waco cg-4 A glider.... flying coffin

[tom d. friedman]

a little interesting trivia on the ww2 waco cg-4 A glider...... it wasn't nicknamed flying coffin because it was dangerous to fly (even though it was) or because it was made of wood, it had that ominous moniker because many of the gliders were made by coffin manufacturers!!!

[Former Member]

Tom,

Thanks for the interesting bit of trivia. I remember there was an article in our local paper about 6 months back which featured the restoration of a Waco glider in Wausau, WI. If memory serves me correct the glider was salvaged out of the woods in upper Michigan where it was used as a crude hunting shack for the past 60 years! Apperently the surplus gliders (manufactured in MI) were snatched up after the war by civilians...not because of the glider, but because of the huge amounts of wood used to crate the gliders. The shipping crates contained enough wood to build a small house.

I understand these gliders were extremely dangerous to fly, but it would be a real treat to see one of these (or a replica) actually used in a glider landing reenactment.

John

Last edited by Former Member on Mon Aug 28, 2006 4:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[bdk]

I understand these gliders were extremely dangerous to fly, but it would be a real treat to see one of these (or a replica) actually used in a glider landing reenactment.

I think the danger was mostly in the off airport landing.