General Airborne Transport XCG-16 Flying Wing Combat Glider

[jzichek]

Check out this article at RetroMechanix.com on the General Airborne Transport XCG-16, an American flying wing type combat glider with twin booms and a single rudder dating from 1944:



The article reproduces an Army Air Force preliminary evaluation report on the type, which features 21 high resolution photos of this innovative but ultimately unsuccessful aircraft.

-Jared

[The Inspector]

Based on the Burnelli UB-14 from the mid 30's?

[jzichek]

A second post on the XCG-16 has been added to RetroMechanix.com featuring an additional 17 photos of this unusual lifting fuselage military transport/assault glider:



The high resolution photos include some interesting shots of the glider being towed by a B-17; worth a look if you are interested in unusual vintage aircraft.

Concerning the previous comment, there does seem to be a strong Burnelli influence in the design of this aircraft, but I don't think he was directly involved or received any patent royalties.

-Jared

[res6kgcr]

F.Y.I.

The pictures take on the ground in this second set were taken at Oxnard Flight Strip CA, later Oxnard Air Force Base and now Camarillo Airport. Flight Strips interesting for they were built state highway commissions in cooperation with the Army Air Corps adjacent to a highway and maintained by the highyway commission. As you can see it is just as the name implies it is just a strip with limited faculties.

Best regards,

Tom

[Steve Nelson]

Neat! Looks like something out of one of those adventure serials or comics of the 30s and 40s. The empenage is kind of wierd..I don't think I've ever seen a twin-boom design with a single tail in the middle like that.

SN

[jzichek]

Thanks for ID'ing the locale of those photos Tom; I updated the article accordingly.

-Jared

[Burnelli-Support]

There were some legitimate concerns in the reports on this design. All could have been addressed. Instead, the CG-4A was chosen. At least 12 pilots were killed while practicing landings in ideal conditions. So many died in combat that some gave it the name, "Canvas Coffin." The Burnelli design was shown in the report to carry over twice the load and carry it farther and faster as well as a stronger frame to protect the troops. The Burnelli design could be towed at well over 200mph. The CG-4A was limited to 150mph or its wind screen would collapes. Just because the CG-4A was more cheaply produced did not make it better for the troops.

Check out the glowing, color Popular Science article on this glider. http://books.google.com/books?id=xiADAA ... &q&f=false or copy and paste ' xcg-16 glider popular science ' into Google.

Also see the planes Burnelli built and some of his unrealized designs here... http://www.burnelli.com/wp/blog

[jzichek]

That Popular Science article link you provided is excellent - first time I've seen color shots of this aircraft. Will add the link to my article - thanks!

[Scott Rose]

Some more images from the WIX Archives: