JACK FISHER COLLECTION
No. 9794. Waco CG-15A US Army Air Forces
Photograph from Waco

Waco CG-15A

Original photo caption:

The Waco CG-15A Sixteen Man Troop and Cargo Glider
America's Newest - and Fourth - Big Motorless Craft

Heres' one of the first pictures to be released of Waco's latest USAAF glider.

Like its three predecessors, it is another externally braced high wing monoglider with fuselage of strong steel tubing, framework covered with fabric, and wings and tail surfaces of wood.

This new ship has a wing spread of only 62 ft 2.5 in (18.96 m), approximately 20 ft (6.10 m) shorter than the famous Waco CG-4A type glider, with an overall length of 48 ft 9.97 in (14.88 m).

Eight thousand lb (3,629 kg) is the gross weight of this new aerial freight car and the empty weight is half that, or 4,000 lb (1,814 kg). Like all the other gliders, this ship was designed to act as a carrier of troops, rolling mechanized equipment, cargo or any combination thereof.

Its streamlined nose makes it very graceful, and it can be towed through the air at a speed of from 70 to 180 mph (113 to 290 kmh).

This is the fourth big American glider to go into production during WW II. Waco has designed and engineered all of these big motorless transports.


Created March 31, 2010