Para Trooper Gliders were very popular in WW II, they were used by both the Axis and Allied Forces. Some of these gliders were huge in size and the Germans had one which had took three bombers to get it off the ground along with two-four rockets used in take off. I believe there is a Wings Discovery Channel Documentary on this. The allied forces also used such tactics, which are well documented and some links are provided as well as pictures below this topic. One of the most critical issues of a heavy glider is its landing speed. Once airborne the configuration of the wing and its angle of attack must be such as to provide for adequate speed behind the tow plane and reduce drag to as to use less fuel from the towing aircraft. Yet with a lower angle of attack it must land at a higher speed, thus endangering the crew and cargo on board. In the event of large numbers of troops and human lives the job of the glider is even more serious. One idea, which was not used in WWII to my knowledge, is a hand crank which would change the angle of attack on landing, thus allowing the glider to slow and land at a relatively low airspeed. Perhaps on touch down as low as 35-45 knots meaning even if in rough terrain the aircraft would receive little if any damage and come to a complete stop very quickly once it hit the ground. Although to day we have sophisticated aircraft which can turn out 150 plus paratroopers out the back and then speed back up to cruising speed and 30,000 feet using massive jet engines, we still need to consider who will be fighting these wars in the futures? If in the future we use robotic fighting forces delivered by UAVs, this may in fact include super large lighter than air blimps, Massive Gliders, huge tunneling machines or even ships filled with robots to hit the beaches? A massive glider does in fact have a lot of advantages in that the parts of the glider can be quickly reassembled to include necessary components of the robotic force. A glider filled with swarms of robots to fight a war or to advance on an enemys position makes a lot of sense. A special sensor, which judges the altitude by way of sonar would then activate a small motor to increase the angle of attack of the wing bringing the glider to nearly a zero forward airspeed stall only feet above the ground. Picture a seagull landing on the beach. |
