TRIBUTE TO THE AMERICAN COMBAT GLIDER PILOTS OF WORLD WAR II

Annual Reunion of the National WWII Glider Pilots Association - Click here for information

ANNUAL REUNION  Welcome Page   Site Entrance   Resolution - 110th Congress   Senate Resolution - National Airborne Day  Dedication   Dedication 2   Dedication 3  Roll of Honor  Children of The Netherlands Adopt GI Graves   Combat Glider Pilots Virtual Memorial   Virtual Memorial Page 2   Silent Wings Museum   Waco CG-4A   Waco CG-4A - 2   Waco Drawings by David Eckert  Later U.S. Glider Designs   Airspeed Horsa  Hamilcar  Tow Ships  Glider Pilot Training   A Glider Pilot's Log Book   Bowman Field Kentucky  South Plains Army Air Field, Lubbock, Texas  Wright Field, Ohio  "The Snatch"  Glider Infantry  Sicily - "Operation Husky"  Burma - "Operation Thursday"   Normandy - "Operation Neptune"   Southern France - "Operation Dragoon"  Holland - " Operation Market Garden"   Holland - Page 2    Holland - Page 3   Bastogne - "Operation Repulse"  Germany - Operation "Varsity"   Philippines - "Mission Appari"  Special Missions  Between Missions   Glider Operations in England    Glider Assembly at RAF Greenham Common   Photos from Jan Bos - Holland   September 7, 1942 "Life" Magazine "War Glider" Article   "Yank" Magazine "Liberation Edition" - June 11, 1944   "Yank" Magazine "Airborne Operations in France" - July 2, 1944   Glider Insignia  America's Latest Glider - The Space Shuttle  Space Shuttle COLUMBIA   A Glider Pilot's Day of WWII - Original Art Work by Dale Oliver   Glider Pilot Humor   GP Photos   Letters, Wit, and Wisdom   Unusual Glider Designs  Interesting Photos & Stories About WWII Gliders   Memorabilia   German Appraisal of Airborne Operations   Earlier Glider Designs   WWII Posters    Books on Gliders   Attributions   Links Page   Airborne Research Resources    Where to Find Books Currently in Print on WWII Glider, and Glider-Related Programs   Glider Pilot Contacts   Page of Emails and Addresses of People Who Would Like to Network on the Subject of WWII Glider Pilots    Military Reunions in Dayton, Ohio    

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THE WACO CG-4A COMBAT ASSAULT GLIDER PAGE 2

Click on the thumbnails to see a larger picture.

The Waco still holds the record for the most number of manufacturers of a U.S. aircraft.  

Click here for the Air Force Association Magazine archive specifications, list of manufacturers and wartime production numbers  of the Waco CG-4A

Disassembled Waco

The Waco was shipped to the European and Asian Theaters in pieces and was assembled by the Glider Pilots and their ground crews.  Once the shipping containers were emptied, they were often converted into living quarters for the Glider Pilots and their ground crews.  

 Aspect views of the Waco.  

Hinged Nose

The Waco was designed to be loaded and unloaded through the front.  The nose hinged up to allow cargo such as jeeps or supplies to be loaded.  If the landing was not too destructive, the nose could be lifted.  Frequently, the landings were so rough that the glider was too heavily damaged for the cargo to be unloaded this way and it had to be cut out of the aircraft.  

Loading the Waco

A jeep being unloaded after a successful landing showing how the nose hinged up.

Inside View of the Waco

View of the Waco interior from amidships inside the fuselage looking toward the cockpit.  Note the inverted

Photograph of Colonel Philip Corcoran, Colonel Bass, Major General Matthew Ridgway and Mrs. Ridgway at the dedication of the Waco CG-4A exhibit at the Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio.  (Those of you old enough to remember Milton Caniff's cartoon series "Terry and the Pirates," in the newspapers may remember his characters, "Flip Corkin," and "General Phileree."  Both of these characters were based on Colonel Philip Corcoran.)  Photo courtesy of George Brennan.

 

General Ridgway and Frank Kehr sitting in the cockpit of the CG-4A.  Photo courtesy of George Brennan.

Speech given by the representative of the National World War II Glider Pilots Association at the dedication of the Air Force Museum CG-4A exhibit.

Identification plate from a Waco that participated in Operation Market Garden

PG-1 - First U.S. Army Air Force powered glider during WWII   

Link to U.S. Air Force Museum Waco CG-4A exhibit pages.

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