Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Monday, Veteran's Day
A salute to all veterans! Thank you.
WWII era
Named after a early warrior who invaded England
Made of wood (about 80%)
Key use at Norway, Sicily, Normandy, Arneim
Made by furniture companies and lots of little shops
Had �barn doors�
About as risky as one could get with high casualty numbers
Made to insert platoon (about 30 people)
Like any use of wood. Bad training and design can kill users. And did.
Germany, U.S. and Russia had them too.
What is my name?
Re: Monday, Veteran's Day
If I LiSTed my answer would I have a chance?
Tom
I didn't
think of that one. Not LST. I see the association with barn doors and wood though.
Re: Monday, Veteran's Day
I'm guessing no, I'm thinking you need to look up to find you answer. It's a Horse of a different color
glc
Ding! Yep, White, Brown, Black, Green.
Veteran's Day Answer
Few takers and one right answer makes for a quick reply. Today�s answer is the Great Britain�s WWII Horsa Glider. Gary from O was right on. Used to insert troops silently in one group (unlike a parachute drop) it was a tricycle landing gear glider that could dump the landing gear in flight if necessary. When that happened a skid was supposed to slide over mud, sand, rocks, field furrows, and short hedgerows; sometimes it did but much, much, too often it did not. It also had a removable tail held by four bolts, that either trapped people or dumped people as it seemed to always jam AFTER landing, but break off DURING landing with minimally trained soldier pilots and uneven landing zones. The glider was big and could hold a jeep and a cannon, which made mince meat of the max 28 troops inside when the glider suddenly stopped and dug in its nose then flipped tail over nose trapping the people inside as seat belts were not used very often, and even if they were, didn�t help when a jeep or cannon broke loose in a sliding stop that went from 70 mph to nothing in as short as 120 feet (that�s if it worked right).
The Horsa had barn door wing flaps and air spoilers that enabled the glider to approach at a fearsome 80 degree nose dive. They were used to slow down the aircraft and bleed air speed as well as permit silent steep descents and short landing distances. But minimally trained pilots (many had fewer than 20 hours), difficult landing zones in mountains and near rivers at night, weather, battle nerves, and few practice glides without the landing gear screwed up timing, distance perception, and a lot else. Also, German "cows" really concrete pylons) riped of everything that touched them. The glide ratio was 10:1 which meant the Horsa dropped like a brick. The poor guys in the back couldn�t see anything so they hadn�t a clue until it all started to happen at once.
If ever you see an old timer wearing a glider badge (Wings with a �G� in the center- or in Britain, with a lion standing on a crown on wings, or the rare sculptural German triple gull or jewelry like Luftwaffe badge-a gliding eagle (a picture is available on Google-Luftwaffe glider)) give these guys a star for shear guts. They took heavy risk even before they had to get out and fight. These badges stood for something when being a pilot-any pilot-actually meant hand/eye flying something.
Typing �Horsa glider� on any browser will fill in details. Typing in �glider pilot badge� will come up with varying results. An interesting read is the tragic �Operation Freshman� http://www.webtek.no/freshman/ tells the story of one glider raid in 1942 on a heavy water plant in Norway. The anniversary is next week.
Go for it.
a confession and...
I must confess, I was sure it was gliders as soon as I read the question, but had to find the name Horsa. I was hoping to be suitablly obtuse with my answer, maybe I wasn't.
I worked with a guy 30 plus years ago, who survived the landing and the combat in a glider unit.
glc
There's an oral history...
I'd love to have listened to. I'll bet the pucker factor still applied as he was relating the story even then.