If D-Day were held on June 6, 1945 ...

Mark Allen M · **Joined:** Fri Feb 03, 2012 1:48 pm **Posts:** 7826

... could it have looked something like this? Without dissecting it too deeply of course. As in "reality" ... interesting look though with NMF as opposed to OD.

I'm assuming this C-47 was used as a personal transport somewhere. Looks to be a 9th AF plane.

US Army Air Force Waco CG-4A Glider 43-36811, stateside trainer I believe.

Mark Allen M · **Joined:** Fri Feb 03, 2012 1:48 pm **Posts:** 7826

A couple more shots of a "Silver Waco" ...

Mark Allen M · **Joined:** Fri Feb 03, 2012 1:48 pm **Posts:** 7826

And a final "Silly imagination" photo. What if D-Day were held on June 6, 1947? .... this? ... Stars & Bars & red stripe.

This was glider training at Fort Bragg c ? ... assuming 1947 or so.

Mark Allen M · **Joined:** Fri Feb 03, 2012 1:48 pm **Posts:** 7826

And another "different" view of D-Day events. Guess who's C-47 this one belonged to.

"Four star generals parking only..."
A special hardstand built at an advanced fighter base near the frontline in Normandy to accomodate personal planes of four star generals. The spot is occupied by Sir Gen. Bernard L. Montgomery's plane (British forces).
19 July 1944

Mark Allen M · **Joined:** Fri Feb 03, 2012 1:48 pm **Posts:** 7826

Back to reality ... and never forgotten.

Normandy American Cemetery & Memorial. Colleville-sur-Mer, France
Not sure the date on these photos. Anyone have an idea?

Pathfinder · **Joined:** Tue Nov 10, 2009 7:35 pm **Posts:** 587

The C-47 is interesting in that it does not display a tail number....does not appear to have been "whited-out" by a photo censor.

Pathfinder · **Joined:** Tue Nov 10, 2009 7:35 pm **Posts:** 587

The Normandy Cemetery was officially dedicated in 1957. As the photo shows all of the significant interior features (Chapel, Memorial) I would suggest that the photos date from that time period.

Forgotten Field · **Posted:** Fri Jun 03, 2016 9:40 am

Interesting photos- 43-42832 was a Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation aircraft, and the ones after it were delivered to the British as Hadrian I's according to Baugher. I wonder if they were going to be re-painted in British camouflage and were done in silver for that change?

Great photo of the emergency braking parachute on the tail fairing.

Do you have any more photos of CG-4A's from these series? Thanks for posting them.

BTW, if you are at WWII weekend at Reading, I have my CG-4A cockpit on display.

Pat Carry · **Posted:** Fri Jun 03, 2016 9:41 am

thanks Mark. Nice photos of the cemetery.

Pathfinder · **Joined:** Tue Nov 10, 2009 7:35 pm **Posts:** 587

This site show IX AAF CG Hoyt Vandenberg boarding a silver-painted C-47 with IX AF patch on the nose and no tail number.

See outtakes #10 and #14.

Also the door arrangement port side would tend to indicate that this is DC-3/C-53 conversion.

http://footage.framepool.com/en/bin/261 ... +17,+1945/

Django · **Posted:** Tue Jun 07, 2016 6:01 am

I don't think I've ever seen a sliver glider before.

gliderman1 · **Posted:** Tue Jun 07, 2016 3:48 pm

Sure you have seen a silver glider before. The TG-5, TG-6 & TG-8 and a lot of the TG "soaring" gliders were silver. The men I met from Glider Branch CCAAF and Wright Field never had a good explanation why a few CG-4A were silver. To my knowledge the CG-4A did not come out of the factories painted silver. The silver painting was done over the olive drab by the USAAF mechanics after delivery. One you have seen photo of is the PG-2A, hung by Ernest LaSalle and his mechanics school at Sheppard Field. At least one CG-15A was painted silver and used at CCAAF.

CG-4A #43-36811 with 60 on the side was built by GA owned by Henry Ford's friend, Harvey Firestone. It was assigned to First TCC at Stout and has the 1 TCC emblem on the side of the cockpit. This glider was used by the Glider war bond drive group led by Capt Lee Jett. Generally it was flown by F/O John Bryant. Another f/O in that demo group was John Coogan. Likely the glider marked 89 was used by them also. But then, there were several glider/airborne demo groups. On #43-36811 port side rudder just aft of the serial number you can see "smudging". That actually is a group of signatures. Lee Jett did not recall who or why it was signed. This glider also has a deceleration parachute on the tail and is new enough that the tail was "bobbed" to provide a flat surface to mount the chute pack. Earlier CG-4A like the 43-42832 CM has the original rounded tail and the deceleration chute had to be mounted on the side. #42-79258 WO (WACO) with nose up has the Corey triple nose skid. This skid was field installed on that glider as factory installation of that skid did not occur until 1945 contract production in late 1944 and early 1945.

The glider being snatched at L-M or wherever it was is a CG-15A. The only glider rider I have met who trained in 1946-47 told me all they had was the CG-15A even though he thought they were CG-4A until I told him it was a CG-15A because he said it had three-man steel tubing and canvas fold down seats. Had the US started glider design and research a couple years earlier, the CG-15A would have become the most produced and used glider rather than the CG-4A.

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If D-Day were held on June 6, 1945 ...

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