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TG-32
Role Training glider
National origin United States
Manufacturer Pratt, Read & Company
First flight 1940
Primary user United States Army Air Forces
Number built 101

The Pratt-Read TG-32 was a 1940s American military training glider, designed and built by the Gould Aero Division of Pratt, Read & Company for the United States Navy.[1]

Development[]

The Pratt-Read PR-G1 was designed to meet a United States Navy requirement for a two-seat training glider to enable the training of Navy and Marine Corps glider pilots for the Pacific campaign.[1] The Navy ordered 100 gliders with the designation LNE.[2] The PR-G1 was a monoplane glider and had a fabric-covered steel tube fuselage and wooden wings and tail.[2] When the decision was made not use gliders in the Pacific campaign, 73 of the Navy aircraft were transferred to the United States Army Air Forces with the designation TG-32.[3] The Air Force did not use the gliders and they were stored until the end of the war and were sold on the civilian market.[1][2]

In the 1950s the glider was used in a high altitude weather and flight condition investigation called the Sierra Wave project.[2] In 1952 a TG-32 set a new world altitude record of 44,255 ft (13,489 m) for two-seat gliders, a record held for 54 years.[2] The altitude gain of 34,426 ft (10,493 m)achieved on this flight still stands as a US National Record [4]

Variants[]

PR-G1
Company designation, one prototype built with Naval designation XLNE-1.[5]
LNE-1
United States Navy designation, 100 built.[5]
TG-32
United States Army Air Forces designation for 73 gliders transferred from the Navy.[3]

Operators[]

United States

Aircraft on display[]

A number of the gliders are on public display in the United States.

Specifications[]

Data from [1][2]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 2
  • Length: 26 ft 3 in (8.00 m)
  • Wingspan: 54 ft 6 in (16.61 m)
  • Height: 6 ft (1.8 m)
  • Wing area: 230 sq ft (21 m2)
  • Empty weight: 585 lb (265 kg)
  • Max takeoff weight: 1,000 lb (454 kg)

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 99 mph; 159 km/h (86 kn) dive or glide speed

Gallery[]


See also[]

  • List of gliders

References[]

Notes[]

Bibliography[]

  • Andrade, John (1979). U.S.Military Aircraft Designations and Serials since 1909. Midland Counties Publications. ISBN 0-904597-22-9. 
All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at Pratt-Read TG-32 and the edit history here.
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