Hamilcar glider

[Jim]

The Hamilcar was a massive wooden glider some 33.5 m long, with a wing span of 20.7 m and could carry a load of 7.9 tonnes. It was designed to carry armoured vehicles, guns and other heavy equipment and had to be tugged by powerful Halifax bombers. The Hamilcar had a hinged nose and was designed to use the weight of the cargo to tip the aircraft forward on landing so that there was no need for a ramp when unloading. The crews of the cargo vehicles remained in them throughout the trip and when nearing the ground would start their engines for a fast get-away.

An RAF reconnaissance photograph of DZ N showing discarded parachutes and Horsa gliders. Many of the gliders’ tails have been detached for rapid unloading. A Hamilcar glider (a slightly different shape from the Horsa when seen from above) is near the bottom right hand corner of the photo.

[Manchester Highlander]

The Hamilcar was the largest wooden aircraft ever built in Britain and like all the British assault gliders it was mostly commercial grade plywood not marine or aircraft grade. the majority of what little metal it did have was stainless steel.

Here are some pages from the Air Publication and a couple of interesting pictures. The slightly bent! Hamilcar wsa the result of a overly fast landing at RAF Tarrent Rushton, The Tetrach tank, who's turret can be seen was the cargo (and manned at the time of the crash

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[eniram]

Pretty scary waiting to land!