Model Designation
The
CG-4A glider, (C-for cargo, G-for
glider) was the mainstay of the U.S.
Army Air Forces glider arsenal.
The
glider displayed at Fagen Fighters
WWII Museum is the completion of an
original WWII-era airframe found in
inventory at Villaume Industries in
Eagan, MN. Villaume, formerly
located in St, Paul, is still in
business today, and was a
sub-contractor for Northwestern
Aeronautical during WWII. Villaume
built over 1500 CG-4A's during WWII.
As for
this glider, volunteers spent a
period of 5 years carefully
researching and building the
airframe to original specifications,
successfully completing it in 2012.
It was acquired by Fagen Fighters
WWII Museum shortly after, and is
proudly displayed as a
representative of the only aircraft
type built in Minnesota during WWII.
History
The Waco CG-4A was designed by
the Waco Aircraft Company of Troy,
Ohio whose personnel followed
specifications given to them by
the U.S. Army Air Corps. Francis
Arcier, a Waco vice-president and
chief designer, is usually referred
to as the "father" of the CG-4A. A
total of 13,903 CG-4A gliders were
constructed during the period
1942-1945. The Ford Motor Company,
one of the 16 prime contractors
building gliders, turned out 4,190
units, far beyond the second best
producer with 1,509 units. Some of
the other contractors included such
names as Gibson, Northwestern
Aeronautical, Pratt-Reed, Laister-Kauffmann,
Cessna Aircraft, and many others.
The outside appearance of the
CG-4A gave an illusion of simple
construction. The final production
models actually contained just over
70,000 parts.
The entire nose section
(including the pilot's compartment)
of the CG-4A swung upward creating a
70 x 60 inch opening into its cargo
compartment. This made it possible
to quickly load and unload the
glider. Types of cargo were fighting
men, a jeep with radio equipment and
driver, radio and operator plus one
other soldier; two soldiers and a
jeep trailer loaded with combat
supplies; a 75mm pack howitzer with
25 rounds of ammunition and two
artillerymen; a small bulldozer and
its operator.
Unlike powered airplanes that
could either be flown directly
overseas or shipped to distant ports
fully assembled on the decks of
aircraft carriers, gliders had to be
shipped unassembled in wooden
crates. Just one CG-4A glider, for
example, required five enormous
wooden crates to be shipped
overseas. And again, unlike powered
aircraft, which were ready for
combat almost immediately upon
reaching their destinations, the
relatively delicate gliders required
several days to be gently unloaded
from cargo ships, uncrated, and
painstakingly reassembled before
they were ready for their test
flights. This time-consuming
shipping procedure was to be a
source of considerable grief for the
Allies throughout the war.
By February of 1944, a total of
2,100 crated Waco CG-4A gliders had
been shipped to England from
American factories. The only people
left to assemble them were untrained
British Civilians. The results were
disastrous and in October, the IX
Air Force Service took over and
managed to put together 910 Wacos by
the middle of April. With only five
weeks remaining until D-Day, the
glider shortage had barely been
conquered in time.
The CG-4A glider came into its
own on D-Day with the invasion of
Normandy. Operation Overlord, the
Allied invasion of German-occupied
France started on June 6, 1944.
Operation Overlord was launched from
the sea against one of the strongest
armies in the world, inside the most
elaborately equipped defensive
network ever created. Almost all the
gliders used in Normandy in June,
1944 were lost.