Talk:Airspeed Horsa/Archive 1

Archive 1

Tonga

Wasn't it used first time in Tonga Operation on 6th June 1940 ? 81.244.62.64 12:14, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

Operation Tonga was in 1944. Drutt (talk) 12:27, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

Gallery

To avoid the gallery being deleted en masse, could you consider incorporating the images into the article. FWiW Bzuk (talk) 11:54, 27 May 2009 (UTC).

I can't really, not until the text has been written - that's why I moved them there temporarily, so they wouldn't get in the way as I wrote the article. Skinny87 (talk) 14:56, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

Not a problemo, here's a take on the image placement: User:Bzuk/Sandbox/New Article. FWiW, you are doing a great job, keep it up. Bzuk (talk) 17:00, 27 May 2009 (UTC).

That seems like a great placement, if you want to do that to the mainspace article that'd be great. I'll get to writing the article as soon as I can, although I'm busy in RL for the next two days due to ym university work. Skinny87 (talk) 17:24, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

Air Ministry Specification X.3/41

It would be interesting to find out how far this specification for an adapted Horsa into a flying bomb got. Enough to be mentioned as anything more than trivia for the article?GraemeLeggett (talk) 12:12, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

Hmmm, an interesting question. My sources aren't quite detailed enough for that, but in a week and a half I'll be wandering over to the British Library to find some books on the Horsa. Where did you find that specification? Skinny87 (talk) 18:07, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

Try here: List of Air Ministry specifications - it involved converting a Horsa to carry a Tallboy for a planned attack on the Tirpitz. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.112.45.155 (talk) 20:19, 16 April 2010 (UTC)

Intro

Shouldnt the intro just say The Airspeed Horsa was a British Second World War.. rather than just mention the Mk I as the article is about both? MilborneOne (talk) 17:32, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

I always leave the lead until last, but it's a good point and I'll change that now. Skinny87 (talk) 18:24, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

OK understood I realise it is a work in progress - keep up the good work. MilborneOne (talk) 19:03, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

Survivors

Liking the expansion to the article folks. If it's useful, the Assault Glider Trust have a page and I think it's them restoring the Horsa at RAF Shawbury, and not the Airborne Forces Museum (which has just re-opened at Duxford I think). The Mosquito Museum also have half a Horsa on display as well (I think it's original). Hope it helps, regards Ranger Steve (talk) 22:03, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

question

What would the aircrew do once the glider lands? were they also qualified as grunts or just piloting the glider?

Unlike American pilots, who were considered to be too valuable an asset to risk during combat, all British glider pilots were members of the Glider Pilot Regiment and trained to go into combat with the troops they transported. I understand it was general practice to transfer them back to England as soon as possible, as they were highly-trained, although in some operations, such as the Battle of Arnhem] this obviously wasn't possible. Skinny87 (talk) 07:16, 24 September 2009 (UTC)

The pilots were recruited from the ranks of ground troops, provided a modicum of flight training and were considered part of the attack force. FWiW Bzuk (talk) 11:26, 24 September 2009 (UTC)

The pilots were members of the Glider Pilot Regiment and as Bill says, trained ground troops capable of fighting alongside the 'passengers'. This was thought desirable as otherwise after landing the now-redundant pilots would be swanning-around doing nothing and being a nuisance from the ground commander's viewpoint. So many 'useless mouths' needing to be taken care-of, whereas the trained GPR pilots could be left to fend for themselves just like the other troops, they were an integral part of the fighting force who happened to be trained to fly gliders. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.112.45.155 (talk) 20:16, 16 April 2010 (UTC)

The first picture

I notice that the first picture has no caption and it's not the best quality.

To digress slightly, what are the diagonal stripes on the underside of the aircraft for? I've seen plenty of 'invasion stripes' on the wings and fuselages of many aircraft, both with & without propellers, but never like these.

RASAM (talk) 22:08, 17 December 2013 (UTC)

They are to warn approaching aircraft of the possible presence of a towing cable. Target tugs also carried them. The yellow undersides just signify that the aircraft pictured is a non-operational training or prototype aircraft. In all cases the meanings to other aircraft were 'Keep away'. Operational aircraft had the normal camouflage colour on the undersurfaces, in the Horsa's case, usually night black, as-per RAF night bombers.

In short, training and prototype aircraft had Trainer Yellow undersides, to warn other pilots that the aeroplane might have restricted manoeuvring, and the addition of diagonal black bands signified that it was either towing something or being towed, so watch out for a cable.— Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.7.147.13 (talk) 10:59, 21 December 2013 (UTC)