Silent Invaders : Combat Gliders of the Second World War

Gary Best

ISBN 10: 1781558531 / ISBN 13: 9781781558539

Editore: Fonthill Media Jun 2022, 2022

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Neuware - Combat gliders were called by some, 'Death Crates,' 'Purple Heart Boxes,' 'Flying Coffins,' and 'Tow Targets.' They weren't pretty, they had no graceful lines. Viewed from the front, they had a pug nose and a sloping Neanderthal forehead. Their wings looked like the heavily starched ears of a jackrabbit placed at right angles on a canvas-covered frame. Twice the length of the body, these self-same wings were eighty-four feet in length, 70% as long as the Wright brothers first powered flight at Kitty Hawk. They could not become airborne, let alone fly, unless assisted by an engine-powered tow plane. And for those riding in the back, it was like flying 'through the gates of hell.' The men who were trained and assigned to guide gliders into battle were said to be the only pilots who had no motors, no armament, no parachutes, and no second chances. Like the aircraft they commanded they were called inglorious names -The bastards nobody wanted; Glider gladiators in wooden chariots; Hybrid jackasses; Glory boys. But if you had any sense at all, you acknowledged that the 'G' on the wings insignia pinned to the pilots' uniforms stood for 'GUTS.'.

Codice articolo 9781781558539

Dati bibliografici

• Titolo: Silent Invaders : Combat Gliders of the Second World War
• Editore: Fonthill Media Jun 2022
• Data di pubblicazione: 2022
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 1781558531
• ISBN 13: 9781781558539
• Rilegatura: Taschenbuch
• Condizione: Neu
• Dimensioni: 235 L x 155 A x 20 P (millimetri) 235 millimetri di larghezza per 155 millimetri di altezza per 20 millimetri di profondità
• Peso: 568 grammi

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Riassunto

Combat gliders were called by some, “Death Crates," "Purple Heart Boxes," "Flying Coffins," and "Tow Targets.” They weren’t pretty, they had no graceful lines. Viewed from the front, they had a pug nose and a sloping Neanderthal forehead. Their wings looked like the heavily starched ears of a jackrabbit placed at right angles on a canvas-covered frame. Twice the length of the body, these self-same wings were eighty-four feet in length, 70% as long as the Wright brothers first powered flight at Kitty Hawk. They could not become airborne, let alone fly, unless assisted by an engine-powered tow plane. And for those riding in the back, it was like flying “through the gates of hell.” The men who were trained and assigned to guide gliders into battle were said to be the only pilots who had no motors, no armament, no parachutes, and no second chances. Like the aircraft they commanded they were called inglorious names –The bastards nobody wanted; Glider gladiators in wooden chariots; Hybrid jackasses; Glory boys. But if you had any sense at all, you acknowledged that the “G” on the wings insignia pinned to the pilots’ uniforms stood for “GUTS.”

Informazioni sull?autore

Gary A. Best earned a PhD from the University of Minnesota and holds rank as Professor Emeritus at California State University, Los Angeles. He was a Fulbright Scholar in Taiwan, is the recipient of the Outstanding Professor award of his university and has been named a distinguished alumnus from two colleges. His first book of the Second World War, Belle of the Brawl; Letters Home from a B-17 Bombardier, was a medalist of the Military Writers Society of America.