Pratt-Read TG-32
| TG-32/LNE-1 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| US Navy LNE-1 exhibited at the New England Air Museum wearing WW2 color scheme | |
| Role | Training glider |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Pratt, Read & Company |
| First flight | 1940 |
| Primary user | United States Army Air Forces |
| Number built | 101 |
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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
Aircraft on display
A number of TG-32 and LNE-1 gliders are on public display in museums in the United States.[6]
Specifications
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
See also
- Related lists
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "United States Navy Pratt-Read LNE-1 Glider Trainer Aircraft". Retrieved 2010-01-29.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Museum of Flight. "Pratt-Read PR-G1". Retrieved 2010-01-29.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Andrade 1979, p. 170
- ↑ "National Altitude Records in the General Category". SSA. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Andrade 1979, p. 200
- ↑ Ogden, 2007, p. 600
Bibliography
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