Horsa

The Horsa is a British Assault Glider that was used during World War II. It was the culmination of a collaborative effort between the Air Ministries of the United Kingdom and the United States in 1944. The Horsa was designed for airborne operations, specifically for carrying troops and equipment behind enemy lines.

The Horsa had a crew of two and a payload capacity of 2,485 pounds (1,124 kilograms). It was 67 feet 3 inches (20.50 meters) in length, with a wingspan of 88 feet (26.83 meters) and a height of 16 feet 1 inch (4.90 meters). The glider had a gross weight of 6,500 pounds (2,948 kilograms) and a top speed of approximately 120 knots (222 kilometers per hour) during descent.

The Horsa made its operational debut on the night of June 5-6, 1944, during the opening stages of the D-Day invasion of Normandy. On this first operation, 329 Horsa Gliders took off from assemblies near Tarrant Rushton in Dorset and headed towards objectives within the 1st Airborne Brigade and the 6th Airborne Division zones. The remainder of the gliders used the new SLCT mode and brought down their leading edge altogether.

The Horsa saw a total of 35 operations over the course of the war, the largest number of operations for any glider in British service. While production ended in 1945, surplus aircraft were relegated or sold to the French, contributing to the strategic needs of the diversion.