Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Kurt Student - Luftwaffe general, developed glider infantry concept, commanded WW2-era Fallschirmjäger; Dennis Tito - gliding speed record holder, aerospace engineer and investment manager [24] Oskar Ursinus - gliding pioneer and designer; Gerhard Waibel - glider pilot and designer; Ann Welch - instructor and administrator
The Glider Pilot Regiment was a British airborne forces unit of the Second World War, which was responsible for crewing the British Army's military gliders and saw action in the European theatre in support of Allied airborne operations. Established during the war in 1942, the regiment was disbanded in 1957.
The British airborne forces, during the Second World War, consisted of the Parachute Regiment, the Glider Pilot Regiment, the airlanding battalions, and from 1944 the Special Air Service Troops. [1] Their formation followed the success of the German airborne operations, during the Battle of France .
The British Army formed the Glider Pilot Regiment from the glider aircrew. The men in this unit were not only trained aircrew, but also very well-trained infantry. [ 3 ] After a large scale landing, they would form an infantry battalion, attached to the HQ of the airborne division involved.
Baynes Bat, (1943) experimental glider for testing design of a tank carrying glider General Aircraft Hamilcar , (1942) 7 t (6.9 long tons) of cargo and 2 crew. 412 built. General Aircraft Hamilcar Mk.
The success of German glider-borne forces early in World War II catapulted the Army Air Forces into a glider program in February 1941. In December 1941, plans called for training 1,000 AAF glider pilots, but eventually about 5,500 received their wings. Most Glider Pilots came from the enlisted ranks — all were volunteers.
In the U.S. services the glider pilots, whether the view was unwarranted or not, were considered a notable cut below power pilots. They had a separate rating of Glider Pilot, with appropriate "G" wings, and were originally mostly sergeants. [2] Once they received their wings, the command assigned glider pilots to existing troop carrier ...
On September 11, 1943, at March Air Field in California, Richard du Pont was killed when the experimental XCG-16 glider in which he was a passenger crashed during a demonstration flight. After bailing out of the aircraft his parachute failed. His brother, Major Alexis Felix du Pont, Jr., was appointed to succeed him as head of the glider ...