Laister Sailplanes: 1938 Yankee Doodle - LK-10 - LP-49 - LP-15 Nugget

Jack Laister was passionate about soaring throughout his 93 years,
and his contributions were enormous.
Here is a thumbnail of some of the gliders we associate with him today.

(From various sources on the web.)

1938 "Yankee Doodle"
Laister-Kauffmann LK-10A ( USAAC TG-4A)
In 1938 Laister completed a sleek gull-wing sailplane, which was
referred to as the Lawrence Tech Sailplane after its sponsor. Repainted
red, white and blue and renamed the 'Yankee Doodle' it competed in
a 1939 aerobatic competition at the Paris airshow. With the need for
military trainers on the outbreak of World War II, Laister designed the
two-place Yankee Doodle 2 from the original with straight wings and
automatic control hook-ups. Under the sponsorship of John Kauffmann, a
St. Louis businessman, simplified versions were produced in quantity as
TG-4A's for the USAAC in 1942-43.

1966 LP-49
The LP-46 13.56 m. / 44.5 ft. span prototype for the LP-49 made its
initial flight in 1966. The LP-49 is a Standard Class design that
features all-metal laminar flow wings and tail surfaces, a
semi-monocoque fiberglass fuselage, a shock-strutted retractable
landing gear with an internal wheel well door, a retractable and
swiveling tailwheel, an automatic aileron and dive-brake control hookup
and internal control-surface counterweights. The ship is approved for
spins, loops and wing-over, and has been static tested to 12 g. The
LP-49 was sold in both kit form and as a complete, ready-to-fly
sailplane. ATC.

1971 LP-15 Nugget
The Nugget has a flapped aluminum wing in which the skin is bonded
rather than riveted to the structure in an effort to match the
wave-free surfaces of fiberglass wing skins. The forward half of the
fuselage is fiberglass and the portion aft of the trailing edge is
metal. Water ballast is carried in the fuselage on the center of
gravity. The gear is retractable. The ship was available only as a
factory-built product. One Nuget belongs to the National Soaring
Museum. ATC

XCG-10 Trojan Horse
via Cal Locklin
Here is some info about the CG-10. I believe it is the same as what is
on the "permanent marker" at the St. Louis airport. (The marker can be
hard to find and it does move around so you will have to look for it.)

SPECS:
WING SPAN - 105 ft. | WING AREA - 1171 sq. ft.
LENGTH - 67 ft. | HEIGHT 27 ft.
EMPTY WT - 12,000 lbs. | MAX GROSS WT - 32,000 lbs.
CARGO VOLUME - 30 ft. long, 9 ft. wide, 80 in. high

PERFORMANCE:
MAX TOW SPEED - 180 MPH | MIN LANDING SPEED 65 MPH
MAX DESCENT RATE 1200 ft/min. | MIN LANDING ROLL 400 ft.

U.S. PRECEDENTS SET BY THE "TROJAN HORSE"
- First with the rear clamshell doors and low level cargo floor under a
high tail.
- First large aircraft to reposition the landing gear from under the
wings to the sides of the fuselage.
- First to use multiple disk hydraulic brakes.
- Thought to be first to use thick wing skin as the primary wing
bending structure.
- The strongest aircraft cargo floor prior to 1946.
- First to carry big military equipment like the 2-1/2 ton truck, etc.
- First to carry a "stick" of sixty paratroopers.
- Considered the largest proven successful near all wood aircraft built
in the U.S.