92 Miracles Ahead! 



deliver ten times as much freight as a railroad train in the 

 same length of time. And the cargo will remain in much bet- 

 ter condition since it will not be subjected to the shocks of 

 switching and shunting." 



Glider enthusiasts venture to predict that glider trains may 

 lower air-freight rates to as little as three cents a ton-mile, 

 and predict wide postwar use of this craft for passenger- as 

 well as freight-carrying purposes. But the entire aviation in- 

 dustry is not in agreement on the glider's future. Some experts 

 say the glider will be less important over long ranges in cargo 

 carrying on a large scale. Some companies have, however, 

 filed an application with the CAB for cargo-carrying air serv- 

 ice which will use glider towing by aircraft. 



On July 4, 1943, the R.A.F. disclosed that the first "air- 

 train" flight across the Atlantic had been made. A fully loaded 

 glider carrying vaccines for Russia, and radio, aircraft, and 

 motor parts, was towed thirty-five hundred miles from Mon- 

 treal to England in twenty-eight hours. The R.A.F. Trans- 

 port Command provided the officers and crews for this historic 

 flight, but the equipment was American-made. 



The glider "Voo-Doo" with an eighty-four-foot wing- 

 spread was piloted by Squadron Leader R. G. Seys, holder 

 of the Distinguished Flying Cross. The tow plane was a twin- 

 engined Douglas transport. 



"One of the things that gave us the greatest satisfaction 

 about our glider crossing of the Atlantic," remarked Squadron 

 Leader Seys, "is that the critics have been confounded. Few 

 people had much faith in glider flying. These were so few, 

 indeed, that bets of 5-to-i were being offered against a suc- 

 cessful flight bets which none of us took. To be candid, I 

 was more than somewhat frightened at the prospect of the 

 tremendous haul before us. This was soon banished by the 

 thrill of getting away according to plan." 



