yankee-yankee

Immagini - Volo a vela - Alianti - Storia del volo

Germany's Me 321, the largest operational glider in history. It had a wingspan of 181 feet and could carry 200 troops or one Pz. Kw IV tank. The Smithsonian Institution

Japan's Kokusai Ku-8-II glider. During World War II Japan manufactured over 700 of these 18 passenger combat glider. Several of them were found abandoned at Nichols Field. Near Manila, after the surrender of Japanese forces in the Philippines. U.S. Air Force

England, 1940. Two British Airspeed Hotspur gliders are in free flight just after cutting loose from their tow-ship. The all-wood Hotspur was the first transport glider produced by the Allies during World War II. It carried two pilots, one behind the other, and seven troops. Doors allowed passengers to enter and exit on both sides. The pilots boarded by way of hinged plexiglass canopy. Hotspurs were used extensively for training by England's Glider Pilot Regiment, but none were ever used in combat. Imperial War Museum

England's Hamilcar glider disgorging a Tetrarch tank. The Hamilcar was the largest glider built by the Allies. It had a wingspan of 110 feet and could carry one tank or 40 troops. Hamilcars saw service in Normandy, Holland, and Germany. Imperial War Museum

England, 1942. This Albemarle is returning to base from a glider training mission in the midlands. Like all other British glider tugs during the war, the Albemarle was originally designed (in 1939) to be a bomber. Beginning in October of 1941, however, the Albemarles were converted into glider tugs and troop transports. Each was powered by two 1.590 hp Bristol XI 14-cylinder radial engines. Wingspan was 77 feet, 11 inches. Imperial War Museum

Laurinburg-Maxton Army Air Base. North Carolina, August 1944. General Henry H. Arnold (centre), the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Air Forces during Word War II, inspects the tow-line of a CG-4A glider. These 300-foot tow-lines were one of the primary reasons for the scarcity of women's nylon stockings during the World War II years-a single tow-line contained enough nylon to make 1.620 pairs of stockings. When cutting loose from his tug ship, the glider pilot would release the hook seen in the upper part of this photo. The line would then drag behind the tow-plane which, during training manoeuvres, would drop it in a designated area where it could be picked up and used again. In combat, the tow-plane pilots jettisoned the ropes. With General Arnold are Colonel Y.A. Pitts (left), and Colonel Reed Landis. U.S. Air Force

Torrey Pines, California, 1940. Soaring champion John Robinson and his Zanonia sailplane. During the war years, Robinson formulated the first instructional programmes for American military glider pilot students and taught glider flying at Elmira, New York, and Twenty-nine Palms, California, He is one of only two Americans ever to become a three-time winner of the National Soaring Competitions and was the first person in the world to complete the "Diamond C", still the greatest soaring achievement worldwide. John Robinson