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