There are a number of stories about long aero-tows. Dave Martin
mentioned the England- North Africa tows which are very well documented
in Lawrence Wright's book 'The Wooden Sword'. Two of the tug pilots
were Buster Briggs a well known London Gliding Club member and Wing
Commander McMonnies the father in-law of Simon Marriott.
Having been towed from England to Denmark in an Olympia myself, small
beer by their achievements, having read about Robert Kronfeld's tows
around Europe before WWII, my vote for the (craziest?) tow must go to
Derek Piggott who was towed from England to Paris in an open Primary
(SG38, Slingsby Grasshopper, EON Primary type).
Can anyone top that? Wally Kahn
In message . com, Rusty
writes
Hello All:
Try to find a copy of, "One Night in June" by Kevin Shannon & Stephen
Wright. It is "The story of Operation Tonga, the Initial Phase of the
Invasion of Normandy, 1944". It is Tonga as seen through the eyes of
the men of the Glider Regiment. A really good read, my hat is off to
these men!
Rusty
Dave Martin wrote:
Mike Cummings account of this flight in June 1943 with
four legs is remarkable, the longest flight being seven
and three quarter hours.
However it was probably not the longest military glider
tow on record. About the same time In the preparation
for the invasion of Sicily July 1943, gliders were
ferried from UK to North Africa some by ship but others
by aerotow.
Part of the planning included endurance training, 8
hours flights on tow!
The ferry journey was some 1200 miles and the airspeed
of 150mph lead to flights of up to 10 hours. Bad weather
and attack by enemy aircraft meant that many did not
reach their destination some survived others did not.
Some pilots made several such flights.
For the interested, accounts of these flights can be
read in
The Glider Gang by Milton Dank ISBN 0-304-300144
Horsa Squadron by Will Morrison ISBN 0-7183-0684-8
Dave
At 02:18 07 October 2005, wrote:
Found a copy for sale 20 pounds British...
http://www.orangeberry.co.uk/obmilitarycat.htm
Bob
--
Walter Kahn