for evaluation under the Navy designation LRW-1. Neither of these initiatives resulted in operational use of gliders by the U.S. Navy or Marine Corps.[
]
Soviet military gliders
The Soviet Union built the world's first military gliders starting in 1932, including the 16-seat Grokhovski G63, though no glider was built in quantity until World War II. During the war, there were only two light gliders built in series: Antonov A-7
The Antonov A-7 was a Soviet light troop military glider of World War II.
Development
Shortly after the German attack in 1941, Soviet headquarters realized a need for transport gliders and ordered the development of several designs. Oleg Anto ...
and Gribovski G-11 – about 1,000 altogether. A medium glider, the KC-20, was built in a small series. They were used mostly for providing partisans in Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...
with supplies and armament in 1942–1943. On 21 September 1943, 35 gliders were used in the Dnepr crossing. Later, other types of gliders were built: the Cybin C-25 (25 trooper) in 1944, the Yakovlev Yak-14
The Yakovlev Yak-14 (russian: Яковлев Як-14; NATO reporting name: "Mare") was the largest assault glider ever to enter service with the Soviet Air Force. It was introduced in 1949, at a time when other air forces were abandoning the gli ...
(35 trooper) in 1948, and the Ilyushin Il-32
The Ilyushin Il-32 was a Soviet heavy military glider developed after World War II to deliver of cargo. To facilitate loading and unloading, the glider's nose and tail sections were hinged to swing sideways. The Il-32 required a four-engined airc ...
(60 trooper) also in 1948. In 1950, a Yak-14 became the first glider to fly over the North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...
.[Gunston, Bill. ''Yakovlev Aircraft since 1924''. London, UK: Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1997. .]
The Soviet Union maintained three glider infantry regiments until 1965. However, Soviet Air Force transport gliders were gradually withdrawn from service with the arrival of turboprop transports like the Antonov An-12 and Antonov An-24
The Antonov An-24 (Russian/Ukrainian: Антонов Ан-24) ( NATO reporting name: Coke) is a 44-seat twin turboprop transport/passenger aircraft designed in 1957 in the Soviet Union by the Antonov Design Bureau and manufactured by Kyiv, Ir ...
, which entered service in the late 1950s.
See also
* Army Flying Museum
* Glider Pilot Regiment
The Glider Pilot Regiment was a British airborne forces unit of the Second World War, which was responsible for crewing the British Army's military gliders and saw action in the European theatre in support of Allied airborne operations. Establis ...
* Glider snatch pick-up
* HAHO – High Altitude – High Opening, a form of inserting troops by parachuting
* List of World War II military gliders
This is a complete list of Second World War military gliders. Only vehicles that reached at least the prototype stage are included in this list.
Argentina
* I.Ae. 25 Mañque, 13 soldliers and 2 crew. 1 built
Australia
* DHA-G1 and G2, experime ...
* Oleg Antonov, a prominent Soviet aircraft designer who started his career with military gliders projects
* Silent Wings Museum
Silent Wings Museum, "The Legacy of The World War II Glider Pilots," is a museum in Lubbock, Texas. The museum is housed in the former tower and terminal building of Lubbock's airport during the 1950s, and 1960s.
History
The museum is located on t ...
* Barbara Cartland
Dame Mary Barbara Hamilton Cartland, (9 July 1901 – 21 May 2000) published as Barbara Cartland was an English writer, known as the Queen of Romance, who published both contemporary and historical romance novels, the latter set primarily duri ...
Notes
External links
Glider Pilot Regiment
entry at Regiments.org, with history and more Web links
The Assault Glider Trust
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Glider aircraft
Military aircraft
Glider
Glider may refer to:
Aircraft and transport Aircraft
* Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight
** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of glidin ...