Airspeed Horsa

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The Airspeed AS.51 or Horsa Mk I was a World War II troop-carrying glider built by the British company Airspeed Ltd and subcontractors and used for air assault by British and Allied armed forces. It was named after Horsa, the legendary 5th century conqueror of Southern Britain.

1 History
2 Combat History
3 Design and manufacture
4 Specifications (AS.51)
5 Operators
6 Related content

[edit] History

The use of assault gliders by the British was prompted by the use by Germany of the DFS 230, which was first used in May 1940 to successfully assault the Eben Emael fort in Belgium. Their advantage compared to parachute assault was that the troops were landed together in one place, rather than being dispersed.

With around 28 troop seats, the Horsa was much bigger than the 13-troop American Waco CG-4A (known as the Hadrian by the British), and the 8-troop General Aircraft Hotspur glider which was intended for training duties only. As well as troops, the AS.51 could carry a jeep or a 6 pounder anti tank gun.

The Airspeed 58 or Horsa Mk II had a hinged nose section, reinforced floor and double nose wheels to support the extra weight of vehicles. The tow was attached to the nose rather than the dual wing points of the Mk I.

[edit] Combat History

The Horsa was first used operationally on the night of 19/20 November 1942 in the unsuccessful attack on the German Heavy Water Plant at Rjukan in Norway (Operation Freshman). The 2 gliders and one of the Halifax tug aircraft crashed in Norway due to bad weather. The survivors from the glider crashes were executed on the orders of Hitler.

Image:Airspeed Horsas - Arnhem 1944 1.jpg

On July 10, 1943, 27 Horsas were used in Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily. Large numbers were subsequently used in the Normandy, Operation Dragoon, Operation Market Garden (Arnhem), and Operation Varsity (Crossing the river Rhine). In Normandy, the first troops to land in France did so by Horsas, capturing Pegasus Bridge.

Image:Airspeed Horsas - Arnhem 1944 2.jpg

On operations they were towed variously by Stirling, Halifax, Albemarle, Whitley and C-47 Dakota tugs, using a harness that attached to both wings. The pilots were usually from the Glider Pilot Regiment, part of the Army Air Corps, although Royal Air Force pilots were used on occasion. The Horsa was also used in service by the USAAF.

On June 5, 2004, as part of the 60th anniversary commemoration of D-Day, Prince Charles unveiled a replica Horsa on the site of the first landing at Pegasus Bridge, and talked with the original pilot of the aircraft, Jim Wallwork.

[edit] Design and manufacture

The Horsa was designed to specification X.26/40 and built from 1940 onwards. It first flew on 12 September, 1941. The Horsa featured a high-wing and was of all-wooden construction due to the shortage of other materials and the expendable nature of the aircraft. It was one of the first gliders equipped with a tricycle undercarriage for take-off. On operational flights this could be jettisoned and landing was then on a sprung skid under the fuselage. The wing carried large, 'barn door' flaps, which when lowered made a steep high rate-of-descent landing possible that allowed the pilots to land in constricted areas.

The Horsa was considered sturdy and very manoeuvrable for a glider. Production was by Airspeed and subcontractors including the Austin Motors and the furniture manufacturers Harris Lebus. A total of 3655 were built. The specification for the gliders had demanded that they were built in a number of sections, and as a result production was spread across separate factories which limited the likely loss in case of German attack.