CG 4-A at Iron Mountain, Michigan

 

CG 4A Gliders Today are Rare; Any Effort to View Them is Well Rewarded 

Its been too long since I've worked on my glider blog other than reading books and viewing DVDs about WWII.  Here is an endorsement that never made it in print but I haven't stopped talking about it to folks since my trip. 

 

Al and I had a good time at the opening of the Iron Mountain, Michigan Glider Museum in July 1, 2011.  Charles Day, Secretary of the WW2 Glider Pilot Association, and his wife, Joyce, were also there. A few WWII 

glider riders and many family members of the Ford Company workers who

worked on the assembly line to assemble 8 gliders a day, were also in 

attendance.

It is a very meticulously built glider. it is complete and 

functional in every detail, with every cable attached. The day following the dedication we visited the museum again and talked to the primary builder  and he let us get inside the glider to video the interior as well as the exterior. The fellow, a model airplane builder, gave the CG 4 A as much close  detail and loving attention as he would give a balsa plane.

Anyone connected to WW2 glider pilots or mechanics, of those who built the gliders, would be very warmed by the presentation of this beautiful rare aircraft

aircraft to the Michigan/Wisconsin population. I certainly hope The Cornish Pump Museum where the glider is located, advertise it a lot and bringing visitors than this less populated area usually receives.

Since the Ford Glider Assemble Plant supplied employment for factory workers made idle by the cessation of the auto industry during the war, the benefits to the area were  tremendous!  It is no wonder this small community was able to raise $40,000 from bake sales and rummage sales to house and display the glider!

We spent some time searching the archives of the local newspaper finding very little about the glider and then realized the original secret nature of the glider assembly plant.  We also visited the small airport, still open today, to which the gliders were wheeled through the woods from the plant, so they could  towed elsewhere by airplanes.

I was kindly given a number of brochures about the new glider museum 

and I like to place them where others can pick them up at the 

Glider Pilot and Troup Carrier reunions. I look forward to the day when a glider

can be displayed at some air shows.Imagine having one at the week long Air Venture held in Wisconsin every year!

Some folks might find Granite Falls, MN closer than Iron Mountain which is

convenient to Northern Wisconson and Northeast Minnesota. I intend to visit the private aviation museum in Granite Falls soon and view the glider moved there. It is pictured in this blog when it was under construction in the Twin Cities.

Hope to see you at the 2014 Glider Pilot/Troup Carrier Reunion in October, in Minnesota. (See details at the NWW2GliderPilot website.)

Anne Nephew

www.SylvanLucier.blogspot.com

44th Annual Reunion, National World War II Glider Pilots Association

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WELCOME VETERANS AND FRIENDS!

WHAT:     The 44th Annual Reunion 

WHO:       National World War II Glider Pilot Association with Troop Carrier Associates, 

                 families and friends of veterans

WHEN:    October 2-4, 2014

WHERE:  To be held at Crowne Plaze Hotel (I-494 & 34th Avenue South) Bloomington, MN near

                  the Mall of America and the Minneapolis International Airport.  Free Shuttle service.

COST:       $30 Registration. Dinner: 10/2 & 10/3 are each $33; Banquet 10/4: $36.

                  Bus to Museum & Lunch: $25.

HOW:       Contact George Theis: 719-338-6487 or ww2gp@aol.com

                  Check web page: www.ww2gp.org

                                                           SPECIAL EVENTS:

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2:  The Hospitality Room is the place throughout the day for conversations, refreshments and viewing collections. A meeting is held in the afternoon. The banquet each evening opens at 6:30pm and requires registration.   

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3:   (1) Scott Glover, owner of Mid America Flight Museum,

and his friend Cowden Ward are bringing two famous war birds to the Golden Wings Museum for rides: C-60 Lockheeed Lodestar for free rides and a P-51 for veterans. A bus will bring folks from the hotel. $25 registration with lunch.

                                         (2) While you wait for a Lodestar ride, visit the Golden Wings Flying Museum, the world's largest living history private collection with 43 unique and one of a kind aircraft from the 1920s and 1930s. This is private museum is located at the Anoka County Airport in Blaine Minnesota but the general public is invited that day to meet the  pilots and other WWII  veterans.

SATURDAY,  OCTOBER 4: The banquet is really a special event with tables of family groups, Troop Carrier members, historian sorts and in recent years, young aviation researchers. The speaker is Capt. James Johns, USA (Ret.) who is a restoration expert. He recently restored a CG-4A glider now at the Fagen WWII Fighter's Museum in Granite Falls, MN. (See photographs and story earlier on this blog.) 

SUNDAY:  Interested persons might collaborate on a 250 mile round trip to see the CG 4-A glider at Granite Falls, MN.

                                 43 ANNUAL REUNION

                         The National World War 2 Glider Pilot Association

                        The  World War 2 Troop Carrier Affiliate Member

                                      September 12 through September 14.
                    Held at the Embassy Suites near Kansas City International Airport, Missouri.
                              REGISTRATION: George Theis:  719-338-6487        ww2gp@aol.com

 Again this year reunion attendees will be treated to a free flight on a C-47, the cargo carrier that tugs the CG-4A gliders in WW2.  Scott Glover's the generous owner of "Sky King" fully restored this historic plane with the original Troop Carrier colors of the 53rd Troop Carrier Squadron. The engine sound carries me back to my childhood; this is a real airplane! Check it out on youtube.com

These planes are amazing for their long history. In 2010 we attended the 75th birthday of this plane, celebrated with an opening ceremony fly in at AirVenture in Oshkosh, WI. We were enthralled to see an armada of C-47s fly overhead, a small re enactment of what happened in Normandy.

My first reunion with the 316th Troop Carrier group met at an aviation museum where Michael Ingrisano had just located "his" plane, Spooky, from World War 2! Mike is the author of Valor Without Arms, the book that began my research on my glider pilot uncle. Mike was the radio operator of Spooky and his pilot and best friend is in the blue shirt.  Mike died last year and is remembered with great appreciation by the families and members of the 316 TC group and the entire Troop Carrier community so well described in his book. He kept their reunions going for many years and now the remaining veterans are gathering with the glider pilots. The excitement of meeting new members at the reunion and hearing their stories brings "associated" members like myself back to hear the stories and celebrate their valor with others.