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