Watching A Bridge Too Far (I need to read the book again). Got me thinking.

The C47 planes that towed the gliders. Did they have a second mission after dropping the gliders? Did they also carry paratroopers?

http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a240087.pdf

http://www.airbornetroopcarrier.com/c-47_42_100737_98thtcs.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_glider

You'll need a couple of cups of coffee to get thru the first link.

Didn't think there was anything I hadn't come across mention of in WWII aviation.

Mentioned on the Wiki link above however is the BV 40 fighter glider. Two 30mm cannon, max diving speed ~560mph, pilot lay on his belly in the armored nose.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blohm_%26_Voss_BV_40l

I would be interested to know just how fast a Bf109 could fly while towing this thing, and how long such a coupling could be expected to survive in a P-51 rich environment while towing the glider to a position above a box of Fortresses or Liberators.

The wheels fell off on takeoff and the pilot was expected to land on a skid. I dunno how easy it was to bail out either.

Prob'ly why only seven were built.

I don't think the C-47s dropped troops and towed a glider at the same time. The C-47 was rated for a 5000# payload (7000# emergency payload). 28 jumpers at 200# X 28 is a bit over 5000#. From what I've read the gliders were used for vehicles and small field guns that couldn't be dropped back then.

I wish my Dad was around. This is the type of questions I used to ask him. He was in the 82nd AB 325th Glider Infantry. Talk about some dangerous duty....they lost a bunch of men just training. He got injured in Italy and didn't make it to Normandy. If he had, I wouldn't be typing this, because his company was nearly wiped out. He only knew of himself and 2 others of his original platoon that only made it because they were injured before D Day. .

I know I would have rather jumped than crash landed in one of those tings.

Dad flew and led a squadron of them in the last good war.

Static line drops, troop transport, and air-med is what he ever said sparingly.

Since he mentioned it more then once, I'd guess his favorite use of the C-47 was buzzing the French farmers so low the crew thought the frog's pitchforks, tossed skyward at them, might actually reach the belly of the aircraft.

Seems like the stalling speed of a fully-loaded C-47 could be perilously close to the cruising or even maximum speed of a C-47 towing a glider, if such a combination could even get into the air. But I await informed opinion here.

If he was in North Africa, Sicily, or Italy, he could have towed one with my Dad in it.

Last night made it through about half the PDF that DD posted. Also read the second one that talked about a specific air-frame that participated in DDay and M/G.

Although it wasn't directly stated, one could gather that the C47 tow planes did not have troopers or secondary missions.

I was lucky enough to work around the WWII vets that started the ANG unit I was in. One was a C-47 flight mechanic. He told me someone came up with the idea of picking up the English Horsa gliders which was considerably larger and heavier than the Waco gliders. His crew was tasked to try it. The first attempt the front end of the Horsa glider came off. A Horsa glider was beefed up to take the stress. The day of the next attempt he had a dentist appointment and another flight mech. was put on the crew. The C-47 stalled and crashed killing all aboard.

Cool footage....
My great uncle was a glider pilot...flew many missions behind enemy lines...then had to fight and find his own way back....i wasn't smart enough to listen to the stories much or ask questions...wish I had...

My Dad was assigned to a Glider towing squadron, but was reassigned to the Pacific theater last minute. He said the Glider unit he was initially going to suffered 100% casualties.


DMc

I was in a unit that was a glider unit ...the pics on the wall at headquarters were cool as hell.....the ones they didn't put up ...were of hell I'm sure...

since a C 47 could carry as many paratroops as a Glider...

why would it just tow the glide and be empty?
minus of course if it just carried equipment, or both

however it is fact that it was not uncommon in a combat zone, particularly in Europe
that A/C such as Transports and Bombers were operated at gross overload quite often.
to the tune of once airborne, they could only be flown on auto pilot.

even tho Gooney Birds were used in great numbers on D Day, many more of the gliders
used were towed by Bombers.. not only obsolete ones, and those with OTUs, but also
regular bomber units, particularly by the British.. as for D Day they had suspended operations
over Germany itself almost entirely....and were used for daylight bombing over Northern France.
in support of the landings...

Just Food for thought...

And then there was the glider version of the C47.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_XCG-17

Bruce

The C-123 was designed to be a glider. The Army decided the glider days were over so engines were added. The fuel tanks were behind the engines and mounted with explosive mount bolts. The tanks were jettisoned for engine fires.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairchild_C-123_Provider

I believe the gliders were built in the Ford plant Iron Mountain, Michigan. They have a really neat museum with a complete glider and a lot of cool old memorabilia. There is a sign there that lists the average combat lifespan of different pilots. I can't find the photo at the moment, but the average combat lifespan of a glider pilot was listed at about a minute.