On a wing and a prayer -- Whiteman group works to restore WWII glider

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. William Huntington
  • 442nd Fighter Wing public affairs
WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. --  "I'll tell you straight out: If you've got to go into combat, don't go by glider. Walk, crawl, parachute, swim, float - anything. But don't go by glider!"

This perspective comes from then-war correspondent, Walter Cronkite who, in the forward to John L. Lowden's book "Silent Wings at War" added, "This comes from one who did it - once."

More than a generation removed from the birth of aviation, in a time of multi-engine bombers and high-speed pursuit planes, men still flew into war in aircraft similar in many ways to those that first flew over Kitty Hawk.

The iconic image of delivering airborne troops in World War II is the grim-faced paratrooper in the door of an aircraft, tensely poised for the green light that would signal him to jump into the battle below. Less familiar scenes of airborne assault are those who arrived in a Waco CG-4A combat glider made of welded steel tubing, plywood, canvas and Plexiglas. Rarer still is any depiction of the aviator who actually piloted them to war and did it again, and again, and again ... that is, if he survived.

It's likely that glider pilot was one of many who trained for his wartime missions over the farmlands of west-central Missouri while based at the then-Sedalia Army Air Field and it is entirely possible that the glider he flew was manufactured nearby in Kansas City.

The CG-4A was the most widely used U.S. troop and cargo glider of World War II. It was crewed by a pilot and copilot and it could carry 13 troops and their equipment or a jeep, a quarter-ton truck or a 75mm howitzer loaded through the hinged nose section. Usually, C-46s and C-47s were used as tow aircraft.

The CG-4A first went into operation in July 1943 during the Allied invasion of Sicily. It also participated in the D-Day assault on France on June 6, 1944, and in nine major airborne assaults in Europe and in the China-Burma-India Theater.

Rearwin Airplanes, Inc., established in 1928 by businessman Rae A. Rearwin in Salina, Kans., was contracted by the Waco Aircraft Company of Troy, Ohio, to build 1,500 CG-4A combat gliders for the war effort.

In 1943 Rearwin sold his interest in the company, which then became Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation. Commonwealth sought a Kansas City location to house the operation.

In an interview with Kansas City television station, KCPT, Jay Dillingham, a Kansas City Stockyards manager, told how he negotiated with Commonwealth for them to use the American Royal arena as a manufacturing plant. He also reflected on watching the aircraft take shape.

"It was amazing to see those gliders develop, and taken down the street here without their wings on them, over to Fairfax where they put the wings on them and then took them out of here," he said. "They served a purpose in the Army."

As Commonwealth completed its contract, and the war ended, glider construction activity died down and eventually ceased at the American Royal. Partially constructed gliders were stored nearby in vacant lots and eventually forgotten as first weeds, then shrubs and trees grew up in and around them.

According to Frank McKinley, Whiteman Heritage Foundation member and glider restoration project manager, a man named Jim Jones eventually located the glider frames and, with the help of a Kansas City area college, began the work to restore a glider from the many parts.

"About eight years ago, Mr. Jones donated the glider and all of the materials to the Air Force," Mister McKinley said. "It was accepted by the Air Force Museum and stored here. It is Air Force property but we've just volunteered to do the work to restore it."

After being housed at different locations around the base - none very suitable for the restoration work - former Oscar One curator, Tech. Sgt. Phil Fleming, arranged with then-509th Bomb Wing commander Brig. Gen. Chris Miller to obtain a small warehouse building across the street from Outdoor Recreation.

Since then work has slowly progressed on the glider and the main fuselage, still without its fabric covering, has taken shape. Mr. McKinley and the other volunteers have been working on the glider's tail section.

"We've got eight or 10 people volunteering their time on different days of the week," he said. "Slowly but surely we're going to bring this thing around."

When the restoration work is complete, a building will be needed to house it to protect it from the elements. With that building, Mr. McKinley sees an opportunity to create a facility that would showcase Whiteman's past.

"Our ultimate goal is to have a heritage center (at Whiteman), which would cover not only the glider, but all of the base's history," Mr. McKinley said.

His vision for the center includes the base's missile era, its current B-2 mission and the missions of its tenant organizations, including the Air Force Reserve, the Missouri National Guard and the Naval Reserve.

He sees it coming to pass because of the individuals who have volunteered their time to make the restored glider a reality but he knows there is more to be done and more volunteers - to do everything from working on the glider proper to inventorying parts - are needed.

"We need people who have the attitude that 'I'm willing to try anything'," Mr. McKinley said.
People interested in volunteering to work on the project can reach Mr. McKinley at (660) 687-4421 or by email at Gerald.mckinley@whiteman.af.mil.