Airspeed Horsa
The Airspeed Horsa was a AS.51 by the aircraft manufacturer Airspeed Ltd.. British -built gliders for troop transport during World War II. Was named the aircraft after the legendary Anglo-Saxon warrior Horsa. It was used for the transport of British and Allied troops.
History
The construction of gliders by the British was a response to the successful deployment of the German DFS 230 glider, which had significantly contributed to the conquest of the Belgian fort Eben-Emael in May 1940. The advantage over landings with parachutes was that the troops concentrated were sold in a small area, while they usually ended up scattered in parachute operations.
With 25 seats ( and two pilots ) the Horsa was much bigger than the American Waco CG -4A (with a maximum 13 -man crew ) and the British General Aircraft Hotspur (with only eight -man crew ), which was intended for training missions. The AS.51 could also carry a jeep or a 6 pounder anti-tank gun instead of teams.
The advanced AS.58 Horsa Mk.II had a bug on hinges to open, a reinforced floor and two nose wheels to absorb additional vehicles. The Horsa Mk.II the tow rope was attached to the nose of the aircraft while it was still posted at the Mk.I on the two wings.
Use history
One of the first combat missions had the Horsa in the night of 19 November 20, 1942 Operation Freshman in Norway. Other uses were held on 10 July 1943, when 27 gliders for the invasion of Sicily were used during Operation Husky. Subsequently, numerous Horsa in the operation Thursday, Operation Overlord in Normandy, Operation Dragoon, Operation Market Garden, Operation Repulse and the Operation Varsity were used. The first troops that landed during the invasion of Normandy, did so with Horsa gliders to capture the Pegasus Bridge and thus hinder the moving up of the German reinforcements. On 5 June 2004, the replica of a Horsa was unveiled at the Pegasus Bridge on the site of the first landing on the 60th anniversary of D-Day.
For inserts the Horsa were towed either with Short Stirling, Handley Page Halifax, Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle, Armstrong Whitworth Whitley, or C -47 Dakota. The pilots were usually from the Glider Pilot Regiment, part of the British Army Air Corps, although occasionally pilots of the Royal Air Force were used. The Horsa were also used by the U.S. Air Force.
Design and construction
The Horsa was designed and built from 1940 onwards due to the specification X.26/40. The first flight took place on 12 September 1941. The aircraft was designed as a high-wing monoplane and built due to lack of other materials and the design as a loss device made entirely of wood. It was one of the first gliders with nose wheel landing gear for takeoff. In use, this could be jettisoned in order to then land on a skid below the fuselage. The wings were covered with very large pneumatically controlled flaps and air brakes, with which the aircraft could quickly fall steeply to land in rough terrain can. The large load door was on the left side. The tail could be dropped in order to facilitate the evacuation.
The Horsa was considered sturdy and very manoeuvrable for a glider. The production took place at Airspeed as well as contractors, which included Austin engine and the furniture manufacturer Harris Lebus. A total of about 3800 units were built ( the figures vary widely, 3655-5000 ). The specification demanded that the aircraft be built in individual subsections to distribute the production in various locations and so to minimize the loss in the event of a German attack on individual manufacturers.