CG-4a WACO Combat Glider

The CG-4a (Combat Glider) was the standard transport for the US glider Troops during WWII. The concept of delivering men into battle by the use of a glider was developed by the Germans in the late 1930's. It's practice came about do to the fact that a group of men could be delivered to a landing zone as a whole, ready to fight with weapons in hand, not scattered like paratroopers were. The glider was also used to carry in the extra supplies and heavy equipment needed to take and hold strategic points.

The CG-4a was made up of simple materials, having a steel tube frame, ply-wood honeycombed shaped floor, covered by a heavy aircraft canvas. It offered no protection what so ever from ground fire, having no armor plating. It could carry up to, most of the time exceeding, 3,700 pounds with a 83' 8" wing span and a total length of 48' 4". It's basic load would contain 13 combat ready infantrymen or, a jeep or, 75mm howitzer or, 105mm howitzer or, just loaded full of supplies or ammunition. The CG-4a had a upward swinging cockpit to ease in the loading/ unloading of equipment. This was raised either manually or with the aid of a cable and pulleys.

Gliders were towed via a 300' silk rope behind a C-47 transport aircraft until it reached it's landing zone. Then the Glider Pilot would let go the tow rope and, (this was the easy part), "Drift" down for a landing! It was found that in a combat landing, it was easier to take off the wings on near by trees to slow the craft down! On D-Day 500 CG-4a's were flown to Normandy, a special unit was assigned to go in after the landings and recover the gliders for future operations but, was only able to recover 13 of them! Gliders crashed into one another on landing, broke apart during the flight over, sending men and equipment into the English channel, or were ripped apart on the hedgerows or by "Rommels Asparagus", poles placed in an up-right position as to tear apart a glider upon landing in the small pastures. Once a glider was released from it's tow craft, it had no other choice but to land. No second chances!

The Cg-4a was piloted by two men on normal runs but, with the shortage of qualified pilot's, an infantryman was seated next to the pilot and given a "crash course" on his way to the the landing zone on the proper technique of how to land the craft incase the trained pilot was injured or killed on the journey over.

The CG-4a took many man hours to complete weighing in at 3,600 pounds. The gliderwas ship ovearseas on transport ships in large wooden crates. This crates were used after the assembly of the glider for living quarters and to have wood for their heaters. Read a great artical about the restoration of a CG-4a at the Kalamazoo air Museum.

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