Word: glider
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...last week a big glider program was emerging in the U.S. Just how big it was no one in the War Department would say. But a call had gone out for glider pilots; the first training schools were ready, others were on the way. Civil pilots, 18 to 35, ineligible for regular aviation-cadet training, were sought as glider students. Several large aircraft factories, a few smaller ones, had fat contracts to build big gliders for troop transports, small ones for training...
About Face. Early in 1941, Secretary Stimson said: "Flight training in gliders or sailplanes as a preliminary step in power-plane training is of doubtful value, and it is believed the cost is not commensurate with the results obtained." A Navy spokesman announced: "It was definitely determined that the inclusion of glider training in the flight syllabus was not worthwhile...
...glider enthusiasts had persisted, forming 180 clubs, held contests each June, supervised by the Sparing Society of America, among the green hills of Elmira, N.Y. Glider pilots flew as far as 290 miles on air currents...
...eastern Mediterranean, the German eyed Cyprus, hoped to make it another Crete, a steppingstone down the Levant to Suez. To the north in Bulgaria, General Wilhelm Student, No. 1 Nazi parachutist, whipped new men into shape, ran a vast training program for glider pilots, reconditioned ground officers to lead air infantry. Perhaps they were being trained for an invasion of Britain, but a better bet was that they were headed for the Mediterranean...
Successful completion of the glider pilot course leads to a Staff Sergeant's rating with flying...