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Contact Info
Home Town Yakima, Washington
Last Address 22208 - 8th Avenue South Des Moines, Washington 98198
Date of Passing Jun 18, 2016
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
1942-1945, CG-15 Waco Glider
From Year 1942
To Year 1945
Personal Memories
My story begins in Sedalia, Missouri, at Sedalia Air Field, now home of Whiteman Air Force Base, home of the B-2 Batwing bombers.
In 1945, Sedalia was home for a glider detachment, plus C-46 and C-47 cargo aircraft used for glider towing. One day I was selected to fly in a C-47 with pickup gear which included a large reel in the cargo compartment with a steel cable to play out on the pickup of a glider. A WACO CG4A -15 place glider - had become detached from a tow plane and was in a farmer's field. To pick up the glider, two 20 foot poles were stuck in the ground and nylon rope strung across the 25 foot glider. Hung beneath the tow plane was a rail to hold the cable with a hook on it similar to a landing hook to arrest aircraft on an aircraft carrier. The trick was to come in over the glider at VERY low altitude, hook the rope between the poles, go to full power and climb out.
We were given the clear signal that all was ready and to come in. We got the nylon with the hook perfectly on the first try. We hit at about 135 mph. The next thing was to reel in the extra cable that was pulled out and the airman stationed at the reel did that and we gained our altitude and flew to the base, the glider dropped off on the downwind leg, we swung over to the rope drop area and landed. Flight ended - or was it?
I was about ready to leave operations when a runner caught up with me and gave a message to report to the Colonel and he said the other pilot had to go, too! We got together and reported to the Colonel with a salute. He asked if we were the ones who picked up the glider and he got a "Yes, Sir"! "And did you have a good flight?" and another "Yes, Sir". "No, you didn't," he said. "After you picked up the glider, you flew low over a turkey farm, the turkeys panicked, flew into each other and 16 were killed!". We looked at each other, stunned. Then the Colonel kind of smiled and said, "The government will pay for the turkeys." What to do with 16 turkeys? We never heard if they got in the mess hall or not.
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CG-15 Waco Glider Details
Aircraft/Missile Information
Specifications (CG-15A)
General characteristics
* Crew: two, pilot and co-pilot * Length: 48 ft 10 in (14.9 m) * Wingspan: 62 ft 2 in (18.95 m) * Height: () * Wing area: 623 ft² (57.88 m²) * Empty weight: 4,000 lb (1,800 kg) * Max takeoff weight: 8,035 lb (3,640 kg)