Waco CG-4

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waco_CG-4

The Waco CG-4A was the most widely used American troop/cargo military glider of
World War II. It was designated the CG-4A by the United States Army Air Forces,
and named Hadrian (after the Roman emperor) in British military service.

Designed by the Waco Aircraft Company, flight testing began in May 1942, and
eventually more than 13,900 CG-4As were delivered.

The CG-4A was constructed of fabric-covered wood and metal and was crewed by a
pilot and copilot. It had two fixed mainwheels and a tailwheel.

The CG-4A could carry 13 troops and their equipment. Cargo loads could be a
?1/4-ton truck (i.e. a Jeep), a 75 mm howitzer, or a ?1/4-ton trailer, loaded
through the upward-hinged nose section. C-47s were usually used as tow aircraft.
A few C-46 tugs were used during and after Operation Plunder.

The USAAF CG-4A tow line was 11/16 inch (17 mm) nylon, 350 feet (107 m) long.
The CG-4A pickup line was ?15/16 inch (24 mm) diameter nylon, but only 225 ft
(69 m) long including the doubled loop.

In effort to identify areas where strategic materials could be reduced, a single
XCG-4B was built at the Timm Aircraft Corporation using wood for the main
structure.

The factories ran 24-hour shifts to build the gliders. One night-shift worker in
the Wicks Aircraft Company factory in Kansas City wrote,

“ On one side of the huge bricked-in room is a fan running, on the other a
cascade of water to keep the air from becoming too saturated with paint. The men
man the paint sprayers covering the huge wings of the glider with the Khaki or
Blue and finishing it off with that thrilling white star enclosed in a blue
circle that is winging its way around the world for victory ...

The wings are first covered with a canvas fabric stretched on like wallpaper
over plywood then every seam, hold, open place, closed place, and edge is taped
down with the all adhesive dope that not only makes the wings airtight, but
covers my hands, my slacks, my eyebrows, my hair, and my tools with a
fast-drying coat that peels off like nail polish or rubs off with a thinner that
burns like Hell.


Role
Military glider

Manufacturer
Waco Aircraft Company, Cessna, Ford, Gibson Appliance, Ward Furniture

Designer
Waco Aircraft Company

First flight
1942

Primary users
United States Army Air Forces
Royal Air Force
Royal Canadian Air Force
United States Navy

Number built
13,903

Variants
Waco CG-15

Sedalia Glider Base was originally activated on 6 August 1942. In November 1942
the installation became Sedalia Army Air Field, (after the war would be renamed
Whiteman Air Force Base) and was assigned to the 12th Troop Carrier Command of
the United States Army Air Forces. The field served as a training site for
glider pilots and paratroopers. Assigned aircraft included the CG-4A glider,
Curtiss C-46 Commando, and Douglas C-47 Skytrain. The C-46 was not used as a
glider tug in combat, however, until Operation Plunder (the crossing of the
Rhine) in March 1945.

CG-4As went into operation in July 1943 during the Allied invasion of Sicily.
They were flown 450 miles across the Mediterranean from North Africa for the
night-time assaults such as Operation Ladbroke. Inexperience and poor conditions
contributed to the heavy losses. They participated in the American airborne
landings in Normandy on 6 June 1944, and in other important airborne operations
in Europe and in the China Burma India Theater. Although not the intention of
the Army Air Forces, gliders were generally considered expendable by
high-ranking European theater officers and combat personnel and were abandoned
or destroyed after landing. While equipment and methods for extracting flyable
gliders were developed and delivered to Europe, half of that equipment was
rendered unavailable by certain higher-ranked officers. Despite this lack of
support for the recovery system, several gliders were recovered from Normandy
and even more from Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands and Wesel,
Germany.

The CG-4A found favor where its small size was a benefit. The larger British
Airspeed Horsa could carry more troopers (seating for 28 or a jeep or an
anti-tank gun), and the British General Aircraft Hamilcar could carry 7 tons
(enough for a light tank), but the CG-4A could land in smaller spaces. In
addition, by using a fairly simple grapple system, an in-flight C-47 equipped
with a tail hook and rope braking drum could "pick up" a CG-4A waiting on the
ground. The system was used in the 1945 high-elevation rescue of the survivors
of the Gremlin Special 1945 crash, in a mountain valley of New Guinea.

The last known use of the CG-4A was in the early 1950s by the USAF with an
Arctic detachment aiding scientific research. The CG-4As were used for getting
personnel down to, and up from, floating ice floes, with the glider being towed
out, released for landing, and then picked up later by the same type of
aircraft, using the hook and line method developed during World War II. The only
modification to the CG-4A was the fitting of wide skis in place of the landing
gear for landing on the Arctic ice floes.

Specifications (CG-4A)

General characteristics
Crew: two pilots
Capacity: 13 troops, or quarter-ton truck (Jeep) and 4 troopers, or 6 litters
Length: 48 ft 8 in (14.8 m)
Wingspan: 83 ft 8 in (25.5 m)
Height: 15 ft 4 in (4.7 m)
Wing area: 900 ft2 (83.6 m2)
Empty weight: 3,900 lb (1,769 kg)
Useful load:
"Troop Carrier (2 crew & 13 passengers): 4,197 pounds (1,904 kg)";"Cargo Carrier
- Jeep (2 crew, 4 passengers, 1 Jeep Car): 4,197 pounds (1,904 kg)""Cargo
Carrier - 75 mm howitzer (2 crew, 3 passengers, 1 Howitzer, 18 rounds
ammunition): 4,197 pounds (1,904 kg)
Loaded weight: 7,500 lb (3,402 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 7,500 lb (3,402 kg)
Max take off (Emergency Load): 9,000 lb (4,082 kg)

Performance
Never exceed speed: 150 mph IAS (241 km/h)
Maximum speed: 150 mph CAS (240 km/h CAS) at 7,500 pounds (3,400 kg) 128 mph
(206 km/h) CAS/135 mph (217 km/h) IAS at 9,000 pounds (4,100 kg)
Cruise speed: IAS 72.6 mph (117 km/h)
Stall speed: 49 mph (79 km/h) with design load 7,500 lb (3,400 kg)
Glide ratio: 12:1
Rate of sink: About 400 ft/min (2 m/s) at tactical glide speed (IAS 60 mph, 96
km/h)
Landing run: 600-800 feet (180-244 m) for normal three-point landing; "Landing
rolls of approximately 2,000 to 3,000 feet (610 to 910 m) are to be expected at
the higher emergency gross weights..."
Wing loading: 8.33 lb/ft2 (40.7 kg/m2)

Armament
none





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