| TG-32 | |
|---|---|
| Role | Training glider |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Pratt, Read & Company |
| First flight | 1940 |
| Primary user | United States Army Air Force |
| 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]
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 Force 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]
A number of the gliders are on public display in the United States.
General characteristics
Performance
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