General Airborne Transport XCG-16
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The XCG-16 was an experimental military glider ordered by the Army Air Corps. It was manufactured by General Airborne. It competed against the Waco CG-13A at Wright Field, with the XCG-16 winning the competition.
This photo is of the MC-1 glider, NX21757, manufactured by the General Airborne Transport Co. This glider followed the successful and earlier flights of the half size prototype designed and constructed by William Hawley Bowlus of Bowlus Sailplanes. Bowlus had put in a bid on the 8 and 15 place glider, XCG-7/XCG-8, during the initial contracts with Material Division for a cargo glider to be used by the USAAF. Bowlus also made an attempt to secure a production run of training gliders with the 2 place XTG-12. The Waco designed XCG-3 and XCG-4 was the design the AAF selected.
Bowlus, along with partner Albert Criz eventually formed GATC and built the MC-1 to be a "commercially approved" glider, thus the NX number. The glider was test flown at March Field, California on September 11, 1943. The first test flight was uneventful and may be seen here. The second flight ended in tragedy. The glider flew through the towing plane's propwash causing a violent reaction. The ballast carried within the glider was not secured and slid causing a weight shift in the glider. The glider began to "porpoise" and the pilot was unable to gain control. The glider was released from the tow plane and began a flat spin downward. The order was given to jump, but the glider had gotten to low for a safe jump. The passengers jumped with several surviving. Richard Chichester du Pont, Special Assistant for the Glider Program, was killed when his parachute failed to completely open and the pilot, Colonel Ernest Gabel, was killed in the ensuing crash which left the MC-1 completely destroyed.
In spite of all the design problems and the MC-1 crash, a contract was approved on November 13, 1943 for two test flight articles and one static test article of the MC-1 glider designated as the USAAF XCG-16, serial number 44-76193. Only one XCG-16 was manufactured and tested. It was concluded that it did not meet military expectations as a combat glider.
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