Waco CG-4A
Waco CG-4A | |
---|---|
Type: | Glider |
Design country: | |
Manufacturer: | |
First flight: |
1942 |
Commissioning: |
1942 |
Production time: |
1942 to 1945 |
Number of pieces: |
approx. 13,900 |
The Waco CG-4 Haig (referred to as Hadrian by the British Air Force ) was a cargo glider of the United States Army Air Forces in World War II that was frequently used from 1942 onwards .
The first flight tests began in 1942. A total of 15 manufacturers including the Wicks Aircraft Company of Kansas City (Missouri) produced more than 12,000 CG-4A. 1074 CG-4A were from the Waco Aircraft Company in Troy (Ohio) produced.
The CG-4A were made of plywood and metal. Each sailor was flown by a pilot and a co-pilot. 13 soldiers with equipment or a jeep or a quarter-ton truck or a 75-mm howitzer could be transported. The gliders were loaded through their opened bow section. After landing, the aircraft were immediately unloaded and then abandoned. Usually Curtiss C-46 or Douglas C-47 Dakota were used as a tow plane .
Mission history
On August 6th, Whiteman Air Force Base was established as Sedalia Glider Base . Training flights with CG-4A were carried out on their airfield. In November 1942, the facility was renamed Sedalia Army Air Field and placed under the 12th Troop Carrier Command of the United States Army Air Forces.
In July 1943 the Waco CG-4A was used for the first time during Operation Husky in Sicily . On June 6, 1944 ( D-Day ), cargo gliders of the type CG-4A were also used in large numbers. Other important missions followed in Europe, China , India and Burma . The gliders were used until the end of the war.
The CG-4 were not as well known as the larger Airspeed Horsa , but they could land in smaller places and were used, for example, in Yugoslavia for partisan support.
production
Acceptance of the Waco CG-4 by the USAAF:
version | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | TOTAL |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
CG-4 | 804 | 5,833 | 4,280 | 2,988 | 13,905 |
Technical specifications
Parameter | CG-4A data |
---|---|
length | 14.8 m |
span | 25.5 m |
Wing area | 83.6 m² |
height | 4.7 m |
Top speed | 192 km / h |
crew | 2 (pilot, copilot) |
Passengers | 13 soldiers with equipment |
Empty mass | 1769 kg |
Flight mass | 3400 kg |
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Statistical Digest of the USAF 1946, p. 110