Waco Troop Glider

[SkyPup]

Finished this project yesterday.  It's a 60 inch radio controlled version of the Waco CG-4A troop-carrying glider of WW2.  I scaled up the plan from a 1953 book.  On the real glider, the cockpit section was hinged to swing upwards for cargo loading.  The model has the same feature for battery access.  

 

Here's the forum build thread:  http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1745812

 

She hasn't been flown yet, waiting on decent weather!

[FoolTrottel]

Brilliant! 

 

Will you be controlling it remotely?

 

(I'd like to do something like that some time in the future.... )

[SkyPup]

Brilliant! 

 

Will you be controlling it remotely?

 

(I'd like to do something like that some time in the future.... )

 

 

Thanks, FT.  Yes, she's radio controlled.  I'm anxious for a test flight, just waiting for the weather to improve,  We have a foot of snow, and really cold temps

[FoolTrottel]

That  snow will make it land nice and soft, without any damage ...  

[Painless]

Try and land it in a small bush lined area near a stream with a tiny bridge Skypup : )

P.

[Snacko]

Excellent SP!  That other thread is great!!

 

How will you launch this?  Will you tow it with another RC, or just throw it off the roof?

[Funflak]

Those were designed and built here in my home town of Troy, Ohio. The majaroity of them were built under licence from other companies throughout the US. One was a coffin maker no less. Great job!

[BadAim]

Not so sure that a coffin maker is so odd. Just sayin'

[Sid]

And they ended up as widow makers. Many of the Wacos built under licence fell apart due to sub standard working practices and parts. Some licence holders contracted to build eventually didn't build any as they couldn't do it - lots of law suits by US Government. 

 

From https://www.asme.org/engineering-topics/articles/aerospace-defense/the-flying-coffins-of-world-war-ii

 

'The Waco Aircraft Company of Troy, OH, a niche manufacturer of civilian airplanes, won the contract to design and build America's first combat glider. Big names like Ford, along with a dozen or so smaller firms, also won glider contracts, but only if they weren't already producing powered aircraft for the war effort. With more than 70,000 parts to assemble and with little or no standardization, some manufacturers produced a few duds, with sometimes tragic results.

The wide range of expertise among these contractors, as well as an early lack of standardization of the 70,000-plus individual parts, caused pilots and mechanics no shortage of headaches and more than a few tragedies.

MacRae recalls an incident that nearly scrapped the glider program less than a year before its D-Day triumph. In August 1943, a Saint Louis-based contractor invited the city's mayor and other dignitaries to experience the excitement of a glider flight before an airshow audience of 5,000. Aghast spectators watched as a glider abruptly lost a wing at 2,000 feet and crashed in front of the grandstand, killing all onboard. After ruling out sabotage, investigators traced the cause of the crash to a faulty bolt provided by a subcontractor in the coffin business.'

[Funflak]

As I said coffin makers had no buisness in the aircraft business. I had heard that story years ago due to being a part of the WACO historical society here in Troy, Ohio. That would have been hard to watch.

[Sweper]

Nice Pup. Maybe you shouold fly a couple G-11 missions with us before the real thing