General Aircraft Hamilcar encyclopedia topics

General Aircraft Hamilcar

Sponsored Links General Hannibal
100,000 Stores. Deals. Reviews. General Hannibal & More!
shopping.yahoo.com

1 reference results for: General Aircraft Hamilcar

Wikipedia

The General Aircraft G.A.L. 49 Hamilcar or Hamilcar Mk I was a large British military glider of the Second World War, which was capable of carrying seven tons of cargo, a light tank such as the Tetrarch or Locust, or two Universal Carriers.

History

The G.A.L.49 was designed to Air Ministry Specification X.27/40, covering the design of a large tank- or vehicle-carrying glider. The first prototype flew on March 27 1942 and led to the production of 410 aircraft under the designation Hamilcar I.

The Hamilcar was of all-wood construction apart from the control surfaces which were wood framed with fabric covering. Manufacturing ws subcontracted to various companies with experience in woodworking, under the supervision of General Aircraft Ltd.

In configuration it was a high-wing monoplane so that the wing centre section did not interfere with the loading of vehicles through its swing-open nose. For the same reason the crew of two were accommodated in a cockpit mounted on top of the fuselage, accessed via a ladder. It was fitted with tailwheel landing gear, with oleo-pneumatic shock absorbers that could be deflated to bring the fuselage nose down for loading or unloading purposes.

It was the largest and heaviest of the transport gliders used by Allied forces during World War II, being capable of carrying up to of cargo, or two Tetrarch light tanks or two Universal Carriers. It was also the first British glider to carry a tank into action. Approximately 410 were built, and it was used with success in Operation Overlord. The only British aircraft capable of towing it was the 4-engine Handley Page Halifax bomber, which saw widespread use as a glider tug.

Mark X

The Mark X Hamilcar was an experimental powered version of the Mark I designed in 1944 to Specification X.4/44. This was generally similar to the Hamilcar I apart from the installation of two 965 hp Bristol Mercury radial piston engines and their associated controls, instruments, and fuel tankage. 100 were ordered, to be converted from production models if the Hamilcar I after the prototype was shown to be practical in a February 1945 test flight. A towing aircraft was still necessary for take-off at full load, but it could return under the power of its own engines.

Intended for Pacific operations, only 22 had been completed when the end of hostilities with Japan caused the contract to be cancelled and none saw action.