The second type was to be a larger, I 5-seat glider, and the same four companies each received contracts for a single prototype of this type as follows: Frankfort TCC-21 as XCG-2 (41-29616); Waco XCG-4 (41-29618); St. Louis XCG-6 (41-29620) and the Bowlus XCG-8 (41-29622). Of the eight prototypes ordered, all but the XCG-1, XCG-2 and XCG-6 were completed and test-flown but no further development of the St. Louis or Bowlus designs occurred, only the two Waco types reaching quantity production. The CG-4 became the first and most-widely used US. troop glider of World War II.

The CG-4A went into operation, rather disastrously, in the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943. A series of misadventures, none of them attributable to the design of the aircraft, minimized the effectiveness of the glider attack. Greater success attended their participation, in March, 1944, in the second Wingate Chindit operation in Burma, involving landing in a jungle clearing by night ISO miles behind the main Japanese lines. Subsequently these gliders participated in other major airborne operations of which the most significant were the D-Day landings in France on June 6,1944, the landings in southern France in August 1944, the action at Arnhem and the crossing of the Rhine.

Although the CG-4A was unable to carry some of the larger items of military equipment, it performed its designed mission satisfactorily, and little design development occurred. One of the subcontractors, Timm Aircraft Corp.. built in 1943 the sole XCG-4B (42-46394), in which metal was excluded from the structure. Another sub-contractor, Northwestern, converted one CG-4A to the sole XPG-1 (43.27315) in 1943 War. The first 385 were I5-seaters, the remainder of the batch having 16 seats each. The CG-15As saw limited service alongside the CG-4As.

 

I finally got around to reading the reference section for the WACO invasion glider. A few tidbits to pass on to the historian that my father "gave" to me. During WWII my father was briefly assigned to a unit of glider troops and trained in them sometime during 1943. One aspect of the glider not talked about too much was a design deficiency with the landing gear. On hard landings, the struts had a tendency to spear up through the fuselage and pin the luckless bastards in the seats above them to the ceiling...many casualties to that weakness before ever using the glider in combat. He also relayed a story to me that I thought was largely bs until running across an independent reference to it a couple years ago. At the time, my father was a Sergeant. Because he is and was then a big man (6' 2", over 200 lbs), he was usually seated in the nose of the glider (next to the pilot) to help distribute weight. During a night landing exercise (on this occasion, only the pilot was supposed to have been aboard, because of excessive risk to troops), my dad somehow managed to talk himself onto the flight. On this exercise, as happened all too often during the real thing, the glider was released far before the drop zone was reached...fact is, the ground end of the trajectory (one does not grace the WACO with the term 'glide path') was in the middle of the training camp. The pilot managed to put it down on the main street of the camp. When it finally came to rest, the pilot compartment was snuggled up against the bar of the O club, the fuselage having managed to make it through the front doors of the joint. My dad was handed a cold beer before he even managed to get un strapped, then was dressed down for being an uninvited enlisted man in officer country. Verified true story. Please pass on to the archivist. D Grigg (Jan 30, 01)

One XCG-15A was converted in 1945 to the XPG-3 (44-90986), with two Jacobs R-755-9 radial engines, for use as a low-cost troop or cargo transport which could also be towed as a glider. Fuel was carried for three hours' duration.

In June 1948, the Air Force discarded the CG, PG and TG designations in favor of a simple G category. A number of the Waco types were redesignated as follows: the PG-2A to G-2A; the CG-4A to G-4A; the CG-I5A to G-l5A and the XPG-3 to G-3. In 1947, 35 G-4As were converted to G-4C
with a Navy-developed tow bar.

Invasion scene as seen by a strafing ME-190. By Wayne Cutrell..Thanks Wayne!

 

 

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Cancelled contracts, covering an additional 5,190 gliders of this type, would have raised the overall total to well over 19,000. Waco itself contributed only two XCG-4 prototypes and 1,075 CG-4As. The remainder were produced by Babcock (60); Cessna (components for 750, assembled at Boeing Wichita); Commonwealth Aircraft (1,470); Ford Motor (4,190); G & A Aircraft (627); General Aircraft (1,112); Gibson Refrigerator (1,078); Laister-Kauffman (310); National (1); Northwestern Aeronautical (1,520); Pratt, Read & Co (956); Ridgefield Manufacturing (156); Robertson Aircraft (170); Timm Aircraft (434); and Ward Furniture (7).

While the CG-3As were used as training gliders, the CG-4A was intended from the outset to deliver troops, equipment and supplies to forward areas. Some were also adapted for casualty evacuation, carrying up to six stretcher cases. Of rugged steel tube, wood and fabric construction, the glider carried a crew of two and accommodated up to 15 fully-equipped troops or two US tons (1,814 kg) of cargo.

Thirteen CG-4As were transferred to the US Navy, whose designation for them was LRW- 1. Single examples were converted to XCG-4B (by Timm, with a completely nonmetallic airframe); to XPG-1 (by Northwestern, in a new powered glider category, with two 130 hp Franklin 6AC-298-N3 flat-four engines mounted on the wing struts); and to XPG-2 (a similar conversion by Ridgefield, but with 175 hp Ranger L-440-1s in close-fitting underwing nacelles). A test batch of PG-2As followed, but the powered gliders never really caught on (inevitably, they were known as 'pigs').

Waco developed two improved versions. The first, in 1943, was the larger 30-troop XCG-13, followed by the 42-seat XCG-13A with a redesigned tail. After six prototypes, CG-13A production totalled 85 by Ford and 47 by Northwestern; a further 268 by these two companies were cancelled.

The CG-15 was outwardly similar to the CG-4A, one of which became the prototype XCG-15 in 1943. Main differences were shorter span wings without spoilers, a more streamlined nose, cantilevered main wheels, and improved internal fittings. After two essentially similar XCG-15As, Waco built 427 production CG-15As; a further 573 were cancelled. Two CG-15As were transferred to the US Navy and redesignated XLR2W-1; one of the XCG-15As was converted to XPG-3, the last in the USAAF powered glider category, with two Jacobs R-755-9 radial engines and provision for rocket-assisted take-off.

 

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The Interior of the WACO CG-4 showing the seats that are removable to make room for Jeep or Howitzer.

A creature of the Second World War, never having been used in combat before and never to be used again, the combat glider now disappeared from history.

 

40mm BOFORS AKAK GUN

M22 LIGHT TANK

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WACO CG-4 Factory.

 

Cockpit of the WACO CG-4 Invasion Glider.

 

 

Crew: two (pilot and co-pilot) Capacity: 13 troops, or quarter-ton truck (Jeep) and 3 troops, or 6 litters Length: 48 ft 8 in Wingspan: 83 ft 8 in Height: 15 ft 4 in Wing area: 900 ft² Empty weight: 3,790 lb Max takeoff weight: 7,500 lb *Max take off (Emergency Load): 9,000 lb Performance Maximum speed: 150 mph at 7,500 lb Cruise speed: CAS 72.6 mph Stall speed: CAS 49 mph with design load 7,500 lb Wing loading: 8.81 lb/ft² Rate of sink: About 400 ft/min at tactical glide speed (CAS 60 mph) Landing run: 600-800 feet for normal three-point landing

 

Waco CG-4A gliders strewn out in the fields of France after the D-Day invasion of Normandy, 6 June 44