bateskm@clutx.clarkson.edu (Gargoyle,207VanNote,2652180,2683942) (07/05/90)
From: "Gargoyle,207VanNote,2652180,2683942" <bateskm@clutx.clarkson.edu> >From article <1990Jul3.031911.6890@cbnews.att.com>, by hpb@hpb.cis.pitt.edu (Harry Bloomberg): > > > From: hpb@hpb.cis.pitt.edu (Harry Bloomberg) > > 1) What are the trade-offs one must concider when deciding how to > deliver paratroopers to the target area? When do you want > to use gliders and when do you want your paratroopers to jump directly > out of aircraft? US Army airborne glider units are no longer active so the point is moot. > 2) Does the US still use gliders? If we no longer use them, when did > we abondon them? In my years in the defense industry, and as an avid > reader of Aviation Week, I can't remember hearing about paratrooper > gliders, so I suspect they're no longer in service. Glider airborne was experimented with in WW2 and a unit was formed, although I can't remember the unit designation (something like 157th Airborne Glider Infantry...). They were deactivated shortly after the war and now we use T-10c and MC1-B high performance parachutes for combat jumps. HALO and LALO 'chutes are another story, however. > 3) Are gliders currently used by anyone else? Couldn't say, but I don't believe so...see #4. > 4) How many men could be carried by a glider, how large were they, > what was the range, how well did they work, etc? The gliders we used were one-seat birds towed behind larger powered aircraft. >From photos I've seen I'd estimate they were the size of a cessena with a larger wingspan. The main reasons we abandoned them were that they were not recoverable (most crash-landed and in enemy territory, who's going to go pick them up?) and parachute deliveries were cheaper and faster. For LOTS more information on this, try the Infantry Museum at Ft. Benning, GA (where Airborne school is located). If anyone has any hard data? please post it. Hope this adds a little... Airborne (actually I'm still connected to the 507th Para. Inf. Reg.), Air Assault Gargoyle
woody@rex.cs.tulane.edu (Wayne Wood) (07/06/90)
From: Wayne Wood <ames!eos.arc.nasa.gov!woody@rex.cs.tulane.edu> In article <1990Jul5.020512.14255@cbnews.att.com> you write: >From: "Gargoyle,207VanNote,2652180,2683942" <bateskm@clutx.clarkson.edu> >>From article <1990Jul3.031911.6890@cbnews.att.com>, by hpb@hpb.cis.pitt.edu (Harry Bloomberg): >> From: hpb@hpb.cis.pitt.edu (Harry Bloomberg) >> 1) What are the trade-offs one must concider when deciding how to >> deliver paratroopers to the target area? When do you want >> to use gliders and when do you want your paratroopers to jump directly >> out of aircraft? >Glider airborne was experimented with in WW2 and a unit was formed, although >I can't remember the unit designation (something like 157th Airborne Glider >Infantry...). They were deactivated shortly after the war and now we use >T-10c and MC1-B high performance parachutes for combat jumps. HALO and >LALO 'chutes are another story, however. > 325th Infantry, 82nd Airborne, was originally a glider infantry unit >> 4) How many men could be carried by a glider, how large were they, >> what was the range, how well did they work, etc? >The gliders we used were one-seat birds towed behind larger powered aircraft. >>From photos I've seen I'd estimate they were the size of a cessena with a >larger wingspan. The main reasons we abandoned them were that they were not >recoverable (most crash-landed and in enemy territory, who's going to go pick >them up?) and parachute deliveries were cheaper and faster. For LOTS more >information on this, try the Infantry Museum at Ft. Benning, GA (where >Airborne school is located). The gliders used were rather large, I believe they carried 30 - 40 (?) men... some used were even large enough to carry jeeps... (?! i've only seen pix) the gliders were pulled aloft by dakotas (C-47 ?) which were also carrying conventional paratroopers. this effectively gave the allies two deliveries of trrops for the price of one aircraft. the gliders were not meant to be recovered... they were disposable, kind of like the guys they carried. this was an especially cost effective method of troop delivery during the D-day invasion when we had to get a lot of bodies into action in a short period of time and didn't have a lot of transport aircraft. i believe the brits used wellingtons to transport their gliders... for more info... the 82nd Airborne Museum at Ft. Bragg N.C. also, books on Market-Garden and Overlord should contain more info as gliders were used (i believe) in both operations. /*** woody **************************************************************** *** ...tongue tied and twisted, just an earth bound misfit, I... *** *** -- David Gilmour, Pink Floyd *** ****** woody@eos.arc.nasa.gov *** my opinions, like my mind, are my own ******/