Gliders

[B777LR]

Or maybe we're thinking too small ... 

But what do you tow it with?  A spare JB-52?  A modified C-5 or C-17?  Or just recycle a bunch of older 747s oe DC-10/MD-11s from the Mojave boneyard?

A C-130! Just like WWII, where C-47s towed C-47 gliders over the hump! If the bunch of ex-RAF C-130Ks that were scrapped were used for this instead...

[Mossie]

Looking at that Short 330 fuselage, has made me think!

The Short 330 (or more precisely the military derivative - the C-23 Sherpa) could (in my small mind only) make for a good emergency built 'Assault Glider'!
Now think about it -
- remove its two turboprops and engine nacelles
- remove all non essential gear and gadgits
- install a emergency wind turbine - so as to give electrical power for on-board instruments and lighting
- strengthen nose area to allow the fitting of a tow-point
- install a GPS system and antenna to give pin point accuracy in navigation and landing

Now all I need is for someone (hint hint......!!!!!!) with profiling talent to do me a 'GC-23A' with the above modifications incorporated.........say in a USAF Euro One camouflage pattern
Voroila.........my dream would be alive and U.S, British and Australian Special Forces would have the ability to assault distant targets .......say Iranian ballistic missile sites or nuclear development complexes in silents, in concentrated numbers and with some real packing firepower mounted on Fast Attack Vehicles (say Chenowth Fast Attack Vehicle!)
                         

Quick one for now with engines removed, I'll install some of the other equipment later.

[dy031101]

You still have the problem of allocation of the tug aircraft.

I was thinking exactly that.  I guess anything bigger than a searchwater radar and a one- or two-man mission crew would probably need a medium-range transport to tow, but that guess is uneducated......

[Weaver]

You could build a dedicated tow aircraft: a slim flying fuel tank with oversized engines, basically. Then tow whatever AEW/ELINT/SIGINT glider module you like.

A Dash-8 might be a good basis for this because it's u/c is mounted on the engines rather than the fuselage, so you can reduce the fuselage diameter without reducing the prop/ground clearance.

[Mossie]

Okay, gone a bit further, addition of a Ram turbine, attachment point in the nose, removal of IFF gear.  A lot of changes are going to be internal so don't show.  Landing gear might be fixed so you could remove some of the hydraulics & mechanics associated with them.  I forgot to mention in the earlier profile that I'd stretched the wings, it's only slightly apparent.

I might do some more versions later, I'm thinking of a short nose cone to loose a little more weight.

[JayBee]

I'm thinking of a short nose cone to loose a little more weight.

Ye Gods Mossie, the 330 is ugly enough as it is.

[elmayerle]

You could build a dedicated tow aircraft: a slim flying fuel tank with oversized engines, basically. Then tow whatever AEW/ELINT/SIGINT glider module you like.

A Dash-8 might be a good basis for this because it's u/c is mounted on the engines rather than the fuselage, so you can reduce the fuselage diameter without reducing the prop/ground clearance.

is
This is starting to sound a lot like the towed sonar arrays that submarines use.  This could get interesting and I wonder if the two cable could include a fiber optic data link to allow further processing and evaluation of information onboard the towing aircraft?  I could see the AEW/ELINT/SIGINT gliders needing equipment shielded or isolated from EM interference, hence being towed rather than installed in a conventional aircraft.

[Weaver]

Tow the glider on a long-enough cable and you could begin to exploit bi-static effects....

[jcf]

Why not?  They converted C-47s into Gliders to fly supplies over "the hump" to China, so why not C-130s.  However, I think their use would be rather limited.  Much easier to fly in and then fly out, using a fully powered aircraft - which is of course why gliders were eventually abandoned. 

Actually, only one aircraft was converted to test the concept and it never left the continental US.

[jcf]

Your Shorts 330 glider may require a return to the higher-aspect ratio wing of the Miles/Hurel-Dubois types that preceded
and inspired the Shorts design.

[deathjester]

You could build a dedicated tow aircraft: a slim flying fuel tank with oversized engines, basically. Then tow whatever AEW/ELINT/SIGINT glider module you like.

A Dash-8 might be a good basis for this because it's u/c is mounted on the engines rather than the fuselage, so you can reduce the fuselage diameter without reducing the prop/ground clearance.

is
This is starting to sound a lot like the towed sonar arrays that submarines use.  This could get interesting and I wonder if the two cable could include a fiber optic data link to allow further processing and evaluation of information onboard the towing aircraft?  I could see the AEW/ELINT/SIGINT gliders needing equipment shielded or isolated from EM interference, hence being towed rather than installed in a conventional aircraft.
This might be a very useful idea for an ELINT/Recon platform, as all the heavyweight equipment can be in the towed section, with the recording system in the tow aircraft - in an emergency, the glider could be ejected and self destructed, while the tow aircraft, with the crew and info can make good their escape.

[Mossie]

Your Shorts 330 glider may require a return to the higher-aspect ratio wing of the Miles/Hurel-Dubois types that preceded
and inspired the Shorts design.

There is an increased span, it's just not that apparent in the profile.  I'll probably increase it further for the next profile.

[Mossie]

Two with the short nose & increased span.  RAF, as would probably use them the way the force structure is at present & British Army as an analogue to the Glider Pilot Regiment of WWII.