Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!cbnews!military From: munnari!softway.sw.oz.au!thos@uunet.UU.NET (Thomas Cohen) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: Airborne Operations Summary: Me 321 Keywords: Gigant Message-ID: <1990Jul10.024921.10341@cbnews.att.com> Date: 10 Jul 90 02:49:21 GMT References: <1990Jul5.020552.14422@cbnews.att.com> <1990Jul8.053423.7852@cbnews.att.com> Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker) Organization: Softway Pty Ltd, Sydney, Australia Lines: 46 Approved: military@att.att.com From: munnari!softway.sw.oz.au!thos@uunet.UU.NET (Thomas Cohen) In article <1990Jul8.053423.7852@cbnews.att.com> root@.UUCP (rb duc) writes: > >In article <1990Jul5.020552.14422@cbnews.att.com> Scott.Johnson@p0.f7.n391.z8.fidonet.org (Scott Johnson) writes: > >-> The largest a glider ever got was a Messcherschmidt (sp?) >->type. It was larger than a C-47, and required either two Me-110's or >->its own special-designed towinng aircraft. >-> >->[mod.note: That's "Messerschmitt", and the gliders was the Me 321 >->"Gigant." - Bill ] It was a lot larger than a C-47 and it required _3_ Me 110s to drag it off the ground (and they were at full power). The He 111 based 'Zwilling' was two He 111 fuselages with a centre wing section with either one or two (probably two) engines on it (like an F82 twin Mustang). As a bit of trivia, the worst aircraft accident for many years was a fully loaded test flight of the Gigant, where one of the three Me 110 tow aircraft lost an engine and slewed sideways into the cables, dragging the second 110 down. The third 110 went down when the Gigant dragged it down on its way to crashing into the ground, killing all aboard all 4 Messerschmitts. The toll from this was well in excess of 100 men (I could find out if needed). >They eventually put motors on the Gigant and, I think, used JATOs to get >them in the air. I've seen some WWII footage of Allied fighters splashing >them in the Med. The German pilots must have felt hopeless in the extreme >when they were spotted - like flying an underpowered barn. They were trying >to fly supplies to Africa. Apparently a lot of their loads were fuel drums. That _must_ have been exciting. > - - Richard Ducoty ..uunet!grumbly!root > _] Capitola, California root@grumbly.com -- thos cohen |Softway Pty Ltd English is a living language, but |ACSnet: thos@softway.oz "Simple illiteracy is no basis for |UUCP: ...!uunet!softway.oz!thos for linguistic evolution" - Dwight MacDonald |Internet: thos@softway.oz.au