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From: hpb@hpb.cis.pitt.edu (Harry Bloomberg)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Airborne operations
Message-ID: <1990Jul3.031911.6890@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 3 Jul 90 03:19:11 GMT
Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker)
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
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From: hpb@hpb.cis.pitt.edu (Harry Bloomberg)

   I finally joined the cable TV generation last week and stumbled
accross a show on the A&E network called "Crusade in Europe".  This is a
long series based upon Gen. Eisenhower's memoirs of WWII.

   This particular episode described the invasion of Germany and the
crossing of the Rhine River.  The footage that really caught my
attention depicted the dropping of paratroopers, both by towed glider
and directly out of aircraft.

   Some questions:

   1) What are the trade-offs one must concider when deciding how to
deliver paratroopers to the target area?  When do you want
to use gliders and when do you want your paratroopers to jump directly
out of aircraft?

   2) Does the US still use gliders?  If we no longer use them, when did
we abondon them?  In my years in the defense industry, and as an avid
reader of Aviation Week, I can't remember hearing about paratrooper
gliders, so I suspect they're no longer in service. 

   3) Are gliders currently used by anyone else?

   4) How many men could be carried by a glider, how large were they,
what was the range, how well did they work, etc? 

Much thanks,
Harry Bloomberg
hpb@hpb.cis.pitt.edu