Gliders for the Army Air Forces, 1941-1944; An Aspect of the Mobilization of Industry

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GUDEHB FOR THE IX AIR FORCES, 1 9 4 1 .1 9 4 4 “ AH ASPECT OP THE MOBILIZATION OF IHDUSTK2

Paul M. Pavla

State U diversity of k)WS

Li v • rtf

A d is s e r ta tio n subm itted In p a r t i a l f u lfillm e n t o f th e requirem ents f o r t ho degree of D octor of Philosophy i n th e Department o f H isto ry in th e Graduate College o f th e S ta te U n iv e rsity of Iowa February, 1950

ProQuest Number: 10902152

All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is d e p e n d e n t upon the quality of the copy subm itted. In the unlikely e v e n t that the a u thor did not send a c o m p le te m anuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if m aterial had to be rem oved, a n o te will ind ica te the deletion.

uest ProQuest 10902152 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). C opyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C o d e M icroform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 4 8 1 0 6 - 1346

\y 3 ^ o 'O Z b\ c O^.'Sv JWKHWMfflCMBHIS I t i s n o t p o s s ib le i n th e sh o rt space o f a form al acknowledgment to make o o a^ lete re fe re n c e to th e many p ersons vho have given th e au th o r m a te ria l a s s is ta n c e in th e lo c a tio n and use o f source m aterial*

L et i t be s u f f ic ie n t h ere to

make re c o rd o f th e encouragement and c o n s tru c tiv e c r itic is m which have been o f prim ary im portance i n th e p re p a ra tio n o f t h i s study* As A ir H is to ria n , Dr. Clanton W, W illiam s devised procedures to a s s i s t th e au th o r and o th e r stu d e n ts in th e u t i l i s a t i o n o f th e Away Air Forces m ilita ry reco rd s f o r academic purposes.

The l a t e p ro fe ss o r Louis P e lz e r f i r s t

gave th e re s e a rc h p r o je c t o f f i c i a l san ctio n and drew upon h is Vast experience to advise th e w r ite r in th e planning sta g e s .

And f i n a l l y , and o f th e g r e a te s t im portance, P ro fesso r

W. Ross L iv in g sto n d ire c te d the f i n a l execution of th e p r o je c t, v ig o ro u sly b lu e -p e n c ille d flaw s in the m anuscript, and gener­ ously shared h is f i r s t hand knowledge o f re c e n t m ilita ry h is to r y , f Qj

(9

VQwrnom As in a l l th e wars o f h is to r y , th e second World War, 1939-1945, produced in n o v a tio n s in th e a r t o f d e s tro y in g an enemy*® a b i l i t y and w ill to f ig h t.

One o f th e se , com pletely

a prod u ct o f t h i s l a s t and g r e a te s t war, was th e use o f g lid e r s in m ilita r y o p e ra tio n s ,

throughout th e war, and e s p e c ia lly in

th e l a t e r p e rio d o f th e A llie d o ffe n s iv e , m illio n s of Americans were t h r i l l e d by s to r ie s o f th e g lid e r o p e ra tio n s which helped m&Sce Burma, Normandy, and Arnhem household words.

But seldom

recognized behind th e sp e c ta c le o f those in v a sio n s la y the undram atlc b u t s ig n if ic a n t sto ry o f the b u ild in g o f th e g lid e r fo rc e . S his study i s an e f f o r t to p re s e n t the substance o f th e g lid e r program, which may b© d efin ed as a l l Army Air Forces and in d u s t r ia l a c tiv i ty d ire c te d toward the experim ental develop­ ment and q u a n tity p ro d u ctio n of g lid e r s f o r tr a in in g and oorabat u se .

i t emphasizes m ajor problems encountered in th a t program

and th e tech n iq u es employed in attem pted s o lu tio n s .

I t illu s ­

t r a t e s th e methods of Army A ir Forces m a te rie l development and procurem ent, th e d i f f i c u l t y o f producing war m a te rie l in an economy geared f o r peace, and the problems of d esig n in g and producing new and u n trie d m ilita ry weapons. The ch ro n o lo g ical lim ita tio n s adhered to in t h i s study a re s ig n if ic a n t; 1941 saw the i n i t i a t i o n of the f i r s t m ilita ry g lid e r program in th e U nited S ta te s , and by 1944 the major

Hi

obstacle® to p ro d u ctio n had boon overcome o r circum vented and th e program had p ro g ressed to a p o in t where an ample supply of g lid e r s f o r planned o p e ra tio n s was assured*

th e o u tstan d in g

problem s o f g lid e r development and p ro d u ctio n appeared d u rin g th e p e rio d co n sid ered in t h i s study, and by October 1944 th e e n t i r e program had reached a reasonable degree o f s t a b i l i t y and effic ie n c y *

A fter th e autumn o f 1944, the a c t i v i t i e s o f p ro ­

curement ag en cies r e la tin g to g lid e r p ro d u ctio n were p rim a rily r e p e titio n s o f e s ta b lis h e d ro u tin e s a d ju ste d to meet changing m ilita r y requirement®,

fh© g lid e r program a f t e r October 1944

became p rim a rily f i n a l ro u tin e a c t i v i t i e s ta p e rin g o f f in to c o n tra c t term ination® a f t e r VE Bay and VJ Bay; as such I t i s c lo s e ly a l l i e d to th e la r g e r , unique program o f c o n tra c t a d m in istra tio n and te rm in a tio n s s h o rtly b efo re and follow ing th e end o f th e war.

I t ha® been found d e s ira b le , th e re fo re ,

to l i m i t t h i s study to th e p erio d in which g lid e r development and p ro d u ctio n grew from an id e a to an e s ta b lis h e d , e f f e c tiv e a i r c r a f t program, 1941-1944* Baring t h i s p e rio d , c o n tra c ts f o r fo rty -fo u r , e x p e ri­ m ental and p ro d u ctio n model g lid e r s were awarded.

Because o f

th e siz e o f th a t procurement i t i s not considered f e a s ib le to r e la te in d e t a i l the a d m in istra tio n o f each c o n tra c t, p re s e n ta tio n o f th e g lid e r program In t h i s study i s based upon a b r i e f o u tlin e o f each c o n tra c t w ith d e ta ile d

fhe

tre a tm e n t In clu d ed a t th o se p o in ts where a p a r t i c u l a r c o n tra c t I l l u s t r a t e s a g en eral problem o f development or p ro d u ctio n , i n e v a lu a tio n o f th e g lid e r program b rin g s to g e th e r th e out­ stan d in g a s p e c ts o f the In d iv id u a l development and p ro d u ctio n c o n tra c ts and adds s u f f i c ie n t new d a ta to a ffo rd a b a s is f o r conclu sio n s-

.v

TABLE OF COHTEHTS LIST OF ILLUSTRASIOR8.............................................................

ix

. LIST OF SABLES.............................................................................

xl

OLOSSAHI OF TEJFMS............................ ...................................

x ii

&LOS3AR3C Of ABBREVIATIOH8.....................

x iv

X. IHOEI'TIOH OF THE GLIDER PROGRAM,

............

I I . EXt’KRIMEHTAL DEVELOPMENT OF TRAIHIBG GLIDERS.

........... wmwrnmu* devslopm kht flnniwiorty

h i,

o f ta c t ic a l g l i p s h s . , . . .

S ig h t-P la e e and F ifte e n -P la c e Mo&ele. ... FriUUsfort H o tels XCG-1, XGO-2.. Waoo Models XCG-3, XOO-2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . f S t. Louis Models XCG-5, X 0G r6.f Bovlus Models XCG-7, X C G - Q . f Timm Model X C 0 - 4 B . . , . , t . , Waco Models XCG-15, XCC-15A. Oils so Model XOG— 14* . . . . t * . T h irty -P la c e and Forty-T uo-Plaee M o d e ls ,,.,.. Snead Model XCG-X1... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . t L aister-K a u f frnaxrn Models xm »lQ , XCG-IOA,. * G & A Model X C G - 9 * . ......... *............ Waco Model X C G -1 3 ........ Head—Xdrlc Model XOG— 12. G eneral ALrfcorae f F ^ f ^ o r t Model X0KL6. . . * M a te rie l dosBsaad.Model,XCG—17 *.* A ssault G l i d e r s ... . . « • « . • • • . . . . • . . . . . . . tt F evered Gl i de r s . . tt fo v p la a e s *

Summary. •

.............. ..

.............. ..........................

vi

1 23 31 37 38

wQ 39 42 43 47 48 49 30 50

31

54 54

56 58 68 69 73 75 75

fmmmxon of tmxMW®

. . . ......... — ... m

Produotloii C o n tra c ts . ...............................................07 G lid e rs Purchased from P riv a te Owners.. . . . . . 90 Summary. . . . . . . . 90

vmwono® of tactical ou&xai

100

C o n tra cts and C o n tra c to rs ,................ 114 Waeo Model GG*4A* . . . . . . . .............. 110 General Model CG-4A, 117 It&tlonal Model CG-4A. .................. 120 Robert son Model 00-4A. ...................... 120 L ai s t er-JCauf fmann Model 08*4A.. . . . . . . . . . . . 120 130 Ward Model 0G-4A. .......... R id g e fie ld Model C0-4A.......................................... 132 F ra tt-R e a d Model CG-4A.............. 133 fimm Model CG-4A. ............................ 130 G A A Model C 0 - 4 A ................................... 139 Commonwealth Models CG-3A, G8~4A. .......... 140 Babooek Model GG-4A. ........................ 143 .............. 147 Northwe s te rn Model GG-4A. Ford Model C0-4A. ............................... 100 Gibson Model CG-4A ................ 103 Cessna Model GG*4A, * 154 north w estern Model 08«15Aj Wane Model CG15A.. , . . .............................. 164 northw estern Model CG-13A; Ford Model CG15A, .............................. 166 nummary .............. 160

M EVALUATION ........................................ 180 t& c e rta ln ty o f fto H p lsw en te.. . . . . . . .......... 181 haok. of M ilita ry Experience w ith G lid e r s .. . . 180 L im ita tio n s upon th e E nlistm ent o f I n d u s tr ia l F a c ilitie s . .............. 192 In e ffe c tiv e n e s s of Engineering and lic e n s e Agreements........................................... Inadequate T o o l i n g , . . . . ............... 210 S carcity o f M aterial s .......... 219 E xcessive C o sts*.............. 224 C onclusion .................................... BXBLXOG-RAFHI..................................................

204

238 246

mmmm® I* 11*

p ro d u ctio n G lid e r Gbart* p rep ared by H is to r ic a l O ffice* A ir Technical Service Command* Hove®bar 1944 O rg an isatio n C harts 1* 2* 3* 4, 5* 6.

Army A ir Forces* 14 dune 1943 Army A ir Forces* I O ctober 1944 M a te rie l D ivision* Washington, 1 dune 1944 .M ateriel Command, Bayton* 6 O ctober 1943 Engineering M vlsloa* Dayton* .1 January 1944 p ro d u ctio n D ivision* Dayton, 1 January 1944

v tii

u s $ or iixostbatxoiis ’ iM e

UM& F ra n k fo rt XTO-1

g3A

Laister-K auffm ann XTO-4

24A

German Mlnimoa (XTGkll)

3IA

F o il ah O rllk ( X W )

31B

Waco XCO-3

39A

St* Louis XOG-5

42A

Bowlus X00-7

46 A

Lai ster-Kauffmairn XGG-10

52A

Lai ster-Kanffm ann X0G-1OA w ith 105 mra* Howitzer and Jeep In Loading P o s itio n

52B

L ai ster-Kauffm ann XGG-10A Loaded w ith One 105 mm* Howitzer and One Jeep

520

Waco X0GML3

54A

General Airborne tr a n s p o r t XQG-16

66A

ATSC M odifioation—XGG-17

68A

H id g efleld XPG—2

73A

T a y lo re ra ft $0-6

93A

Faco CG-4A

102A

Bobert so n -B u llt QG-4A Taking Off a t Lambert F ie ld , S t. L ouis, 1 August 1943

125A

lx

In Toma Plight!

126B

Im m ediately A fter B i$ it lELng Came O ff

1250

J u s t Before Crash

125D

CG-4A (R id e rs In In v asio n o f S io ily , 9 J u ly 1943-~ Some Hade i t S afely

234A

Some Crashed on Land

234B

Some Crashed a t Sea

2340

x

u s ? or tm s B

I.

Karnes and Functions of Aft? Development and Procurement .Agencies, 1930~1944

IX* Experimental fra m in g S lid e rs

9 m

XXX. Experimental fa c tio n ! S lid ers IV. v. TO.

Procurement o f tra in in g S lid ers Contracts Let in the F irs t ta c tic a l >S lid e r Production Program

m 104 231

GG-4A im it Cost

TOX* S lid e rs on Hand, Earoute, and Committed to h e a te r s

Xi

23?

0&Q3U9MT Of TM&B

a ile ro n

binged se c tio n o f wing} need to im press a rolling motion on th e a irp la n e .

boom

connecting th e t a i l t ae rwing.

c lip p e d wing

a s h o rt wing*

tom

th e component o f th e t o t a l a i r fo rc e on a body p a r a l l e l to th e d ir e c tio n o f th e wind v elo city *

empennage

t a i l assembly*,

fin

m a i r f o i l ( su rface) , u su a lly fix e d , p a r a lle l, to th e p la n e o f symmetry, to a ffo rd d ir e c tio n a l s t a b i l i t y .

f la p s

hinged se c tio n on r e a r o f wing} used to In c re a se drag and th u s to reduce th e speed o f th e a lip la n e , e s p e c ia lly i n lan d in g .

indorsem ent

r e p ly o r forw arding note added to a b a s ic communication} w ritte n i n p re sc rib e d mill** ta ry s ty le , and may be on th e same page w ith th e o r ig in a l communication, space p e rm ittin g .

lo ft

to la y out shop worhlng drawings i n f u l l s c a le .

le v wing

wing Joined to lower p a r t o f fu se la g e ; th u s, a lso , h ig h wing, ©ld~wiag.

Memorandum Heport

stan d ard form re p o rt o f p ro g re ss on o r com pletion o f a development o r re se a rc h p ro je c t} w ritte n by Engineering B iv isio n , Weight f i e l d .

su rfa c e s w ith

model, u su a lly o f wood, co n stru c ted to s c a le . p i t o t tube

c y lin d r ic a l tube w ith an open end in th e d ir e c tio n o f f l i g h t to measure a i r impact pressure} used i n measuring a irsp e e d . nix

purchase o rd e r

a simple farm o f c o n tra c t signed only by th e p a r ty p la c in g th e o rd e r,

MR

B ooting and Beoord ih e e tj a form o f m ilita r y i n t e r o f f i c e oomiminieatlon in which su ccessiv e o f f ic e s make comments in p re s c rib e d form*

s p o ile r

sm all p la te set. to p ro je c t above upper wing su rface to d is tu r b th e smooth flo w of a i r over th e wing and th u s to in c re a s e drag,

s ta tic te s t

t e s t o f s tre n g th and w * i$ it f a e t e r s j s tr u c tu r a l t e s t ,

teletype

message se n t over an irmy te leg rap h network, w ritte n ' in p re s c rib e d m ilita r y form by te le ty p e machines.

u s e fu l lo a d

item s which added to w eight empty make g ro ss weight* i n g lid e r s u se fu l lo a d in c lu d e s cargo, tro o p s and t h e i r equipment, H y in g crew and t h e i r equipment, and any o th e r item s n o t a p a r t o f th e g lid e r i t s e l f .

y jlfg ^

an expression o f th e r a t i o o f th e weli^it c a rr ie d to th e a re a o f th a w in g .

< m m m o f abbhbviasich®

AAF

Amy d i r Forces

Aetg.

doting

AS®0

d ir te c h n ic a l S ervice Command

A ttn .

A tten tio n

CM

C iv il Aeronaut Id s Adminis­ tr a ti o n

CC

cargo (and troop) g lid e r

CIO

Congress o f I n d u s tr ia l O rganizations

Cong*

C ongressional

OTI

C la s s ifie d Technical I n s tr u c tio n

(E)

Engineering (used only a f t e r "S taff* to d esig n ate th e Engineering Branch, Head­ q u a rte rs AAF)

HAOA

n a tio n a l Advisory Committee f o r A eronautics

(?)

P roduction (used only a f t e r *S taff* to d esig n ate th e P roduction Branch, Head* q u a rte rs AAF)

SO*

tr a in in g g lid e r

SI

te c h n ic a l I n s tr u c tio n

sbp?*

War P roduction Board

X0&

experim ental cargo (and troop) g lid e r

XPG

experim ental powered g lid e r

XSQ-

experim ental tr a in in g g lid e r

Chapter X IK ttSm O N OF THE GLIDER PROGRAM

She German Army used tro o p and cargo c a rry in g g lid e r s i n th e in v a sio n o f Poland In 1939*

She follow ing

y ea r German combat g lid e r s soared in to th e Low C ountries, and i n May 1941 C rete was overrun by some twelve thousand German g lid e iv b o rn e troops*

th e h is to ry o f g lid in g became

suddenly overshadowed by th e hard f a c t o f g lid e r in v a sio n s, th e sto ry o f b ir d f l i g h t and m ythological wax wings l o s t none o f i t s glamor, and stu d e n ts o f fly in g might s t i l l r e c a l l the achievements o f th e p io n e e rs—o f L ilien th & l, who in 1892 *s a ile d r ig h t over th e head of th e m ille r D e rw its.. .and of h is esteemed poodle dog#* 1 of th e French s a ilo r Le B ris and h is " A lb a tro s s ,rt o f th e E nglish P ilc h e r and h ie "Hawk," of th e Americans: W rights.

Chanut©, Montgomery, Maloney, O u rtlss, and th e But th e s e men and th e ir deeds of courage ana inge­

n u ity belonged to th e romance o f beginnings; In 1941 what was o f f a r g r e a te r concern was the apathy of most of the world during the y ea rs th a t g lid e r tr a in in g forged smoothly ahead in Germany. With th e coming o f the power d riv en a irp la n e in 1003, g lid in g was fo rced in to th e background.

I t i s g e n e ra lly

2 conceded th a t th e r e v iv a l o f g ild in g In derm any I n th e 1020* 8 was due to p ro v is io n s o f th e V e rs a ille s tr e a ty which sev erely r e s t r i c t e d denaan plan© p ro d u ctio n and a i r c r a f t u t i l i s a t i o n . In 1928 Hermann Goering o u tlin e d a proposed German g lid e r program to

V# Rlclcenbacker.

He ©aid;

Our whole fu tu re i s in th e a i r . M& i t 1© by a i r power th a t we are going to re c a p tu re th e derman ©B$>lr©. fo accom plish t h i s we w ill do th re e things* i t r s t * we w ill te a c h g lid in g as a sn o rt to a l l our ■ young men* $hen we w ill b u lla up commercial avta* men* f i n a l l y , we w ill c re a te th e sk eleto n o f a m ilita r y a i r force* When the tim e comes, we w ill p u t a l l th re e teg eth e* w an d th e derman empire w ill I© re b o rtu 2 G lid e r re se a rc h was su b sid ised by the derman Govern­ ment i n th e postw ar p e rio d ,^ and although th e re was a c e r ta in I n t e r e s t In g lid in g In o th e r c o u n trie s , i t was in Germany t h a t th e sp o rt had I t s most ex ten siv e and advanced development, d u rin g th e p e rio d between th e two g re a t wars, th e Germans h e ld most o f th e g lid in g reco rd s f o r endurance, a l titu d e , and speed.4

Hus s i a was on© o f the few c o u n trie s to o f f e r th e Ger­

man© se rio u s com petition i n the development o f g lid in g , and s ig n if ic a n tly , th e Germans were c a re fu l to p r o f i t by Russian experience.

es

In 1940, M ilita ry In te llig e n c e o f the War Department General S ta ff quoted r e l i a b l e evidence In d ic a tin g th a t th e Germans had used g lid e r s in the capture o f F o rt Sben Smael, Belgium, t h a t g lid e r p r a c tic e was being c a rrie d out on many German airdrom es, and th a t the Germans had alread y b u i l t

3. glider® H n some numbers* and wore p rep ared to use them fo r tro o p and p o s s ib ly ta n k tr a n s p o r t.6

I n th e e a rly p a r t o f

May, 1941, th e re was f u r th e r evidence th a t th e Germans were engaged I n a v a s t g lid e r program,

The U nited S ta te s M ilita ry

A ttache a t Bern re p o rte d th a t g lid e r t r i a l s were c a rr ie d out a t Brunswick: and Hauheim in March and A pril 1941, and r e la te d th a t th e German Genera! s t a f f a tta c h e d muoh importance to th e tr ia l® o f tr a n s p o r ta tio n o f tro o p s by g l i d e r .7

Twelve

days a f t e r th e subm ission o f th e r e p o r t from Bern, thousands o f g lid e r-b o m e German tro o p s began the sp e c ta c u la r in v asio n o f C rete.

Here was th e f i n a l p ro o f th a t g lid in g was more

th a n a Sunday pastim e. While th e Germans were acq u irin g a n o ta b le p r o f i t cienoy i n th e c o n stru c tio n and us® of th e g lid e r as a m ilita ry instru m en t, American g lid in g e n th u s ia s ts found l i t t l e encour­ agement i n o f f i c i a l c i r c l e s ,

n e ith e r in th e War departm ent

in g en eral nor in th e Air Corps was th e re any ap p reciab le sympathy f o r th e ard o r o f th e ^ g lid e r people” j no r, fo r th a t m a tte r, was th e re any r e a l a p p re c ia tio n o f th e m ilita r y value o f g lid e r s among th e c i v i l i a n devotees of so arin g . Am e a rly as 1922, Glenn Curtis® was c o n stru c tin g a g lid e r which he thought might be u se fu l as a ta r g e t. Curtis® b e lie v e d the g lid e r might be towed by a motor b o a t, th e n re le a s e d and f i r e d upon.

&

There i s no evidence th a t

4 t h l e p r o je c t aroused more than p assin g In te r© s t.

By 1930

g lid in g wag s t i l l p rim a rily a s p o rt, and when a g lid e r ©nthu* B last In v ite d th e Air Corps to p a r tic ip a te In a n a tio n a l g ild e r meet a t E lm ira, Hew Xovk, th e A ssis ta n t S ecretary of War rep lie d *

11th e re e x i s ts no a p p ro p ria tio n whereby an

o f f ic e r on th e a c tiv e l i s t could be d isp atch ed to a duty such ag you mention* *® fh© fo llo w in g y ear th e S ecretary of War s a id :

“I t i s co n sid ered th a t th e m ilita ry valu e o f g lid e r

f ly in g i s n e g lig ib le , and th a t th e expenditure of time and funds re q u ire d to te ach th e a r t i s n o t warranted**

10

As

l a t e as 1938 th e War Department was not convinced th a t th e g lid e r had any r e a l v alu e as a m ilita r y weapon*

A Hr. Harry

Malcolm o f Lombard, I l l i n o i s , suggested In August 1938 th a t g lid e r s might be u t i l i z e d to c a rry bombs o r tro o p s o r they might be b u i l t as a e r i a l torpedoes.

M ilita ry o f f i c i a l s d is ­

m issed the Id e a by p o in tin g out th a t an eq u iv alen t lo ad could be c a rr ie d more e f f i c i e n t l y by th e towing p la n e .

Malcolm was

Informed t h a t “th e p la n o f your suggested method o f towing g lid e r s as p r a c t ic a l weapons I s n o t o f s u f f ic ie n t m ilita ry v alu e to w arrant f u r th e r co n sid e ra tio n and development. A fter th e German success w ith g lid e r s i n th e war had aroused a new I n t e r e s t In g lid in g In th e U nited S ta te s, th e Air Corps was not In a p o s itio n to accede to the more vehement p ro p o sals o f so arin g z e a lo ts because o f the u rg en t

5.

m ilita r y demands f o r powered a i r c r a f t and a irp la n e p i l o t s .

12

As evidence o f German m ilita r y us© of g lid e r s accumulated* however, th e .Air Corps began to develop a p o s i­ ti v e g lid e r p o lic y .

In February -1941 th e Air Corps found

th a t *In view of c e r ta in inform ation receiv ed from abroad* i t was *ad v isab le th a t a study be i n i t i a t e d w ith a view to 13 developing a type o f g lid e r th a t can be towed by a i r c r a f t . w G eneral H, H. Arnold, Deputy Chief of S ta ff f o r A ir, p erso n al­ ly d ir e c te d th e i n i t i a t i o n o f such a study on 25 February, and req u ested th e Air Corps to submit a statem ent on proposed m ilita r y g lid e r c h a r a c te r is tic s and tow planes by 1 A pril 14 1941. fh® machinery f o r g lid e r development was o f f i c i a l l y 15 s e t I n motion by d ir e c tiv e s Of1-198, 24 February 1941, and 0 fl-2 0 3 , 4 March 1941.

fh ese d ir e c tiv e s au th o rised th e prepa­

r a tio n o f d esig n s tu d ie s and th e procurement of two, e ig h t, 16 and f if te e n - p la c e g lid e r s and a s so c ia te d equipment. By 1941 when th e Air Corps estab lish © ! a re q u ire ­ ment f o r g ild e r s , th e ste p s in an Air Corps p ro d u ctio n program had been c le a r ly o u tlin e d , although th e o rg a n iz a tio n f o r c a rry in g out those ste p s was in adequate.

Beginning w ith the

a c t i v i t i e s o f World War I when th e o r ig in a l Air se rv ic e stru g g le d to b u ild th e f i r s t C nlted S ta te s a i r fo rc e , the d e t a i l s o f an a i r c r a f t prod u ctio n program had evolved around s ix main fu n c tio n s * engineering, c o n tra c tin g (procurem ent),

0 p ro d u ctio n , in s p e c tio n , supply, and m aintenance,

n e ith e r a

f u l l a p p re c ia tio n o f th e scope of th o se fu n c tio n s nor re* f in e d o rg a n iz a tio n s f o r t h e i r performance was developed during th e f i r s t war, when th e A ir Service wallowed In the confusion and u n c e rta in ty which stemmed from lnexperlenoe and from the 17 severe com petition o f e s ta b lis h e d organizations# By 1926 th e A ir S ervice had become th e Air dorps, and a m a te rie l D iv isio n o f th e Air Corps a t MoCook H e ld , Dayton, Ohio, had been made re sp o n sib le f o r th e follow ing fu n c tio n s p e rta in in g to a i r c r a f t and r e la te d equipments

**(1) experim entation and

re se a rc h ; (2) procurement and p ro d u ctio n ; (3) sto rag e , is s u e , and m aintenance; (4) salvage and d isp o s a l; and (5) I n d u s tr ia l war p lan s# 11 E arly i n IBS*? the M a teriel D iv isio n was moved to th e newly e s ta b lis h e d Wright H e ld a t Dayton, and from th a t d a te u n t i l th e outbreak o f war in Europe in 1939 i t s fu n c tio n s and o rg a n iz a tio n remained r e la tiv e l y constant#

As the th r e a t

o f U nited S ta te s embroilment in th e war in creased l a t e in 1939, th e Government took ste p s to provide an expanded a i r 18 c r a f t development and p ro d u ctio n program. I t was then recognized th a t th e very n atu re of th e fu n c tio n s of the M a teriel D iv isio n im plied t h a t th e f i r s t p re p a ra tio n fo r any a c c e le ra te d a irp la n e program must be e f f e c t­ iv e ly C leared through the o f fic e s and la b o ra to rie s of t h i s D iv isio n many months before in d u s try and th e n a tio n began to f e e l the demand f o r u ltim ate production# By th e end o f 1939 th e M a teriel D iv isio n alread y had been c a lle d tpon to expand

7. i t s a c t i v i t i e s to a degree n o t re q u ire d o f th e r e s t o f th e n a tio n u n t i l a f t e r th e a tta c k on P e a rl Harbor.^® I t m s jeadlly ap p aren t th a t n e ith e r the o rg a n isa tio n o f th e M a te rie l D iv isio n nor o f th e h ig h er echelons o f command in Washington was adequate to c a rry out th e a c t i v i t i e s of an ex*» pending a i r c r a f t program.

From 1039 u n t i l 1043 th e Air Corps

machinery f o r development and p ro d u ctio n underwent freq u en t and ex ten siv e changes,

The d e t a il s o f a l l th e o rg a n isa tio n a l

changes which occurred d u rin g th a t p e rio d need not he r e la te d h e re ; h u t an understanding o f th e m ajor changes i s im p o rtan t. B efore P e a rl B a ilo r th e a i r arm o f th e se rv ic e s c o n siste d o f two p a r ts :

th e A ir Corps# which supervised

supply and tr a in in g a c t i v i t i e s , and th e Air Forces Combat Command made up o f th e f ig h tin g a i r u n its .

S h o rtly a f t e r

P e a rl Harbor th e se were combined to form the Army A ir F orces. That p a r t of th e AAF which had to do w ith supplying the p la n es and equipment was fre q u e n tly r e f e r r e d to during th e war as th e Air Corps; hence, in connection w ith such fu n c tio n s th e term s A ir Corps and Army A ir Forces came to be used synonym laousiy.20 From 1939 to 1942 both the AAF h ead q u arters s t a f f o rg a n isa tio n f o r development and production and the o p eratin g o rg a n iz a tio n a t Wright F ie ld were c a lle d th e M a teriel D iv isio n. In March 1942 the h ead q u arters s t a f f , o r p lan n in g , p o lic y , and su p erv isin g o rg a n iz a tio n , was d esig n ated th e M ateriel

Command* and th e u n it* a t Wblgh* F ie ld were c a lle d th e M a te rie l C en ter,

fhl® arrangem ent la s te d about a y ea r u n t i l

in A pril 1943 th e h ea d q u arters s t a f f was s e t up as th e A ssis ta n t C hief o f A ir S taff* M ateriel* Maintenance and Dls~ tr ib u tl o n , and th e d e sig n a tio n M a te rie l Command was then ap p lied to th e o rg a n iz a tio n a t Weight F ie ld . In th e meantime th e fu n c tio n s o f supply and m ainte­ nance had been taken from the o ld M a teriel D iv isio n , Wright H e ld , and assig n ed to th e newly c re a te d Air S ervice Command n e a r P a tte rs o n H e ld , Dayton, Ohio, on 17 October 1941.

In

g e n e ra l, th e n , i t may be sa id th a t from 1941 to 1944 th e M ateriel D ivision* o r a s i t was l a t e r c a lle d , th e M ateriel Command a t Wright H e ld , was re sp o n sib le f o r en g in eerin g , procurem ent, p ro d u ctio n , and in s p e c tio n fu n c tio n s , w hile th e Air Service Command handled supply and maintenance d u tie s . I n August 1944 th e A ir Service Command and th e M ateriel Command were combined to form th e Air Technical Service Command, and th e Washington o rg a n iz a tio n became known as M a teriel and S erv ice s.

21

ta b le I on th e fo llo w in g page o u tlin e s th e names

and fu n c tio n s o f th e se ag en cies. While th e foreg o in g o rg a n iz a tio n s were resp o n sib le f o r th e s o -c a lle d m a te rie l fu n c tio n s , they worked c lo s e ly w ith o th e r AAF organization® .

At H ead q u arters AAF th e requirem ents

f o r a i r c r a f t were determ ined by th e A ssistan t Chief of Air

Sanaa and Itmotlona of AAF Dgrelopment and Prooureaant

Agenoles. 1939

0.

S ta f f , % er&tlon® , Commitments ©nd Requirements; tr a in in g programs wore e s ta b lis h e d by the A ssista n t C hief of Air S ta f f, f r a m in g ; o v e r - a ll Air Force® plan n in g was a duty o f th e A ssis ta n t C hief of Air S ta f f , P lan s; and s e c u rity m a tte rs were handled by th e A s s is ta n t Chief o f Air S ta f f, I n t e l l i ­ gence.

Below th e se s t a f f s were v a rio u s commands a t th e same

echelon as th e M a te rie l, Air S erv ice, and A ir Technical S ervice Commands.

Pour o f th ese commands were d e stin ed to

p la y an im portant p a r t in th e g lid e r programs

th e 1 Troop

C a rr ie r Command) th e A ir T ransport Command; th e T rain in g Command; and th e Proving Ground Command, which, as th e name im p lie s, gave AAF a i r c r a f t and equipment ex ten siv e t r i a l s to determ ine performance and d u r a b ility c h a r a c te r is tic s .

And

f i n a l l y , th e AAF Board a t Orlando, F lo rid a , considered a l l o f th e a sp e c ts o f a i r c r a f t and equipment, in c lu d in g completed t e s t s and t r i a l s , probable performance under combat condi­ tio n s , and g e n e ra l combat requirem ents, and from th ese con­ s id e ra tio n s p assed judgment on th e m e rits o f th e m a te rie l. I n b r i e f , th e Board was an ev a lu atin g body. Both th e s t a f f o f f ic e s a t AAF h ead q u arters and the command a t Wright f i e l d were subdivided.

Thu®, w ith in

M a te rie l, Maintenance and d is tr ib u tio n , Washington, the d eterm in atio n o f p o lic y in the m a te rie l fu n c tio n was th e r e s p o n s ib ility o f a M a teriel Si v is io n c o n s is tin g of th re e

XI. b ran ch es:

Development E ngineering, Production, and I n t e r -

n a tio n a l.

M W nght F ie ld , the Hate r i e l Command s e t up fo u r

main division® * In sp e c tio n ,

E ngineering, Procurem ent, P roduction, and

th e Engineering D iv isio n was 'broken down in to

la b o r a to r ie s , such a s Power P la n t, P ro p e lle r, Radio; Armament, Equipment, Aero-M edical, and A irc ra ft.

She P roduction D ivi­

sio n experienced fre q u en t changes i n o rg a n isa tio n as a r e s u l t o f th e r a p id expansion of i t s o ld e r d u tie s and th e a d d itio n o f new wartime fu n c tio n s , b u t i t s o u tstan d in g sub­ d iv is io n s d u rin g moat of th e war p e rio d were a production E ngineering S ection and a Resources C ontrol S ectio n ,

th e Pro­

curement D iv isio n was resp o n sib le fo r w ritin g c o n tra c ts and conducting subsequent c o n tra c t n e g o tia tio n s , and In sp e c tio n D iv isio n In sp e c te d completed a i r c r a f t and equipment a t con­ t r a c t o r 9s p la n ts .

Bach o f th e fo u r d iv is io n s —E ngineering,

Procurement, P roduction, and In sp ac tio n —had subordinate of# flo e e i n s ix procurement d i s t r i c t a covering c o n tin e n ta l {felted s ta te s ,

9fee d i s t r i c t o rg a n iz a tio n s c a r r ie d oft d e t a i l

work w ith and a t th e p la n ts of AAF

c o n tra c to rs.

fhe Wright F ie ld o f fic e s d e stin ed to p la y the le a d in g r o le s in the g lid e r program were th e A irc ra ft la b o ra ­ to ry o f th e E ngineering D iv isio n , which designed and super­ v ise d th e b u ild in g of experim ental g lid e r s , and th e G lider Branch o f P roduction Engineering S ection In th e P roduction

12. D iv isio n , which lo c a te d c o n tra c to rs to produce g lid e r s in q u a n tity and c o n tro lle d th e a c tu a l m anufacturing p ro cess a f t e r th e procurem ent MW lelen had w ritte n th e c o n t r a c t . ^ fh e fu n c tio n a l r e la tio n s h ip o f th e M r Forces o rg a n is a tio n s re sp o n sib le f o r m a te rie l development and pro~ d u o tia h was r e l a t i v e l y co n stan t during th e war period*

la

th e Case o f g lid e rs * th e G lid e r Ira n c h of the M r o r a f t Laborato ry p rep ared d esig n s o f experim ental! o r proposed glider® . Thee© d esig n s were sometimes drawn from p ro p o sals o f g lid e r m anufacturers who V o lu n ta rily subm itted data*

I f th e design

subm itted by a p a r tic u la r concern was considered v alu ab le, th e company might be given a c o n tra c t to produce two o r th re e experim ental models.

I f th e engineering requirem ents o r p re ­

lim in ary d esig n s were th o se of th e G lider Branch, they could be subm itted l a th e form o f C irc u la r p ro p o sals to a l l a v a ils ab le c o n tra c to rs , who might then submit b id s c o n s is tin g o f c o s t e stim a te s and a d e ta ile d d esig n .

From th e se , th e

G lider Branch could s e le c t th e most prom ising p ro p o sal.

Once

th e model® o f an experim ental g lid e r had been b u i l t , s t a t i c te s te d ( te s t e d f o r s tr e s s and s tr a i n , o r stre n g th f a c to r s ) , and t e s t flow n, th e $Lld®r Branch could recommend th e model to th e M a te rie l D iv isio n o f M a te rie l, Maintenance and D is tr i­ b u tio n , Washington, fo r p ro d u ctio n in q u a n tity .

I f the

M a te rie l D iv isio n approved the p ro p o sal, I t Issu ed a d ir e c tiv e

13. to th e M a te rie l Ooramand to procure th e u m b er o f glider® needed to meet th e g l i d e r requirem ents e s ta b lis h e d by O perations, Commitments and Requirem ents.

She (E id er Branch o f th e

M a te rie l Command• s p ro d u ctio n Engineering Section a t Weight F ie ld then n e g o tia te d d ir e c tly w ith th e company which had b u i l t th e experim ental model, o r i n case th e re was promise o f b e t t e r r e s u l t s by open b id d in g , subm itted a C irc u la r Proposal to th e a i r c r a f t in d u stry o u tlin in g th e Air Forces* needs. Such a choice o f methods was p o s s ib le as a r e s u l t o f l e g l s l a tlo n o f June and duly 1940 which allowed War Department p ro cu re­ ment agencies to dispense w ith com petitive bidding in th e purchase o f s p e c ia liz e d a r t i c l e s when suoh a move would be o f m a te ria l b e n e f it to th e war e f f o r t .

23

Zn i t s search f o r a

c o n tra c to r th e (production) (E ld er Branch might o b ta in th e a id o f th e Procurement D iv isio n in estim a tin g the s t a b i l i t y and c a p a b il itie s o f p ro sp ectiv e m anufacturers.

Once i t had

s e le c te d a c o n tra c to r th e G lider Branch r e fe rre d th e case to th e Procurement D iv isio n where tra in e d c o n tra c tin g officer® s a t i s f i e d them selves o f the manufacturer* s a b i l i t y to produce and wrote a form al c o n tra c t.

During p relim in ary n e g o tia tio n s

th e procurement D iv isio n fre q u e n tly wrote a L e tte r o f I n te n t o r a L e tte r C ontract s ta tin g the g en eral terms o f th e agree­ ment.

Such a device was a binding c o n tra c t and served to hold

14* tli® m anufacturer* b p la n t and p erso n n el u n t i l th e d e t a i l s o f a form al o o n tra o t oould be arranged,

i t also enabled the

c o n tra c to r to p rep are to o lin g , to assemble h is la b o r, and to p la c e o rd e rs f o r m a te ria ls b efo re th e f i n a l plan® and a p e o ific a tio n s f o r th e a r t i c l e on o o n trao t were com plete.

Once th e

O ontraot was signed# th e G lid er Branch, Production D iv isio n , became re sp o n sib le f o r th e ad m in istra tio n o f th e o o n trao t from th e p ro d u ctio n viewpoint# w hile procurement D ivision made payments, sometimes i n advance to fin an ce a needy c o n tra c to r, and handled th e le g a l te c h n ic a li tie s o f c o n tra c t adm inistrate tlo n .

And fin a lly # as th e fin is h e d product l e f t th e manu­

fa c tu re r* s p la n t# Government in s p e c to rs passed Judgment on th e a rtic le .

B efore a p ro d u ctio n c o n tra c t was l e t , th e G ild er

Branch o f th e Engineering D ivision drew up a f u l l A ir Corps s p e c if ic a tio n f o r th e g lid e r , and during m anufacture, a s w ell as u$>on com pletion of the a r t i c l e s , in s p e c to rs s ta tio n e d a t the co ntractor* s p la n t follow ed p o lic ie s and procedures p re ­ sc rib e d by th e In sp e c tio n D ivision a t B rig h t F ie ld to assu re s a tis f a c to r y conformance to s p e c ific a tio n s and b a s ic standards o f q u a lity c o n tro l.

A g lid e r was la b e le d "accepted* when i t

had been p assed by M a te rie l Command in sp ecto rs* i t was c la sse d as •delivered'* when i t had been f e r r ie d o r shipped to a using agenoy d esig n ated by O perations, Commitments and acquirem ents, 24 Washington.

15 I t should be p o in te d o u t, of course, th a t under th e p re s s u re o f wartime o r Immediate pre-w ar need®, the d i r Corps sometimes o u t co rn ers In th e development and p ro d u ctio n of m a te rie l and th u s d id n o t always adhere to the p re c is e course p re sc rib e d by re g u la tio n s .

I n f a c t , a t the beginning of the

g lid e r program, th e r a p id ity w ith which th e Air Corps became convinced o f th e need f o r g lid e r s le d to the d e c isio n to pro* cure experim ental g ild e r s b efo re th e com pletion o f design s tu d ie s .

On 8 March 1941 p relim in ary engineering requirem ents

f o r f if te e n - p la c e g lid e r s m m se n t to eleven companies.

Of

th e se eleven* only fo u r subm itted fav o rab le r e p lie s to Wright fie ld *

N ev erth eless, b efo re th e com pletion o f th e design

study r e p o rt I n May, th e A ir #orps had ordered experim ental models o f tw o-place commercial g lid e r s f o r tr a in in g purposes and s t a t i c and f l i g h t t e s t models o f e ig h t and f if t e e i r p la c e cargo type g lid e rs*

2g

Be s u it s o f th e M a teriel Center* s design study were re p o rte d in a M a teriel D ivision Memorandum Report, 19 May 1941.

26

fh e M ateriel Center f i r s t conceived th e e ig h t and f if te e n - p la c e g lid e r s as a i r c r a f t having a towing speed o f 120 m iles p e r hour, maximum s t a l l i n g speed w ithout f la p s o f 30 m iles p er hour, and a normal towing a l titu d e o f 12,000 f e e t.

$he f ifte e n - p la c e

model was to be designed f o r a u se fu l lo ad of 3,800 pounds, w hile the eig h t- p lace g lid e r would be capable of c a rry in g a

16. u s e fu l lo a d o f about o n e -h a lf th a t o f th e la r g e r g l i d e r . 27 fh e development and p ro d u ctio n o f th e se glider® was d e s tin e d to become a m ajor e f f o r t o f the Army A ir F orces, and i n th e o rg a n is a tio n s e x is tin g and c re a te d to perform th e se fu n c tio n s p erso n n el experienced in g lid in g a c t i v i t i e s were em­ ployed wherever p o s s ib le .

Xn October 1941 Mr. ( l a t e r Major)

bewln B. B a rrin g e r was appointed C oordinator o f the G lid er Program by General H. H. Arnold, Commanding General o f the Army Air F orces.

B a rrin g e r had long been a c tiv e in commercial

a v ia tio n , and between 193S and 1940 he had won th re e American soaring c o n te s ts .

At th e time o f h is appointment as coordi­

n a to r o f th e g lid e r program, he was a s s is ta n t manager o f and an i n s t r u c to r in th e Ground School D ivision o f Southwest Air­ ways, In co rp o ra ted .

Xn May 1942 B arrin g er was assigned to th e

O ffic e o f th e D irecto r o f A ir Support,

OQ

idiere he served u n t i l

January 1943, when a p la n e i n which he was fly in g disappeared over th e C aribbean.29 th e g lid e r program.

Major B a rrin g e r played a v i t a l p a r t i n An o f f i c i a l o f th© M ateriel D ivision

observed i n January 1942 th a t B a rrin g e r 11swings a p r e tty b ig s t i c k . 1,30 (hi 19 A pril 1943 th e Washington o rg a n isa tio n f o r g lid e r s was red efin e d w ith th e establishm ent in H eadquarters, AAJP, of an O ffic e o f th e gtpeolal A ssista n t on th e Army Air Forces G lid e r Program,

fh© S pecial A ssistan t was to r e p o rt to

th e Commanding G eneral, AAF, through th e Chief o f Air S ta ff, and was assigned th e a u th o rity of an A ssistan t Chief of Air

17. S ta f f I n m a tte rs r e la tin g to th e g lid e r program .31

On 20

A p ril R ichard D. dttPont* p re s id e n t o f A ll American Aviation* In c o rp o ra te d , o f Wilmington* Delaware* was named S p ecial As­ s i s t a n t to th e Commanding General* AAF* i n charge of th e Army A ir Forces G lid e r Program*32

liv e months a f te r h is appoint­

ment to t h i s post* duPont was k i l l e d i n a g lid e r crash 33 and h is brother* Major F e lix duPont* was named to succeed him .34 F e lix dupont was a d ir e c to r of B ellanca A irc ra ft C orporation and o f American Export A irlines* Incorporated* and h eld po­ s it io n s as v ic e p re s id e n t, and a d ir e c to r o f A ll American A v iatio n .33 I n November 1943 the fu n ctio n s of the S p ecial As­ s is ta n t on th e G lid er Program were tr a n s f e r r e d to ap p ro p riate o f f ic e s o f Headquarters* Away A ir Forces* and a G lid er Branch was s e t up i n th e Requirements D iv isio n of Operations* 0oramltaaents and Requirements.

Major F e lix duPont became c h ie f o f 36 th e new branch on 6 November 1943. D ecisions o f th e g lid e r a u th o r itie s and o f f i c i a l s

o f th e Air S ta f f were tra n sm itte d to th e m a te rie l organiza­ tio n a t WFlght F ie ld through th e M ateriel D iv isio n , Washington. At Wright F ie ld th e development o f g lid e r s was a fu n ctio n of th e A irc ra ft L aboratory, Engineering D iv isio n .

The g lid e r

o rg a n iz a tio n of th e A irc ra ft Laboratory was p la ced under th e su p erv isio n of Major Fred R. Dent, J r . , who was an experienced

g lid e r p ilo t*

l a January 1942 the M a teriel D ivision decided

th a t th e A ir c r a f t L aboratory should a lso r e ta in the fu n ctio n o f g lid e r procurem ent u n t i l such tim e as s u f f ic ie n t developmeat work had been completed to make fe a s ib le a se p a ra tio n o f th e experim ental and procurement f u n c t i o n s . f h e p ro g re ss o f th e development work on g lid e r s soon J u s tif ie d such a do* lln e a tlo n , and on 11 May 1042 the a d m in istra tio n of the g lid e r p ro d u ctio n program was tr a n s f e r r e d to th e Production Engineering Section* P roduction D iv isio n .

Major E rn est W.

Dlohman* form erly a e ro n a u tic a l en gineer and s a le s manager a t Ifought- Sikor sky A irc ra ft D ivision o f Malted A irc ra ft Corpo­ ratio n * S tra tfo rd * Connecticut,^® took charge o f production as head of th e (E ld e r Branch# Production E ngineering S ectio n . He was a s s is te d by L ieu ten an t D aniel E. H iley.

Colonel Dent

and h is s t a f f in th e A irc ra ft L aboratory remained in charge o f a l l e ^ e r i a e n t a l g lid e r s and o f te o h n io a l m a tte rs on pro­ ductio n g lid e rs.^ ®

tBie g lid e r te s tin g a c t i v i t i e s o f the

A irc ra ft L aboratory were supervised a t Wright F ie ld by th e F lig h t Heaearch U nit of th e (E ld er Branch.

In J u ly 1943

th e He search U nit was tr a n s f e r r e d to the newly b u i l t C linton 40 County Army A ir F ie ld n ea r Wilmington* Ohio. Here* a t a base designed f o r th e accommodation of g lid e rs# th e M a teriel Command c a rrie d on many o f the re se a rc h and te s tin g p r o je c ts e s s e n tia l to th e success o f the g lid e r program. I t was w ell th a t p la n s were made e a rly i n the g lid e r

program f o r th e estab lish m e n t of a sound o rg a n iz a tio n fo r th e accomplishment o f th e ta s k ahead.

From i t s unimposlng

beginnings in February 1941 when th e Air Corps found i t 11ad­ v is a b le th a t a study be i n i t i a t e d 11 to th e attain m en t o f a s ta b le p ro d u ctio n system in October 1944, the g lid e r program was expended u n t i l i t c a lle d f o r the procurement o f approxi­ m ately eig h teen thousand g lid e rs*

This procurement involved

th e award o f c o n tra c ts f o r q u a n titie s of some 33 experim ental models to 20 companies in 9 s ta te s , and the l e t t i n g o f con­ t r a c t s f o r 11 p ro d u ctio n models to 22 companies in 14 sta te s* From t h i s m ajor developm ent-production e f f o r t came the AAF g lid e r s flown in Burma, France, and H olland,

fh e re I s an

element o f paradox in th e f a c t th a t much o f the drama of Morman&y and Arnhem had I t s o rig in in a g lid e r program b e s e t by seemingly en d less d i f f i c u l t i e s .

20. PQ0T8OTES - OMPSEB I X.

MaXwaJtoae, f A l l s f f J t o flcU a, Hew Xork, 1931, p . 5 5 .'

*•

• 104. . A. Hagoun and E rie Hedging, A H istory o f A irc ra ft, Hew XorA, 1951, n o te , 283. * £&* P * * ;» P P . 281-83! A rchibald Black, th e Story o f F ly in g . Hew Xork* 1040* 0* 140 -*** ■TrtT-f.l fflUT-

2.

S.

§

f.

Bloicentiaeke r. gffrengge through. Hew lork, 1043,

.

6.

™ n .l.W

r. lu ll

f j n .i -

Jr.

K eith Aylin g , p ie r F l y t o f i g h t . Hew Xork, 1944, pp. 105-06. M ilita ry nr# War Department S ta f f, M ilita ry Attache Report®, England 41791, 3 November 1940, and Hungary 1030, 6 tfum 1940, i n Wright f i e l d L ib rary . ? . Ib id . a Swltserl&nd 3003, 8 Hay 1941. $ . W &m C u rtis s to C hief o f Air S ervice, War Department, Washington, 8 dune 1922. i n AM C entral F ile s fC losed) 462.1A, OXldera. 9. F* fru b m Davison, A ssis ta n t S ecretary o f War, to M. C. Eaton# Norwich, Hew fork# 24 September 1930,WAAF C en tral F ile s (C losed) 452.1A, C lid e ra . 10. S ecretary o f War to th e Honorable dale H. s ta lk e r , House o f R e p re sen tativ e s, 14 February 1931# I n AM C entral F ile s (C losed) 373A, (E id e r F ly in g . 11. Harry Malcolm, Lombard, I l l i n o i s , to S ecretary of War# 30 August 1938$ It* Col. If. F. S atie# E xecutive, M a te rie l D iv isio n , Washington, to Malcolm# 13 O ctober 1933, b o th in AAF C e n tral F ile s ( Closed) 452.1 A, (E id e rs. 12. A ssis ta n t C h ief Of A ir S ta ff, I n te llig e n c e , H is to ric a l D iv isio n , Army Air Force® H is to r ic a l S tudies Mo. 1$ Jh e “ J“ “ s m m .’ M ^ M Ml ' MM> ‘ ' b er :|2E f M g l J a &‘ a‘i S S fcS# pp • 2*»3* 13. Routing and Record Sheet, Flan® D iv isio n , H eadquarters AAf, to E xecutive, M ateriel D ivision# Washington, 18 February 1941, quoted in I M d ., p. 2. 14. Memorandum f o r Major OeneMlrCeorge H. B r e tt, Acting C hief o f A ir Ceips, by Major General H. 1. Arnold, Deputy Chief of S ta f f f o r A ir, 25 February 1941, Xn Wright F ie ld C en tral f i l e s 482.1, C liders# O eaeral, 1941-1942. 13. A C fl ( C la s s if ie d te c h n ic a l I n s tr u c tio n ) i s a d ir e c tiv e to study, develop, o r procure AAF m a t e r i a . CTI*s were Issu ed by the m a te rie l h ead q u arters having th e command fu n c tio n , t h a t is# by M ateriel D iv isio n , Washington# u n t i l 18 March 1042$ by M ateriel Command, Washington, from th a t d a te u n t i l 6 A pril 1943; and th e r e a f te r by th e M a te rie l Command# Wright F ie ld . 0ft* • were issu ed to th e o p eratin g d iv is io n s , such as Froourement D iv isio n and

E ngineering ®1v is io n a* Wright P le ia . S I 'e ( T echnical I n s tr u c tio n s ) were She name as C M 'a except t h a t they d id not b e a r a sseoi " n. e c u r ity c “la s s !‘ f le c tio , 6 v o l e ., 10 p a r t s , Hot ember 1943, pre» pared roeurem ent D iv isio n , M ateriel Command, W ig h t fie ld , p . 22, oopy I n j®S0 H is to r ic a l O ffl.ee. f U t- o wr g £

iwv wovjuae l s .,p pf«p

i tf&ahiugt#a* »♦ 0*, 19X9, I*

X4 **i6 f Mary U

ro ra espfcfcXfOXy pp,

©ort* 111, P a r t I , p* 130. W ^ f a T n g l n e e r l n g Company to M&J, Bruce B. P ric e , A irc ra ft la b o ra to ry , Wright f i e l d , 6 A pril 1948; W ichlta to C hief, Procurement D iv isio n , Wright f i e l d , 26 A p ril 19-48; le g a l Branch, procurement D iv isio n , Wright f i e l d , ' t o W ichita, 27 A pril 1948, ©11 quoted in G lid e r B enort. in, P a r t l , p . 282. S S o E s T w S e r 42-22711, in C ontract f i l e # , Wright f i e l d , fin a n c e S ectio n H i e o f Payments shows th e pay­ ment com pleted. C o n tract W530 ac*80803 (purchase Order 42-22814). A irc ra ft la b o ra to ry Weekly te le ty p e , 2 duly 1942. I b id . . 20 November 1942. W M m Im port, t t t , P a r t 1, p . 120. m rr s. w * I H e g le b S a ilp la n e 0o*p o ra tio n to C o ntracting O ffic e r, M ateriel C en ter, 10 February 1943, quoted in G lid er B eoort, 1X1, P a rt 1, p . 217. E w id b ra ry B u lle tin , O ffice o f th e Judge Advocate, M M S I r w a S ^ S r w i g h t H e ld , m e k ending 11 September 1948, quoted In G lid er Benort, I I I , P a r t 1, p . 222. B rieg leb to M ateriel OentW , i l March 1943, quoted in I M d .. p* 220. I n te r -O f fic e Memorandum, A irc ra ft la b o ra to ry , M ateriel C enter, to C ontract S ection, M ateriel C enter, 4 December 1942, quoted in .ib id .* p* 215. Bee correspondence quoted in ib i d ** pp* 215-22. In te r -O f fic e Memorandum, Major w aiter f . %wiok# Area Bepr ©sen t a l iv e , M etropolitan Area, bos Angeles, C ali­ f o r n ia , to Commanding G eneral, M ateriel Command, A tten tio n C hief, Procurement D iv isio n , 23 September 1943, and atta c h e d l e t t e r s , S ailp lan e C o lo r a tio n o f America to M ateriel Command, 18, 14, 15, 17, and 28 September 1943, i n C ontrol S eetto n f i l e s , Procurement D iv isio n , Wright H e ld .

36* 47* 48*

49. 50.

g lM c r Bspery* 1 U , F a r t X, m>* 170, 185, 191; t W laxe'fW II38B & Program. p* 89, and p la te o p p o s ite 'p . 88* f a H o ,^ ® 0 S S r 8 from C iv ilia n Owners, • 31 August 1943, p rep ared by A nalysis and Planning Branch, S ta ti s ­ t i c a l C ontrol O ffic e , M a teriel Command, Wright H o ld , i n C ontrol S ectio n f i l e s , Procurement P i n s i o n , Wright f i e l d f A ir c r a f t L aboratory Weefcly te le ty p e , 8, 0 October 1941* In te rv ie w , M ajor W. 0. L azarus, 7 Beoember 1944* Finance S ectio n f i l e o f Payments*

GHAPffSR I I I EXPLBiMEMTal im M w m E m of fm n o M i g lid e r s In c o n tra s t to th e more e a s ily handled tr a in in g g lid e r p r o je c t, the experim ental development o f t a c t i c a l g lid e r s f o r use as troop and equipment c a r r ie r s in combat o p e ra tio n s tax ed th e in g e n u ity o f E a to r ie l D iv isio n and i n d u s t r i a l en g in eers.

I n th e absence o f prev io u s experience

w ith cargo g lid e r s , o r ig in a l ity and designing s k i l l became e s s e n tia ls o f th e t a c t i c a l g lid e r program.

As has been

p o in te d out e a r l i e r , speed was another e s s e n tia l, and before the com pletion o f I t s design s tu d ie s th e M ateriel D ivision sen t a statem ent o f p relim in ary en gineering requirem ents f o r f if te e n - p la c e g lid e r s to eleven companies.

Of th e se , only

th e F ra n k fo rt S ailp lan e Company, th e Waco A irc ra ft Company, Bowlus S a ilp la n e s, In co rp o rated , and th e S t. Louis A irc ra ft C orporation se n t fav o rab le r e p lie s .

Most of the firm s con­

ta c te d r e p lie d th a t they had previous m anufacturing commit­ ments which they d id not p r e f e r to a l t e r o r th a t th e proposed g lid e r was too la rg e f o r t h e i r f a c i l i t i e s .

fh u s, e a rly in

i t s development work the M ateriel D ivision encountered one o f th e major o b s ta c le s in th e g lid e r program, th a t i s , the inex p erien ce and lim ite d cap acity of the concerns w illin g and e l ig ib le to m anufacture g lid e r s .

At th e tim e th e g lid e r

38.

program was g e ttin g under way, n e a rly a i l of th e la r g e r a i r c r a f t companies, in the U nited S ta te n were expanding t h e i r p ro d u ctio n to meet r e t i r e m e n t s growing out o f th e European war.

th e Air Corps b eliev e d th e need f o r powered

a i r c r a f t was paramount in view of the In te n siv e defense program adopted in th e U nited S ta te s , and the M ateriel D iv isio n was in s tr u c te d to p la ce g lid e r o rd ers w ith com­ p a n ie s n o t alread y engaged in the m anufacture of m etal or 2

combat a irp la n e s .

As w ill be seen l a t e r in t h i s study,

th e M a teriel D iv isio n was fre q u e n tly reminded of th i s p o lic y , and th e r e s t r i c t i o n sev erely hampered ex p ed itio u s achievement of th e g lid e r development and production program. E ig h t-P lace and F ifte e n -P la c e Models F ra n k fo rt Models XC(KU X0G-2 Anxious to begin work a t one© w ith the f a c i l i t i e s a v a ila b le , th e G lid er Branch o f th e A irc ra ft Laboratory n e g o tia te d w ith th e four companies which had shown an i n t e r e s t in th e p relim in ary proposals*

On 24 May 1941, a

fix e d p ric e c o n tra c t f o r the co n stru c tio n o f one each s t a t i c and f l i g h t t e s t models o f e ig h t-p la c e and f i f t e e n p la c e g lid e r s was awarded to th e F ran k fo rt S ailp lan e Oompany.

The models were d esig n ated XCGML and XC&-2.

There

were no d e liv e r ie s on t h i s c o n tra c t u n t i l 2? December 1941, when a s t a t i c t e s t model of th e e ig h t-p la c e XOG-l was sent

to Weight Field*

t h i s g lid e r wag l a t e r re tu rn e d to th e con* 4 t r a c t o r f o r reworking* At th a t time th e F ran k fo rt Company was achieving a recognized success in the c o n s tru c tio n of th e g lid e r s on i t s XTG-1 c o n tra c t, and gave evidence o f being b e t t o r s u ite d f o r tr a in in g g lid e r p ro duction than f o r the development o r m anufacture o f cargo types*

The c o n tra c t fo r

th e XGG-1 and XC&-2 was can ce lled by a term in atio n agreement 6 d ated 51 March 1942* The c o n tra c to r receiv ed $30*473.85 f o r th e d e liv e ry and o th e r work accompli shed on the contract*

6

Waco Models XQCK3, XCQ-4 In March 1941 n e g o tia tio n s were begun w ith th e Waco A ir c r a f t Company o f Troy, Ohio, f o r th e c o n stru c tio n o f experim ental g lid e rs*

C ontract ac~19629, approved 17 June

1941, provided th a t Waco should b u ild one s t a t i c t e s t and one f l i g h t t e s t model o f an e ig h t-p la c e ( XCK3-3) g lid e r and one s t a t i c t e s t and two f l i g h t t e s t models o f a f i f t e e n 7 p la ce (XCG-4) g ild e r* Although Waco was not a la rg e company, I t had been a p io n e er in the manufacture of commercial a i r ­ c r a f t and was b e t t e r prepared to handle a development con­ t r a c t than were most o f the co rp o ratio n s to whom th e M ateriel 8 D iv isio n tu rn ed in the e a rly days o f the g lid e r program. The XCO-3 wind tu n n el model (a small model te s te d in a w ind tu n n el f o r aerodynamic c h a ra o te r is tic s ) was com­ p le te d w ith in a few weeks a f t e r th e award of the c o n tra c t, and t e s t s were completed in September.

The g ild e r fo r

0 5 7 C 9

WACO XCG-3

40* s tr u c tu r a l t e s t was d e liv e re d .36 December 1941, and th e f l i g h t model was d e liv e re d 61 January 1942*

.Early in Febru­

ary th e A irc ra ft la b o ra to ry re p o rte d th a t f l i g h t t e s t s o f th e XCG-5 in d ic a te d a prom ising g lid e r , and in A pril th e XCG-3 9 was accepted as a s a tis f a c to r y troop g lid e r . I t was a h ig h wing monoplane w ith s t r u t b ra c e s, a fu selag e o f welded s te e l tube c o n s tru c tio n , and wooden wings and empennage.

It

could be f i t t e d w ith e i th e r o f two lan d in g g ears—a droppable g ea r f o r o p e ra tio n a l use o r a fix e d g ea r f o r tr a in in g .

The

d esig n g ro ss w eight was 4,400 pounds, and design towing speed was 120 m iles p e r hour.

The g lid e r c a rrie d e ig h t men, 10 in c lu d in g the p i l o t and © o -p llo t. The s t a t i c t e s t v ersio n of th e la r g e r XCG-4 was d e liv e re d 28 A p ril 1942, and th e f i r s t f l i g h t model a r­ il riv e d a t Wright F ie ld on 14 May. Two days l a t e r th e M a te rie l Center commended Waco f o r th e many e x tra hours of work company employees had devoted to th e p ro je c t and s ta te d th a t the XCG-4 g lid e r s had been "d eliv ered se v eral months p r i o r to d a te s th a t would have been p o ssib le under normal 12

o p eratin g co n d itio n s o f t h i s Company.M A fter M ateriel C enter and Waco engineers had completed major a lte r a ti o n s in the XCG-4 rudder and f i n assembly, th e M a te rie l C enter n o tif ie d th e M ateriel Command th a t the g lid e r was acceptable f o r p ro d u ctio n . In a s ig n if ic a n t t e s t , th e XCG-4 had been su c c e ssfu lly

4u towed from Wright H o ld to Chattut© F ie ld and back, a d ista n c e o f 220 a i r miles# ca rry in g f i f t e e n p assengers in c lu d in g th e p i l o t and e o - p i l o t .13 fh e XCG-4 was designed by Waco and M a te rie l C enter en g in eers along th e same g en eral l i n e s as th e X0G-3, w ith d iffe re n c e s a r is in g p rim a rily out o f th e la r g e r e lse of the form er.

I t was designed f o r a g ro ss weight o f 6#000 pounds

and ICO m iles p e r hour airspeed# and c a rrie d no a m o r or 14 armament. One o f th e most d is tin g u is h in g f e a tu re s o f th e XCG-4 grew out o f a suggestion by General Arnold, who said ! 1 would l ik e very much to have a sm all l i g h t jeep c o n s tru c te d .. . to c a rry two men and have H g h t armor and guns, f h is jeep should be designed and c o n s tru c te d w ith a view of f i t t i n g wings to i t so th a t we can tak e i t o f f as a g lid e r and drop i t as a g li d e r . Having dropped as a g lid e r , i t lan d s on a f i e l d somewhere, sheds I t s wings and goes around as a Je ep .2*® t h a t p ro p o sal was tr a n s la te d In to a d ir e c tiv e to Wright H e ld c a llin g f o r a study o f th e p r a c t ic a b ilit y o f modifying a g lid e r to c a rry a Jeep *in a quickly d isch arg eab le p o s i t i o n .H E arly i n November th e O ffice of the C hief, Army Air F orces, announced t h a t Waco was b u ild in g two g lid e r s capable of 16 c a rry in g a Jeep and crew of six men. fhe XCG-4 was con­ s tr u c te d to allow th e e n t ir e nose# in clu d in g th e crew com­ partment# to swing upward# thereby c re a tin g a seventy in c h by six ty in c h a p e rtu re in to the i n t e r i o r of th e g lid e r . With those arrangem ents i t was p o ssib le to unload a Jeep

42. '17 m erely by d riv in g I t out of th e g ild e r . B efore Waco was ab le to d e liv e r the s t a t i c t e s t model on the XC$»4 c o n tra c t, th e {E lder Branch o f th e Air­ c r a f t la b o ra to ry had found th a t o th e r ©xperimentaX c o n tra c ts f o r t a c t i c a l g lid e r s showed l i t t l e promise o f supplying m ac cep tab le flft® © n-plm ® g lid e r*

As ,a consequence, and in

view o f th e u rg en t need f o r g lid e r s and th e e a rly s a tis f a c tio n w ith Waco1® p ro g re ss on th e XCG~3 and X0Q-4, p ro duction con­ t r a c t s f o r th e Waoo g ild e r s were l e t b efo re the com pletion o f th e experim ental a r t i c l e s .

In f a c t , b efo re th e f i r s t f l i g h t

model XCG-4 was d e liv e re d , eleven companies had been awarded 18 c o n tra c ts f o r a t o t a l of 840 OG-IA1©* For th e development of th e X8G-3 and XOG-4 g lid e r s on th e experim ental c o n tra c t Waco was p aid $253,781.41, w ith th e Government committed to pay an a d d itio n a l 12,809.79 as o f 19 31 O ctober 1044. On 23 duly 1042, Waco claimed a lo s s on th e XGG-4.

I t was ttwelX known to the C ontracting O f f ic e r ,51

a company o f f ! d a l 'sa id , " th a t the base p ric e o f th e XCG-4 c o n tra c t as p a id by th e Government r e s u lte d in a co n sid erab le 20

lo s s to th e m anufacturer. * S t. Louis Models XGG-S, XC(M£ In June 1941 th e S t. Louis A irc ra ft C orporation, one o f th e fo u r companies I n te r e s te d in th e M ateriel Divi­ sion* a f i r s t propose! f o r g lid e r co n stru c tio n , accepted a

£ 2-4

S T . LOUIS XCG-5

43 *

c o n tra c t f o r elght«*plaee and f if te e n - p la c e models.

The

tlftQen**pla,m modal {XCG-6) was l a t e r cancel le d , le a v in g a c o n tra c t f o r a s t a t i c t o s t and a f l i g h t t e s t e ig h t-p la c e 21 XCXML The XO0-5 was expected to serve as a model for in ­ v e s tig a tio n o f th e e f f e c t of l i g h t wing lo ad in g on f ly in g 22 c h a r a c te r is tic s * T ests of th e wind tu n n el model were com23 p la te d l a September 1941# and e a rly in 1942 the s t a t i c t e s t a r t i c l e was d e liv e re d to W ig h t Field*

S tru c tu ra l

t e s t s o f th e XCG-5 in d ic a te d a need f o r design change®, 25 and th e f l i g h t t e s t a r t i c l e d e liv e re d in October 1942 needed red esig n b efo re f i n a l c o n sid e ra tio n .

24

As a r e s u lt ,

th e M ateriel C enter b e lie v e d co n tin u atio n o f the c o n tra c t would not be to the advantage o f c ith e r c o n tra c tin g party* 26 There was no f u r th e r development o f th e XOG-5. S t. Louis A irc ra ft was p a id #53,020*80 f o r i t s work on the XCG-5 and 2? XGGM3* Sowing Models XOG-7, XCG-8 The fo u rth company which sen t a fav o rab le re p ly to th e M ateriel D iv isio n g lid e r proposal was Bowlus S a ilp la n e s, In co rp o ra ted , o f San Fernando.

C ontract ao-20234, 2 October

1941, c a lle d fo r th e manufacture o f fo u r Bowlus g lid e r s o f e ig h t-p la c e and f if te e n - p la c e design.

One each s t a t i c t e s t

and one each f l i g h t t e s t e ig h t-p la c e and f if te e n - p la c e 28 g lid e r s were to be d e liv e re d by March 1942. These g lid e r s

44 were o f wood and f a b r ic c o n s tru c tio n , unarmed, and had a design towing speed o f 120 m iles p e r hour, w ith design gross w eights of 5,000 and 7,400 pounds* The e ig h t-p la c e XCG-7 s t a t i c t e s t g lid e r d e liv e re d to W right f i e l d 10 February 1042 was re tu rn e d to Bowlus f o r reworking*

Bowlus d id n o t complete r e p a irs u n t i l n ea r th e

f i r s t o f d u ly ,

f u r th e r s tr u c tu r a l t e s t s In d ic a te d th e need

f o r d esig n changes.

20

I n th e meantime th e Experim ental E ngineering S ectio n a t Wright f i e l d re p o rte d th a t as a r e s u lt of *th© d o s e f in a n c ia l r e la tio n s h ip between Mr. Bowlus*. .and of­ f i c i a l p ersonnel o f Douglas A irc ra ft Company, the l a t t e r concern took over the design o f th e f if te e n - p la c e g lid e r I n b e h a lf p f Hr* Bowlus,11 There was *q u ite a c lo se tie -u p between t h i s o u t f i t ^¥owlu§7 end th e Douglas company. As work on th e g lid e r s p ro g ressed , the Bowlus o rg a n iz a tio n c a rr ie d out an ag g ressiv e promotion campaign* One o f th e major problems of Wright f i e l d o f f i c i a l s in th e g lid e r program was th a t of Judging th e soundness, c a p a c ity , and s k i l l o f the sm all companies anxious to o b ta in Govern­ ment c o n tra c ts and prone to overestim ate t h e i r own a b i l i t y . Because i t so f u l l y i l l u s t r a t e s the n atu re o f tills f a c to r In th e g lid e r program, th e Bowlus case i s p resen ted here in some d e t a i l .

46

.

Oh 5 %>rll 1042 Homan Larson, VI o@ P re sid e n t of Bowlus S a ilp la n e s , subm itted to th e M ateriel C enter a pro-* posed p ro d u ctio n scheme,

Larson announced Bowlus* •prepared­

n ess and re a d in e ss to e n te r m immediate program o f g lid e r p ro d u c tio n .H A number of woodworking f a c i l i t i e s would soon become I d le , he p o in te d o u t, and ste p s had alread y been taken to e n l i s t th e se companies l a a v a s t production program f o r wooden g lid e r s o f Bowlus design.

A number of ex ecu tiv es of

suoh firm s had In sp ec ted th e Bowlus g lid e r p r o je c t a t boa Angeles and were estim a tin g production c o s ts .

Only those

companies capable o f producing a t l e a s t one g lid e r p e r day had been s e le c te d .

Larson © p la in e d t h i s as fo llo w s:

Me have picked o rg a n isa tio n s w ith th e se minimums, sin ce i t i s our p la n to p la c e our own tr a in e d p erso n n el r ig h t a t each p la n t, and hence must con­ c e n tra te as much as p o s s ib le . M aturally we would p r e f e r to s t a r t o u t w ith one fa c to ry a t a tim e, b u t w ith everyone working under p re ssu re , we e s t i ­ mate t h a t we could handle th re e a t th e s t a r t - and we have th re e adequate p la n ts ready and w aitin g to go. In a d d itio n , we have o th e rs in th e o ffin g fo r fu tu re use when needed. Under the p la n o u tlin e d , Bowlus would serve as prime con­ t r a c t o r supplying p ro d u ctio n and to o lin g designs and draw­ in g s, su p e rv iso rs, in s tr u c to r s f o r tr a in in g fa c to ry personnel of th e su b c o n tra cto rs, and tra in e d men f o r f i n a l assembly and In sp e c tio n .

Bowlus would a lso become the "one r e lia b le

source" resp o n sib le to the M ateriel Center In til ls "co­ o rd in a te d e f f o r t . * As the woodworking f a c i l i t i e s were in

46

.

th e Middle Wea t, Larson added th a t Bowlus p ersonnel would be moved from h o t Angeles " to a lo c a tio n c e n tr a l to these p la n ts , p o ssib ly w ith our main u n it ad jo in in g one fa c to ry and branches a t th e o th e rs ."

Shore was one se rio u s problem!

th e firm s scheduled to become su b c o n tra cto rs were su ffe r* la g a ra p id cu rta ilm e n t o f th e ir p re s e n t production and must soon be engaged in the g lid e r program i f they were n o t to lo s e tr a in e d p erso n n el,

b a r son c h a ra c te riz e d th e

e n t ir e Bowlus scheme as a ** ready-to-go* p ro duction propos i t i o n . *31 * On 30 A pril Bowlus inform ed Colonel Fred B. Bent, C hief o f the A irc ra ft la b o ra to ry 1s G lid e r Branch, th a t p la n s were being form ulated f o r th e production of one hundred XCG-8 model g lid e r s .

On 17 Ju ly 1948, b ar son re p o rte d th a t

•lew and Dr. Klemperer" (Major Lewln B. B a rrin g e r and Dr. Wolfgang Klemperer, co n su ltin g en gineer f o r the Douglas Company) had flown the XCQ—7 and "both of them were t r e — tt5£ mendously e n th u s ia s tic about i t . * By December 1942 n e ith e r th e XCG-7 nor XCG-8, nor th e XTG-12, as noted e a r l i e r , was making ap p reciab le pro­ g re s s toward acceptance as a production g lid e r , and the Bowlus o rg a n iz a tio n n o tif ie d Wright F ie ld th a t th e corpo­ r a tio n was " in dism al f in a n c ia l c o n d itio n ."

flShe follow ing

month, Bowlus o f f i c i a l s , unable to r a is e c a p ita l and n e a rly

11775C

HA

BOWLUS XCG-7

47

.

bankrupt* threw them selves "upon th e mercy o f M a teriel C e n te r." By September 1943 th e 3OT-12 c o n tra c t had been ca n ce lled , the XO0-? had proved o f "lim ite d m ilita ry u t i l i t y . , " and th e XCO-8 d id n o t y e t meet M

re tire m e n ts .

The s t a t i c t e s t and f l i g h t

t e s t models o f th e XGGU8 were accepted by the M ateriel Gommand a t reduced p r ic e s , and th e re was no p ro duction p ro 34 eurement o f e i t h e r o f the glider® , th e c o n tra c to r was p aid #233,939 f o r th e XCG-7 and XCG-8 a r t i c l e s and r e la te d ©quip35 m©nt and d a ta . th e f l i g h t a r t i c l e XCG-8 was d estro y ed in a storm a t Wilmington, Ohio, in June 1943, and in August of

t h a t y ear th e f l i g h t t e s t model X0G-? was sen t to th e High V oltage L aboratory of th e n a tio n a l Bureau o f Standards fo r use in t e s t s o f th e means o f p ro te c tin g wooden a i r c r a f t from 36 lig h tn in g . flmm Model XG&»4j In a f u r th e r experiment w ith wood c o n stru c tio n in g lid e r s , th e M a teriel Center awarded th e T im A irc ra ft Com­ pany of Los Angeles a c o n tra c t fo r th e co n stru c tio n of a plywood fu sela g e f o r th e 00—4A g lid e r .

The purpose of t h i s

p r o je c t was to in su re a s a tis f a c to ry all-w ood design fo r the CO-4 fu selag e in th e event th a t s te e l tubing (used in the 00-4A) became so c r i t i c a l th a t i t could not be made a v a ila b le to g lid e r c o n tra c to rs .

The c o n tra c t was approved 13 May 1942

and in A pril 1943 Timm d e liv e re d an XCG-4B w ith a wooden

37

48* 38 fuselage* For It?® work on t h i s c o n tra c t flam rece iv ed 39 $88,©75# th e model was not p laced in production* m m Models XQQ-lgt XfflKLRA By th e f a l l o f 1943 an accum ulation of evidence in d ic a tin g th e need f o r m odification© o f the CG-4A le d to th e d e c is io n to in c o rp o ra te needed changes In a new model g lid e r* Ihe p ro d u ctio n o f th e CC3-4A would toy t h i s o b e d ie n t toe con­ tin u e d w ith th e l e a s t in te rf e r e n c e .

On 14 October 1943 a

M a te rie l Command Change O rder to Waco1s p ro duction c o n tra c t 40 a c -25851 provided fo r the c o n stru c tio n o f an XCG-15 resembl­ ing th e GG-4A b u t w ith a olitroed wing as i t s most d is tin g u ish * 41 ing featu re* On 10 January 1944 the XCG-15 was d e liv e re d to WTight F ie ld .

Following the I n s ta l la t io n o f an Improved 42 ‘ nose s e c tio n , f l i g h t t e s t s were begun in February* Pre­ lim in ary n e g o tia tio n s In May fo r tifo f l i g h t t e s t a r t i c l e s 43 and a s t a t i c t e s t a r t i c l e XG8-15A (a m odified XGG-15), re ­ s u lte d i n c o n tra c t ac-3163 f o r the c o n stru c tio n o f the XCQ15A g lid e r s a t an estim ated co st o f $270*496*06* This was a 44 co s t- p lu s - a - f ix e d - f e e c o n tra c t, approved on 21 September 1944* th e XCG-15A was designed as an improvement o f th e CG-4A p ro duction g lid e r .

Prominent fe a tu re s of th e g lid e r

were new a ile r o n s f o r improved c o n tro l, crash p ro te c tio n f o r passenger® and crew, h ig h er towing speed, g r e a te r u se fu l lo ad ,

49

.

m Improved la n d in g gear* improved v i s i b i l i t y f o r th e p i l o t , W& a h ig h e r r a t e o f sin k made p o s sib le by th e use of f la p s t&Aoh reduced th e amount o f power re q u ire d to tow th e g lid e r a t speeds in excess o f ISO m iles p e r hour. t h i s model were under way in November 1944.

F lig h t t e s t s o f 45

fhe XCG-15A proved to be a su p e rio r a r t i c l e and was p la c e d in p ro d u ctio n as the C0-15A w ith d e liv e r ie s o f th e pro­ ductio n model s ta r t in g In neoember 1944.

th e e n tir e p r o je c t

from i n i t i a l conception to d e liv e ry o f production q u a n titie s re q u ire d only fo u rte e n months and c o s t approxim ately $484,000+

mmBsmwam fh e f i n a l experim ental c o n tra c t f o r a g lid e r o f th e f if te e n - p la c e c la s s was g iven to Ohase A irc ra ft Company o f Raw York on 30 October 1943*

C ontract ae-1206 provided f o r

the m anufacture o f two f l i g h t t e s t a rtic le © and one s t a t i c

47

t e s t model o f th e Chase K$»l, A ir Force Model XCC-14 g lid e r , th e s t a t i c t e s t g lid e r was d e liv e re d 17 August 1944, and a l­ though not b u i l t ex actly to th e d e s ire d s p e c if ic a tio n s , t h i s a r t i c l e had proved 100$ s tr u c tu r a lly sound on a l l t e s t s run 43 to th e f i r s t o f November 1944. At th a t time the c o n tra c to r 49 had been p a id approadm&tely ^ 9 0 ,0 0 6 , and in view of th e e a rly success o f th e s t a t i c t e s t g lid e r , and in an attem pt to r e a l i s e more f u lly on the Government*© investm ent to d ate i n th e Ohase p r o je c t, th e AAF Area R epresen tativ e in th e Mew

46

t o r k a re a was asked to do ev ery th in g p o s s ib le to ex p ed ite th e d e liv e ry o f a f l i g h t t e s t a r t i c l e .

The Chase c o n tra c t

was continued as a long te rn , postw ar development p ro jec t#

50

T h irty -P la c e and Forty-Two^Dlaoe Models In December 1941, Colonel Dent, Chief of th e (E ld e r Branch o f th e A irc ra ft la b o ra to ry , Wright F ie ld , re tu rn e d from an in s p e c tio n to u r o f g lid e r a c t i v i t i e s in England, b rin g in g w ith him im pressions of B r iti s h p la n s f o r th e development of a th ir ty - p la c e g lid e r capable o f c a rry in g 51 t h i r t y men o r heavy f i e l d p ie c e s . That stim ulus, lin k e d w ith th e obvious d e s i r a b i l i t y o f In c re a sin g the u s e fu l load o f AAF g lid e r s , le d th e AAF to e s ta b lis h a program f o r th e development of th ir ty - p la c e and fo rty -p la c e troop-cargo g lid e r s . Snead Model X03-U The f i r s t c o n tra c t fo r a th ir ty - p la c e g lid e r was th a t given to Bnead and Company, J e rse y C ity, Hew Je rse y , f o r th e XCQ-11.

This fix e d p ric e c o n tra c t ao-27358, approved

21 ^ p r il 1942, was f o r th ree g lid e r s .

The XCC-11 fu selag e

was to be b u i l t o f a n o n - o r itlc a l s te e l tubing to determ ine th e a d v is a b ility of u sin g t h i s m a te ria l in heavy g lid e r s . The M a teriel Center* s design conceptions f o r the XCC-11 c a lle d f o r a g lid e r capable o f a towing speed of 150 m iles

51 p e r hour and having a g ro ss weight o f 15,000 to 16,000 pounds. 52 fh e wing span was to he 112 f e e t , fu sela g e le n g th 35 f e e t . She Snead Company was In co rp o rated in Hew J e rse y In 1900 and had m anufactured lib r a r y booh sta ck s, s te e l and g la s s o f f ic e p a r t i t i o n s , and o th e r o f fic e equipment b efo re th e war.

The war ro le of th e company had been p r in c ip a lly th a t

o f su b c o n tra c to r to Republic A viation o f Long Is la n d f o r 53 welded aluminum assem b lies. On 24 J u ly 1942 th e c o n tra c to r supplied a wind tun­ n e l model.

On 29 August Snead asked f o r an exten sio n of th e

d e liv e ry d a te s , and th e re q u e st was g ran ted .

In September

th e c o n tra c to r req u ested re n e g o tia tio n of th e c o n tra c t to prov id e a c o s t-p lu s -a -f ix e d -f e e c o n tra c t w ith an In crease In th e c o n tra c t p r ic e from th e o r ig in a l #265,000 to #5??, 000. However, th e re were no d e liv e r ie s on th e o r ig in a l c o n tra c t, 64 and on 9 June 1943 i t was ca n c e lle d . Payments to Snead 55 on t h i s c o n tra c t to ta lle d #143,118.25. Laister-K auffm ann Models %00-lCh XCCr-lQA In %>rll 1942 the Laister-K auffraann A irc ra ft Corpo­ r a tio n of S t. Louis was given a c o n tra c t f o r th re e XCG-10 th ir ty - p la c e tro o p -carg o g lid e r s o f wood c o n stru c tio n . T his g lid e r was designed f o r a u se fu l load o f 8,000 pounds a t a g ro ss w eight of 15,980 pounds, w ith a towing speed of 150 m iles p e r hour, and was to be 68 1 /2 f e e t long w ith a

52. 10© fo o t wing span* She c o n tra c to r was- u n u su ally slow In accom plishing com pleted g lid e r s , and claim ed th a t m anufacture of th e XCG-10 had h e m h eld up by a low WB p r i o r i t y number on th e p r o je c t which made i t exceedingly d i f f i c u l t to o b ta in m a te ria l and 5© p arte * The f i r s t f l i g h t and s t a t i c t e s t a r t i c l e s were not d e liv e re d u n t i l O ctober 1943*

In th e meantime the Waco A ir5? c r a f t Company had completed i t s XCG-13 th ir ty - p la c e g lid e r* When th e XGG-13 was approved f o r p ro d u ctio n in th e f a l l o f 1943, th e XGCWLO was dropped, and th e Lai ster-Xauffmann con­ t r a c t was changed to c a l l f o r an XCG-XGA, a fo rty -tw o p lace ©8 g lid e r of wood c o n s tru c tio n . A f l i g h t model XCG-10A was d e liv e re d to th e O linton County Army Air F ie ld on 30 A pril 1944, and i n August th e G lid e r Branch o f th e A irc ra ft Laboratory a t Wright F ie ld §9 d e c la re d th e g lid e r s u ita b le f o r p ro d u ct!o n • The o u tstan d in g fe a tu re o f th e XOG-lOA was a cargo compartment 6 2/3 f e e t h ig h by 8 1/2 f e e t wide*

The g lid e r

was b u i l t to c a rry a 2 1 /2 ton tru c k , o r 42 tro o p s, o r two 10© mm. h o w itz ers, o r one 155 mm. h o w itzer.

In September

1944 i t was th e only la rg e wooden a i r c r a f t which had suc­ c e s s f u lly p assed s t a t i c te s tin g during the war. On 6 September the A irc ra ft L aboratory p o in te d out th a t although Laieter-K&uffmann was slow in making d e liv e r ie s , "the workmanship and engineering performed by t h i s company

12 m e

SzA

LAISTER-KAUFFMMffi XQG-1Q

14CC32

x g g - i o a w i t h 105 mm, K)WITZER AND JEEP I I LOADING POSITION

lhCC2

5ZC

LAISTEE-KA.UFIMAM XCG-10A LOADED WITH ONE 1 0 5 nun. HOWITZER AND ONE JEEP

S3. ec^ a3* o r su p e rio r of any o th e r g lid e r manu­

JrMSL‘^ 7 fa c tu re ? .*

©*s L aboratory recommended th e procurement o f a

s e rv ic e t e s t q u a n tity o f XOCKLOA^s.60 As o f th© f i r s t o f Jfovember 1944 th e fu tu re o f th e XGG-LQA nas n o t assu red , b u t i t s p o s s i b i l i t i e s as a p ro d u ctio n g lid e r m m enhanced by a somewhat ex ten siv e i n t e r e s t In la r g e g lid e r s .

As e a rly as October 1943, th e Airhoist® Command

had expressed a d e s ire f o r " la rg e , h ig h performance tra n s p o rt 01 g lid e r s , * and a y ear l a t e r the I troop C a rrie r Command asked th© A ir fe e h n ie a l Service Command to have e v a lu a tio n Q& t e s t s o f th® XGG~10A com pleted as soon as p o s s ib le . On 31 October 1944 th e E ngineering B1v is io n , M r te c h n ic a l S ervice Command# re q u e ste d th e AM? Board a t Orlando# F lo rid a , 63 to s e t up a t e s t program f o r the Lai steiv&auffmann g lid e r . th e XOO-XOA was given ex ten siv e t e s t s by th© AAF Board# and by th e X f r o op C a rrie r Command a t Laurlmburg^Maxton tony A ir Base, Marton, B erth C aro lin a, during th© w in ter o f 1044-40. fhe success o f th o se t e s t s and the fav o rab le view of th e g lid e r taken by Wright f i e l d g lid e r engineers r e s u lte d In th e award to Lai ster-Kauffmarni o f a production c o n tra c t f o r 04 100 00-10A g lid e r s e a rly In 1040. A® o f th e d a te o f th a t re q u e s t th e Government had p a id Laister-Kauffm ann a l i t t l e over $774,000 f o r th® XCG-10A p r o je c t, in clu d in g i t s a n te c e d en t, th e X00-10.66

JUL& MsmISM

*

A c o n tra c t {ao~28534) f a r to e © th irty * tw o -p la c e tro o p c a r r i e r g lid e r s was awarded th e AG& A viation C orporation o f Willow drove, P ennsylvania, on 3 J u ly 1942*. c o n tra c t p r ic e was #299,820.58*

th e o r ig in a l

fhe c o n tra c to r, reo rg an ised

as & & A A ir c r a f t, In co rp o rated , d id not meet f i r s t d e liv e ry sched u les, and by November 1942 was accum ulating c o s ts in excess o f o r ig in a l e s tim a te s ,

the A irc ra ft la b o ra to ry took

th e view th a t d e liv e r ie s on th e c o n tra c t would occur to o l a t e f o r p ro p er e v a lu a tio n o f the g lid e r befo re i t became necessary «

« » „ , u r t l f r p „ T O „* « » * ,

0» 2

1942 the c o n tra c t was cancelled* -,3

fhe term in atio n supplement to th e c o n tra c t was not

completed u n t i l 8 November 1948*

t o t a l payments to th e eon*

tr a c t o r were #212,128.28, o r more than tw o*thirds o f th e o r ig in a l c o n tra c t p r ic e .

For th is sum, in a d d itio n to cer­

ta in desig n d a ta , th e Government receiv ed a la rg e stock o f a i r c r a f t m a te ria ls and su p p lie s on hand a t the c o n tra c to r11s 0V p la n t a t the tim e o f term in atio n . Waco Model %0G~1J» By th e f a l l o f 1942 th e C$*4A was in p ro d u ctio n and Waco, d esig n er of th e g lid e r , was in a p o s itio n to under* tak e a new development p r o je c t,

th e G lid e r Branch of th e

A irc ra ft la b o ra to ry wanted to apply F ace 's experience w ith

110311

WACO XCG-13

55

fitte a n -p la e * g lid e rs to th e problem o f developing g lid e r s o f la rg e r oapaolty.

Oontraot ao-31734, spi.ro vod 23 September

1948* assigned to t h a t company th e development of a t h i r t y p la o e troop o a r r le r g lid e r having a design towing speed of

174 m iles p er h o ar a t 12,000 f e e t , a g ro ss weight of 15,000 pounds, and a useful load of 8,000 pounds.

O ther design

f e a tu re s o f th e XOG-13 were an 80 fo o t wing span* o v e r - a ll le n g th of 04 f e e t , a welded tube co n stru c tio n fu se la g e , and e x te rn a lly b raced , wooden wings*6® She f i r s t f l i g h t a r t i c l e d e liv e re d on t h i s ©ont r a c t a rriv e d a t Wright H e ld 10 March 1943, and was la* m ediately su b je cte d to t e s t s .

On 18 March th e A irc ra ft

Laboratory re p o rte d th a t the g lid e r had su c c e ssfu lly passed p relim in ary f l i g h t te s ts *

fhe second f l i g h t a r t i c l e was

d e liv e re d to th e C linton County Army Air F ie ld on 6 J u ly , b u t i t was d estro y ed by a tornado a few days l a t e r and a l l m o d ificatio n s in c o rp o ra te d i n th e g lid e r were tr a n s f e r r e d to th e f i r s t XGCKL3.

D e liv e rie s were completed on 7 J u ly

when the s t a t i c t e s t model was assigned to th e M ateriel Command f o r s tr u c tu r a l te s tin g .

69

She XCG-13 was th e f i r s t of th e la rg e g lid e r s to meet AAF req u irem en ts.

Service t e s t and production q u an ti­

t i e s o f t h i s g lid e r were ordered.

For th e development and

c o n s tru c tio n o f the experim ental g lid e rs , th e c o n tra c to r

was p a id #371,078.12 to 31 October 1944, a t which time th e

w* TO

Qovermtent owed Waco m a d d itio n a l #1,847.84 on th e c o n tra c t.

m&m& mm m m I t th e tim e ©cntraetu&l arrangem ents f o r th e X0O-X5 were helms completed* n e g o tia tio n s were under way w ith th e fo rk A iro ra ft C orporation o f Hew fo rk f o r th e c o n s tru c tio n o f a th ir ty - p la c e tro o p c a r r i e r g lid er*

On 34 September 1942

t h i s company was given a c o n tra c t (ae-81?30) f o r th e 2C00-1S, a 17*631 pound (g ro ss weight) g lid e r w ith a u se fu l lo a d of 8,283 pounds, a 112 fo o t wing and an o v e r - a ll le n g th o f 70 71 feet* The fo rk C orporation was soon Involved in f in a n c ia l d i f f i c u l t i e s , and in Hay 1945 the c o n tra c t was ca n c e lle d . A new c o n tra c t f o r th e X8G-12 was given to H ead-fork, In ­ corporated* a Mm fo rk firm c re a te d f o r th e purpose o f ae~ 72 I , p . 88# I I I , P a r t X, p . 123* w t I# p . 88, IX, P a r t 2, se ctio n on Bead* **

I n t e r c o m 0 0 Memorandum# MaJ. Lloyd w. B in k e lsp ie l, Legal Branch, to Ghief# Legal Branch, Procurement Bivl alo n , M a teriel Command, W ig h t f i e l d , 20 November 1843, I n Correspondence f i l e , Read*Xork, in A irc ra ft L aboratory, W ig h t F ie ld . I b i d . ; G lid e r I t o o r t . I I I , P a r t 1, p . 118. n lre ra iT T a B o rllo $ y w e e h ly T elety p e, 29 October, f WoVember 1943.

Stoties o f D e fa u lt, M a te rie l Gommand* W ig h t f i e l d , ' to Eead*Yorfc, 8 December 1943, i n Correspondence f i l e , Head*Xork, i n A irc ra ft L aboratory, W ig h t f i e l d . T erm ination o f Work Motic®, M ateriel Command to Bead* Xorfc, 6 December 1948, i n Correspondence f i l e , Bead* Xork, i n A irc ra ft L aboratory, f r ig h t f i e l d . Advance payments tip to 30$ o f th e c o n tra c t p r ic e were au th o riz ed by P u b lic Law 871, 78th t o g . , 84 jg|gt* 870. As th e m anufacturer progressed w ith th e work, the ta n g ib le r e s u l t s o f h is e f f o r t ttp a id back, * o r liq u i* dated th e advance payments. Hot i c s o f Default# M a teriel Command to Read-Xork, 6 December 1948. L e tte r o f Appeal, Head*Xork to S ecretary o f War, 80 December 1943| Telegram, M a teiiel Command, W ig h t Field* to Judge Advocate (general, War Department, 22 August 1044, b o th in Correspondence f i l e , Stead-Xorfc, i n A ir c r a f t Laboratory# Wright fie ld * Finance S ectio n F ile o f Payments. G lider Report* 71, s e c tio n on Bowlus-Gria X0G*18* W m m m i l f t MsJ. A* K. Bloanplst# O ffice o f D irecto r o f M r Support, 12 December 1942* i n G lid er F ile 4.211, A irc ra ft P ro je c ts Branch, M a te rie l and S erv ices. I b id . ; see also* Mai. Gen. O harles 8» Bran sh aw to fro o u o tio n Branch# M ateriel# Maintenance and B istrilm * . td o a , W ellington* 2© February 1944, in G lid e r F ile 4.1119# A irc ra ft Pro 3®cts Branch, Mate&ftl and Services*

S3. 83* Minutes of" Conference Bold in Operations I&vlel&fti Air S ta ff, 3 H l y a « 1943* to Determine the AAF G lider PttMgrat, im Bradbury, "Resume o f AAf (E ld e r Program, * s a t e H t «r*» 86. Routing end Record Sheet, Comment Bo. 3, M a te rie l Com­ mand, Washington, to D ire c to r o f M ilita ry Requirements* H eadquarters, AAF, Washington, 10 February 3.943, lit AfSC His t o r i o a l O ffic e . 87. B rig . B. W. Chldl&w, M ateriel Command, Washington, to aoi* Prod 1* t e n t i A irc ra ft L aboratory, Wright fie ld * Id February 1943, l a WFi#it F ie ld C en tral File® 432.1, Bovlus. 08. Lewis C. Stone, “Resume o f Happenings on th e 3TO*X0 G lid e r P r o j e c t , * 20 October 1944, I n Correspondence H i e , XCG-16, A irc ra ft Laboratory* Wright F ie ld . 89. R ichard 0 , duPont, "Report o f Meeting w ith Commanding G eneral. aAF, 2$ August 1943, * cony i n G lider f i l e 4 A irc ra ft P ro je c ts Branch, M a te rie l and S erv ices. 90. ~Mmmxs®8m f o r G eneral Ohidlaw by General Rehola, 31 August 1943, i n G lid e r F ile 4.211, A irc ra ft P ro je c ts Branch, M a te rie l and S erv ice s. 91. T eletype No. H£p-36, C hief o f S ta f f , M aterial ' Command, W right F ie ld ,' to A ssista n t Chief o f Air S ta ff, M a te rie l, Maintenance and D is tr ib u tio n , Wasfc&ngton, 13 September 1945, i n Oorrefipondenee F ile , X60-X6, A irc ra ft Labors*to r y , Wright Field* 98* G lid er R eso rt, VI. se c tio n on XO0-16. 93. W L & W p S m T n m ^ m , C hief of S ta f f, M ateriel rn m m a , tc A ssista n t C hief o f A ir S ta f f, M a te rie l, Maintenance and D is tr ib u tio n , 13 September 1943. 94* See Memorandum f o r General Cbidlaw by C hief, Development E ngineering Branch, H eadquarters, AAP, 20 October 1943, l i L d i d e r F ile 4.211, A irc ra ft P ro je c ts Branch, M a teriel and S erv ices. 93. Routing and Record Sheet, B rig. Sen. H. A. C raig, O perations, Commitments and Requirements, to A ssistan t C hief of A ir S ta f f, M a te rie l, Malntenaac© and D istrib u ­ tio n , 4 October 1943* 06. I n t e r o f f i c e Memorandum, Col. Qrval R. Cook, C hief, P ro d u ctio n D iv isio n , Wright F ie ld , to B rig. Gen. f* 0. C a rro ll, C hief, fiagineerliig D iv isio n , Wright F ie ld , e t a ! . , % Jfovember 1043, copy i n Biohman, J J f G lid er f m W m * P ro d u ctio n Procurem.ent* jfc>pe*t&im F ; 07. f l l f l y p e '161“ ® S 'J & S rW7, l i i w i e i , Maintenance and D is tr ib u tio n , Washington, to M ateriel Command, Wright F ie ld , I November 1943, copy I n Dichman, AAF Clldejg Program. P roduction Procurement. AppendlxTT f i . IH e W f^ feV AOTj&l-lVs’, i ^ t '^ i e l , Maintenmo© and D is tr ib u tio n to M ateriel Command, 1 November 1943, to p , i n Dtohman, AAF 31M «r Program, pyocUACtAQn ProfflKSgM* t o e a w iV -

84 99. 100. m .

108. 108. 104. 108. 103, 10V.

108.

109. 110. 111. 118.

.

In te r -o m e s Memorandum, Chief, Engineering B ivlsion, Bright F ie ld , to Chief, A ircraft Laboratory, frig h t F ield , 6 ifovetaber 1048* la Wright f ie ld C entral F ile s 488.1, Bowlus-flri* « l t e » . te le ty p e (»o. om itted), Chief of dip f t o ff, Washington, to M ateriel Command, W rl#it F ield , 9 Bovember 1043,' copy

&«££*»? ** l^ sl £safiESS’ iasa^B mmssmi'

C ontrast 083*080 ao»l66®{ Stone, “Besuae of Happenings on 103*16..* S3 Oatobor 1044. Stone, "Hesame o f Happenings oa XCO-16, * 86 Oetober 1844. H aler General Charles X. Branahaw to Production Branch, M ateriel, Maintenance sad D istrib u tio n , Washington, 26 February 1844, l a d lid s r F ile 4.1118, A ircraft P ro jects Branch, M ateriel sad S ervices. Coat l a exoeea o f th e o rig in a l oontraot p rie s . I b id .a Finance Seotion F ile of Payments. te le ty p e Ko. SHO-1189, H ateriel Command, Wright Field, to US Resident R epresentative a t Seaeral Airborne Transp o rt Co., 14 Angust 1844, la. Wright Field C entral F ile s 482.1, O sasral Airborne Transport Co. Teletype Be. TSBER3H'*U-®1* I t . Ool. S< W. Diohaan, Production Seotion, Wright F ield , to H ateriel and Services, Washington, A ttn. Haj. w. B. Hoyt, 14 Heyembef 1944, in G lider and Hleoell&aeous A ircraft Branch f l i e s , Production Section, Wright F ie ld . "Prelim inary Heport of O perational end T aotioal saita* b i l lt y fe e t o f fe e XCG-16 G lider, p ro ject Ho. 403404621,* 2 Botesber 1944, by US Board, Orlando, F la. § "Analysis o f 303*13, * Bovember 1044, unsigned document fo r record In Correspondence f i l e , X0G-16, both In A irc raft Labora­ to ry , Wright F ield . Teletype Ho. TSEaE-S-ll-KLe, Engineering D ivision, Wright y ie ld , to H ate riel and Services, Washington, 30 Bovember 1944, in Oorrencondeaee, Contract ac-1666, Oontraot f i l e s , Wright F ield . Telegram Bo. TSHTB-fl-U-81, ATS6, Weight F ield , to General Airborne, e t & ♦, 30 Bovember 1944, in Oorreepondenee f i l e , x eG -I# ,T l re ra ft Laboratory, B light F ield . Finance Seotion FUe of Payments. TI-1870, H ateriel Command, taught H eld , 16 Bovsaber 19431 In te r-O ffic e Memorandum, Chief, A ircraft Laboratory Wiedgfe F ield , to Deputy Chief of S taff, H ateriel Command, Wright F ield , 28 Bovember 1943s A ircraft Laboratory Weekly Teletype, 82 dune 1944, a l l in A ircraft Laboratory, Wright f i e l d . . Interview with Haj. W. 0. Laaarus, 7 December 1944*

Bradbury, "assume of_AAf Glider Program, • p. at M« Gen. It, J. MoBalr, Commanding General, Amy Ground Forces, to OMWMidlag Itosoral, AAP. 4 fuly 1048, in AAF Central Piles (Classified) 482.IB, Gliders. Chief of Staff, I troop Carrier Command, quoted in M

lit.

B

M

s w

H

i s &

m

. r a

s *

pleld, Ind., 1948, p. 3, la ANT Hlstorloal Division Archives, Washington. Bradbury, *Besume of AST Glider Program, * p . 3. Materiel Oommand Memorandum Beport Ho. ESRJ-H-81/456I-1-2, 6 ^ u s t 1948, quoted la Glider Beoort. I l l , Part l , teletype Bo. EX-932, Assistant Chief o f s t a f f (E), Materiel Command, Washington, to Experimental Engineering Seotion, Wright field, 3 September 1942, in Glider Report. I ll , Part 1, pp. DiTeOtor of Military Requirem ents, Headquarters, AAP, Washington, to Commanding General, Materiel Command, Washington, 18 O etober 1948, in Glider assort. ZXX, Chief/&^ineering B lfislo a * Wright field, to M a teriel Command, Washington,27 ftim w et 1943j Chief o f t t a f f (E), Materiel Command, Washington, to Chief, Engineering Division, Wright fle|d,, S March 1945, both is Glider Reports I I I , f a r t X, p p . 106*0?.

120. p r o Beperte Itl/faft 1, p. 100.

123.

# sswwi.) u s u a lly of w»o&, c o n stru c ted to seal©* Chief, E ngineering J&visi©**, Wright f i e l d , to Commanding G eneral, A ir Bervie© Command, f a tte r s o a f i e l d , Ohio, M September 1045, is Wright H e ld C en tral f i l e s 402.1, ' Assault ^134| | bj M m r& i4 la b o ra to ry Weekly te le ty p e , I n te ^ S e e k Memorandum* C h ief, M a teriel B iv ls i on, Washington, to C hief, Bevelopment Engineering Branch, H a te rie l, Maintenance and D is trib u tio n , Washington, Z August 1945, in A 0 C e n tral H i e s 402.1C, G lid e rs. B a lly D iary o f th e S pecial A ss is ta n t on th e G lid e r fro g ra a , Washington, 2 September 1943, in A 0 C en tral f ii.e s (Closed) 319.1. A irc ra ft la b o ra to ry Weekly te le ty p e , 17 September 10409 te le ty p e go. AMMUMMM3L« M a te rie l, Maintenance and D is trib u tio n to M a te rie l Command, $1 Oetober 1043, copy i n G lid e r BSport, H I , f a r t 1, p . 1XB. «MSS J S ? ” S ,^ r A l ' " s «**•*> «•***♦■«, r finance section m -*te o«*.•#f iyayments* S t t M * I , photographs s e c tio n , XPGkl. mm

.

36 130. 131. 132.

133. 134. 133. 136. 137. 13®.

139. 140.

141.

142. 143.

"WS-378, A irc ra ft A oo.ptanoes,» p . 173. A irc ra ft L aboratory V.eMLy T elety p e, 22 J u ly 1943. SlM .fr R eport. 2, photographs se o tio n , XP0*lj Z n terO f f lo i Heffloranduo, Procurement D iv isio n , Wright F ie ld , to A s s is ta n t C hief o f A ir S ta f f, H a te rie l and S erv ices, Washington, A ttn. B rig . Own. E. M. powers, 24 Oetober 1044, copy i n AS80 H is to r ic a l O ffic e . She c o s t of th e XPO-1 was d eriv e d by adding th e engine I n s t a l l s * tio n c o s ts t o the p r le e o f th e C0-4A g lid e r used in conversion. G lider R eport, I , photographs se o tio n , XPG-2. A ir c r a f t Aooeptanoes, * pe 173. A irc ra ft Laboratory Weekly te le ty p e , 16 Ju ly 1943. m i , 20 August 1943. W m Memorandum Report Bo. TSEAL~2-4563~3-l, Addendum Mo. 2, 30 Bovember 1944, in G lid e r F ile 4.321, Air* c r a f t P ro je c ts Branch, M ateriel and S erv ices. G lid er Report. 1, photographs eeo tio n , XPG-2; I n t e r W f t m Memorandum, Procurement D iv isio n , Wright F ie ld , to A s sis ta n t C hief o f A ir S ta f f , M ateriel and S e r­ v ic e s , Washington, A ttn. B rig. Sen. E. M. Powers, 24 October 1944. Cost d eriv ed as in case o f 30?0-1. General Arnold to M a te rie l Command, Washington, 1 ^ > r il 1942, copy in Bradbury, "Resume o f AAF G lid e r Program ," E x h ib it "S.* A irc ra ft L aboratory Weekly te le ty p e , 3, 17, 24 September 1943, 24 August 1944; In te r-O ffic e Memo­ randum, Procurement D iv isio n , Wright F ie ld , to A s sis ta n t C hief o f A ir S ta f f, M ateriel and S erv ices, Washington, A ttn. B rig . Sen. S. M. Powers, 24 Octo­ b e r 1944. AfSO Memorandum Report Mo. TSEAL-2-4561-1-12, 30 November 1944. An account o f th e towplane t e s t program o f th e ■ ~ * •— **------ “ J 1 in X fropp C a rrie r 7r?p.r* PFAtypfiffi. t id fig u re s from G lid er Report a® quoted e a r l i e r in th is ch ap ter were used T o d e te rm in e t o t a l payments. G lid er Hodo r t . VI, se c tio n on XGG-16.

m.

mmm

*r

o f n m m m m ,m m Although th e p ro d u ctio n o f tr a in in g g lid e r* was a ta sk mom lim ite d in scope th an th© p ro d u ctio n of t a c t i c a l g lid e r s * th e u rg e n t need f o r t r a i n e r s made th e tr a in in g pro* au ctio n p r o je c t one o f th e most c r i t i c a l problems o f th e g lid e r program*

G lid e r p i l o t s were needed to c a rry on de­

velopment work and to serve as a corps of in s tr u c to r s f o r the t a c t i c a l g lid e r tr a in in g program*

th e Army had had

almost no esp erien e e w ith g lid e rs# and as a re s u lt# m ilita ry p i l o t s were not a v a ila b le f o r even the p relim in ary phases of th® program,

th e p ro d u ctio n o f tr a in in g g lid e r s became,

th e re fo re , a v i t a l fu n c tio n i n th e g lid e r program.

Vhe f i r s t AAF p ro d u ctio n g lid e r procurement was au th o rised on 29 August 1941 by a M ateriel D ivision d ir e c tiv e c a llin g f o r th e procurem ent of eig h tee n tw o-place g lid e r s . On th e b a s is of t h i s d ir e c tiv e , th e M ateriel C enter n eg o ti­ ated a c o n tra c t w ith the ich w elser A irc ra ft C orporation of glm lra, Mew f o rk ,

fh e Bchweiaer experim ental 3C9PG-2 had been

completed in September 1941, and eig h tee n p ro duction model s were bought cm c o n tra c t ae-2194S, 24 October 1941.

33. I n th e summer o f 1340 th e o o n tra o t was In creased by e ig h t g ild e r s to use m a te ria ls l e f t a f t e r th e d e liv e ry of th e o r ig in a l quantity.** th e Sohwelaer C orporation had the d is tin c tio n o f d e liv e rin g th e f i r s t p ro d u ctio n a r t i c l e in th e g lid e r pro­ gram In February 1942.

th e o o n tra o t was completed w ith the

d e liv e ry o f th e tw e n ty -six th g lid e r in J u ly 1942.

The TG-2* e

c o st th e Government $2,864 p e r g lid e r , o r a t o t a l of $74,461.81.

These g lid e r s were used in th e f i r s t AAF 3 g lid e r tr a in in g program. During th e l a t t e r p a r t o f 1941 and through most of 1942 th e Lai ster-K au f fmann A irc ra ft C orporation was work­ in g on i t s tw o-place XTG-4.

E arly i n 1942, b efo re th e

com pletion o f th e e;sperim ental c o n tra c t, WW.ght F ie ld engi­ neers pronounced th e g lid e r s u ita b le f o r p roduction.

On

4 March a o o n trao t ( ao-25850) fo r se v en ty -fiv e TG-4A*s was approved, and i n May a second c o n tra c t (ae-23995) fo r 4 se v en ty -fiv e a d d itio n a l g lid e r s was awarded. L a is te r Ksaffmann made th e f i r s t d e liv e ry in J u ly 1942, and i n June 1943 both c o n tra c ts were completed. TG-4A was approxim ately $4,062.

The u n it co st of th e

As o f 31 October 1944

payments on th e se c o n tra c ts to ta lle d $609,090.62, and th© Government owed Laister-K auffm ann an a d d itio n a l sum of #213.78.® The Schweizer XfG-3, a wooden ad ap tatio n o f th©

89

,

TCM8, was th e t h i r d tr a in in g g lid e r approved f o r p ro d u ctio n . On 84 March 1942, th e H a te rie l C enter g ran ted th e Schwelser Company a o o n tra o t (ae-26238) f o r se v en ty -fiv e M

's .

A

o o n trao t supplement in c re a se d th e q u an tity to 110 i n June. F ir s t d e liv e r ie s were made in August and th e o o n trao t was completed i n J u ly 1948 a t a ooat o f 1440,416*11! or approxi­ m ately $4,004 p e r g lid e r .^ On 4 June 1042, A ir G lid e rs, In co rp o rated , o f B arberton, Ohio, was formed to m anufacture a irp la n e p a r ts and g lid e r s f o r th® AAF.

The th re e c h ie f sto ck h o ld ers o f

th® co rp o ratio n were th e Sun Rubber Company of B arberton, Ohio, end th e Hamlin M etal Products Company and th e BakerKeMIllen Company o f Akron, Ohio; v a rio u s o f f ic e r s o f th ese concerns h e ld ex ecu tiv e p o s itio n s i n A ir G lid e rs.

The

p re sid e n t o f Air G lid e rs was Hr* T. W. Smith, g en eral manager o f Ban Rubber} Air G lid e rs1 tr e a s u re r was E. W. Hamlin, p re s id e n t of Hamlin M etal Products} Mr. J . Sperry, gen eral manager of Baker-McMlllen, served as v ic e p resid en t} 7 and th e s e c re ta ry , Mr. J . Jarb o e, was an Akron a tto rn e y . The o rg a n iz a tio n of th e Air G lid ers co rp o ratio n coincided w ith a se ar eh by th e AAF f o r an a d d itio n a l source o f supply f o r th e TG-3A, and on 16 June 1942 th e M ateriel Command i n Washington d ire c te d th e purchase of f i f t y of th e se g lid e r s from the newly-formed company.

8 Acting under

t h i s in s tr u c tio n , th e M ateriel Center a t Wright F ie ld

90 # n e g o tia te d a ©©8t~plus-a«*flx©d-f ee co n tract#

Th© procurement

m $ opposed* however, by Major E. w. Dlohman, Qhiof o f th e 9 G lid er tft<, P roduction E ngineering se c tio n , who p o in ted out i n M gust t h a t A ir G lid e rs had no f a c i l i t i e s av ailab le# " I t seems a p p a re n t,1* he s a id , " th a t t h i s firm i s organized f o r th e s p e c if ic purpose o f g e ttin g the Government to s e t 10 them up i n th e a i r c r a f t business# * A few days l a t e r th e Production D iv isio n lodged a f u r th e r p r o te s t w ith the M a teriel Gommand i n Washington:

"There appears to be l i t t l e Ju st 1 f l ­

e c tio n f o r th e c o n tra c t h e ld by A ir G lid e r s .. . • pany appears to be s t i l l on p a p e r."

This oom*

The G lid er Unit of

th e P roduction D ivision recommended th a t th e o o n trao t be can celled .

11

The d ir e c tiv e to procure was n o t rescin d ed , and on 11 September th e o o n trao t (am*29755) f o r f i f t y TG-3A' s was form ally approved by th e Chief of the M ateriel C enter IS C ontract S ectio n . On th e same day B rig a d ier General B. E# Meyers o f the M a teriel Command d ire c te d M ateriel Center o f f i c i a l s to withdraw A ir G liders from a l l l i s t s of con13 tr a c to r s recommended f o r c a n c e lla tio n . h a te r , Mr. Jarboe of Air G lid ers was n o tif ie d by G eneral Meyers' o ffic e th a t 14 a l l te rm in atio n proceedings had been stopped. The Sohwelzer co rp o ratio n had agreed to fu rn is h Air G lid e rs th e design d a ta and engineering and production 15 a id n ecessary to b u ild th e TG-3A g lid e r s . On 30 October

91. MM tlW te r t n o t i f i e d th© M a te ria l C enter th a t they ocuia. not make d e liv e r ie s because th© d a ta to he subm itted by Sohweizer had not been re c e iv e d * i» a eompicted form to d a te , * and in a d d itio n th e d a ta which had been subm itted was u n re lia b le # ttW® have been re q u ire d to com pletely re -e n g in e e r th e g lid e r.* 1 C eienei Biohman l a t e r adm itted th a t th e re m m **a number of dim ensional e rro rs* in th e Schweizer drawings and r e la te d 16 th a t A ir C i l l e r s had to l o f t a I W I to g e t com pletely 1? accu rate dim ensions. th e re was ample reason, however, f o r doubting th© a b i l i t y o f A ir G lid e rs to make e f f e c tiv e us© o f it© d a ta .

F a c i l i t i e s o f th e co rp o ra tio n m m inad eq u ate, and

procedures o f th© o rg a n iz a tio n d id n o t appear to be e f f ic ie n t o r v ig o ro u s.

I n s p ite o f A ir G liders* in s is te n c e upon

rece iv in g a TG-5A f o r exam ination, s h o rtly a f te r one was d e liv e re d to th© company a H a te rie l Center re p re s e n ta tiv e V isite d the p la n t and found th© g lid e r covered w ith canvas 18 and sto re d i n a hangar. buying th© f a l l o f 1942 the G lid er Unit o f th© production g& gineeiing S ectio n , Wright F ie ld , made rep eated attem pts to have th e c o n tra c t term inated.

On 16 December

th© H a te rie l Command in Washington w ired the H a te rie l C enter approving c a n c e lla tio n , and two days l a t e r th e M ateriel Center n o tif ie d A ir G lid e rs of th e term in atio n o f the con­ tra c t.

But on 20 December th© Mater 1 ©I Command rev erse d

I t s stan d , d ir e c te d the M ateriel Center to continue th e

m* c o n tra c t, and a u th o rise d advance payment* o f 00# o f th© con* 10 t r a c t prte*# Given t h i s f u r th e r sta y of ex ecu tio n , A ir G lid ers stumbled along through th e e a rly months o f 1943, b u t no f§w4A*s were d eliv ered *

By May, te rm in atio n of th e c o n tra c t

was again under co n sid eratio n * A study o f th e n e g o tia tio n s r e la tin g to A ir G lid ers leav es no doubt t h a t much of th e confusion lamented by company o f f i c i a l s was not o f t h e i r own making*

t u t more

s ig n ific a n t than th e se probism s was th e composition o f th e corporation*

Mr* Ja rb o e , p e rh i^ s u n w ittin g ly , touched on

the key to th e d i r G lid ers s itu a tio n when he to ld a M a teriel dent or o f f i c i a l th a t the company had to perform a p relim in ary engine©ilng ta sk on the TG-3A and had to b u ild up a p ro d u ctio n personnel w hile t h i s re -e n g in e e rin g was going on and m werenH g e ttin g any p ro d u ctio n o u t o f them. We o c u la r* t. th e only th in g we could do was to t r a i n them. We tau g h t them how to make r i b s , we tau g h t them how to use glue b u t we weren^t g e ttin g in p ro d u ctio n . in a d d itio n , he confessed th a t th e company1* o r ig in a l co n fi­ dence in i t s a b i l i t y to b u ild g lid e r s from another company*e 2%

drawings was an u n d erestim atio n o f th e ta s k .

In b r ie f ,

S ir G lid ers was a co rp o ratio n on paper when th e c o n tra c t was le t* fhe Air G lid e rs o o n trao t was f in a lly ca n ce lled on 22

10 May 1943.

One S0-3A wiuoh had been accepted by th e

93

.

A ir For 0 0 s i n A p ril was f i n a l l y d e liv e re d two months a f t e r th e o o n tra o t was te rm in a te d .

Payments to M r C lid e rs

to ta U # 4 #416,421.36.

the aoaplete fa ilu re of th e M r S lid ers C orporation was p a r tia lly o f f s e t fcy th e suoeesaful completion o f a proAuction c o n tra c t a t th e p la n t o f th e F ran k fo rt S ailp lan e Company I n J o l i e t , I l l i n o i s .

On 1? January 1942 th e H a te rie l

D ivisio n , Washington, reco g n ised th e s a tis f a c to r y p ro g ress of the F ra n k fo rt oompany on i t s X3?C~1 experim ental model by d ire c tin g th e H a te rie l C enter to procure a q u a n tity o f th e pi g lid e r s .* 1* She F ra n k fo rt XfO-1 development was completed in March 1942 and i n May c o n tra c t an-28X31 f o r fo rty pro­ duction model TG-1A1s was signed.

D e liv e rie s were oom~

p le te d i n Moveaber 1942 a t a t o t a l c o st of $111,016.20, o r „ 2& approxim ately #2,776 p e r g lid e r . fh e achievements of a few sm all s a ilp la n e concerns in th e m anufacture o f tr a in in g g lid e r s were noteworthy, but they f e l l f a r sh o rt of AAF p ro d u ctio n g o a ls .

A ctually,

approxim ately 75# o f th© g lid e r s produced in th e tr a in in g g lid e r program were conversions o f small commercial a i r c r a f t . These were th re e -p la c e g lid e r s .

Xn Hay 1942 th e H a te rie l

Center i n i t i a t e d a c tio n fo r th e procurement o f 260 tra in in g g lid e rs each from th e Aeronoa A irc ra ft C orporation, Middletown, Ohio, and th e f a y lo r o r a f t A viation C orporation, A llian ce, Ohio, and in June 1942 th e H a te rie l Command, Washington,

93A

TATLORCRAI'T

tg - 6

04* d ir e c te d the purchase o f 260 g lid e r s from th e P ip e r A irc ra ft O orporatlon, Look Havan, P ennsylvania.

og

Aoronoa con v erted I t s h ig h wing oabln modal p lan e In to th e S0-8* S a y lo r c r a f t*s model *B* commercial tr a in e r beoame th e SCW, and P ip e r made I t s L4-H lia is o n plane In to g7 the I M . Baoh o f th e th re e companies was given a c o n tra c t f o r 200 g lid e r s , l a t e r in c re a se d to 253, since th re e g lid e r s on each c o n tra c t wore c l a s s i f ie d experim ental. Aeronca1s c o n tra c t ao~30103 was d ated 3 Ju ly 1042, and a l l h u t one o f th e TG-d1s were d e liv e re d p r io r to December,

fhe o o n tra o t was not o f f i c i a l l y completed u n t i l

June 1043 when th e l a s t g lid e r was d e liv e re d .

At 31 October

1044 Aeronca had rece iv ed $561,612,13, and th e Government s t i l l owed th e c o n tra c to r #4,069.20.

fhe u n it p r ic e o f th e

$CM> was approxim ately #2,236* She f a y lo r c r a f t c o n tra c t ( ac-29841) was signed on 23 J u ly 1942, and d e liv e r ie s were completed i n November a t a t o t a l c o s t o f #656,764*05, or #2,596 p e r g lid e r . O ontraot o c-3X398 w ith P ip er was l e t on 19 August 1942, and d e liv e r ie s were completed in A pril 1943.

She

u n it co st o f th e TG-8 wag approxim ately #2,108; payments 2Q to P ip e r to t a l l e d #533,435.23. th e conversion o f th ese l i g h t a irp la n e s was th e major achievement in th e tr a in in g g lid e r program.

In

a d d itio n to th e s u i t a b i l i t y o f the g lid e r s , i t i s worthy

95 ©f n o te t h a t f o r a turn equal to o n e-h alf th e t o t a l payments mad© In th e tr a in in g g l i d e r p ro d u ctio n program, Aeronca, fay l o r c r a f t , and P ip e r m anufactured th re e -fo u rth s o f th e g lid e r s . l l l d e r g Purchased from P riv a te Ownerg f© pro v id e tr a in in g g lid e r s a t th e e a r l i e s t p o ss ib le moment w hile th e production program was g e ttin g under way, th e H a te rie l Command au th o rised purchases from p riv a te owners.

Xn a l l , six ty -o n e tr a in in g g lid e r s o f

commercial design were purchased from A p ril to August 1942 20 a t a t o t a l c o s t of 986,690. aummyy Requirements f o r tr a in in g g lid e rs were e s p e c ia lly urgent because th e tr a in in g o f p i l o t s was e s s e n tia l to th e p ro g re ss o f th e e n tir e g lid e r program,

To meet th ese re ­

quirem ents, th e H a te rie l C enter was able to c a l l upon a u m b er of companies w ith experience i n th© c o n s tru c tio n of g lid e r s resem bling those needed by th e Air F orces.

Even

w ith t h i s advantage, however, th© M ateriel Genter was un­ able to s a tis f y the c r i t i c a l demand f o r tr a in in g g lid e r s . As a r e s u l t , AAF en g in eers tu rn ed to th© m anufacturers of small commercial a i r c r a f t .

3foree comp anie s—Aer one a,

f a y lo r o r a f t, and P iper—converted th e ir lig h t a irp la n e s in to th re e -p la c e g lid e r s .

These c o n tra c to rs d e liv e re d 655

.

96. g lid e r s from J u ly 1942 to th e end o f the year, and su p p lied 166 more by June 1946* The seven companies given p ro d u ctio n c o n tra c ts f o r tr a in in g g lid e r s d e liv e re d 1,Q®6 a r t i c l e s a t a t o t a l c o st of $0 ,4 0 6 * # 0 .4 6 .

I n a d d itio n , six ty -o n e g lid e r s were procured

from p r iv a te owners f o r $86,690, nailing the t o t a l procurement 1,14? and the t o t a l c o st 13,493,180.46*

The f i r s t p ro d u ctio n

model tr a in in g g lid e r was d e liv e re d by Schweizer i n February 1942 and the program was completed w ith d e liv e r ie s by Schweizer and Air G lid ers in Ju ly 1943. Data p e r ta in in g to the production of tra in in g g lid e rs i s summarized in the ta b le on th e follow ing page and in th e c h a rt in clu d ed as %>pendlx I to th i s study.

67.

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P R O D U C T I O N

G L I D E R S

i Pertaining to AAF Procu I Glidera, October 1941 1942 EELI7ERIES contractor

NOT. 1944

contract

100

Supp. 2, 3 Ju ly

C.O. 5, 1942 -200

TOTAL RAIMENTS TO CONTRACTOR ESTIMATED PI! 31 OCT. 1944 UNIT CCBT CG-4A, Supp.