[Empiricist]

Tim

Long way in front of you if you are going to write good credible book on world gliderborne operations. Remember that the USSR belonged to "Big Three", so to say, to three pre-WWII "Glider Powers" when it comes to the number of qualified glider pilots trained in paramilitary system. I mean Germany, Poland and USSR. These three countries are uncomparable to the rest of world air forces with their experienced glider pilots trained in mass quantities. It is no accident that the FAI Lilienthal Gliding Medal No. 1 of 1939 belongs to the Polish pilot Tadeusz Góra who was a fighter pilot during WWII. He was an airman of No. 316 (Polish) Fighter Squadron RAF.

I do not know what changed last years in the Russian military glider literature but if I am not mistaken through decades the best book was G. Gofman's "Kryliataya Semia" published in Moscow in 1965. If you are going to write about the Russians you have to start from Summer 1942 and Lt. S. N. Anochin's flight to the forrest LZ in the Bryan Forrests. You have to finish Russian story on Dniepr crossing late 1943.

I am a glider pilot and am curious if you will be the first "glider author" in the world who give in his book credible data on glide ratio of various WWII-era types. This is a weak point of all WWII glider dedicated books and articles. If you do not explain in the Chapter 1 what glide ratio is the people never will understand why WWII military gliding was called "No Second Chance".

Regards

E.