Global Transportation 91 



the cargo capacity of a DC-3, for example, would be dou- 

 bled. 



"By having the load thus divided it would be practical to 

 unhitch the glider that must come down in Philadelphia as 

 the train flies over that place similarly unhitching the loaded 

 gliders for Washington, for Richmond, for Charleston, for 

 Jacksonville, as each city is passed and finally the air loco- 

 motive itself lands in Miami. During that process it has not 

 had to make any intermediate landings, so that it has not had 

 to slow down." 



The savings in the cost of landings and take-offs of a heavy, 

 powerful plane would be considerable. Three gliders plus the 

 air locomotive would carry something like 190,000 pounds of 

 freight at a speed of about one hundred and twenty to one 

 hundred and fifty miles per hour. 



Since it has no motor and propellers, the glider can be 

 shaped so its nose resistance is one-third that of an airplane. 

 The glider can be built much lighter, but its weight-carrying 

 capacity would be approximately twice that of the transport 

 plane. The weight of fuel, engines, and the heavier bracing in 

 the transport plane could be replaced by pay load in the 

 glider. Gliders can easily be pulled off the ground by their 

 locomotive plane. They are safely in the air before the tow 

 plane has left the ground. Army tests have proved that gliders 

 can be taken in tow by the locomotive plane even though the 

 plane itself is already in the air. The tow plane swoops down, 

 hooks the towing cable of the glider, and pulls it gently off 

 the ground. 



"A few basic figures will give a fairly good concept of the 

 advantages of this modern means of transportation," states 

 Colonel Edward S. Evans. "The average train of loaded box 

 cars carries 2,000 tons of freight at 25 miles an hour. Seven 

 glider trains could deliver the same freight in one-tenth the 

 time or, to express it differently, seven glider trains could 



