General Aircraft GAL.55
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2017}}
| {{Infobox Aircraft Begin
| name=General Aircraft GAL.55 | image= | caption= }}{{Infobox Aircraft Type | type=Training Glider | national origin=United Kingdom | manufacturer=General Aircraft Limited | designer= | first flight=1943 | introduced= | retired= | status= | primary user= | number built=2 | developed from= | variants with their own articles= }} |
The General Aircraft GAL.55 was a 1940s British military training glider designed and built by General Aircraft Limited.
Development
The GAL.55 was a two-seat training glider to meet Air Ministry Specification TX.3/43, and was selected ahead of the Airspeed AS.54, with the British Air Ministry ordering three prototypes.{{harvnb|Jarrett|1991|p=398}} The requirement called for a glider for basic and advanced training transport of glider pilots. The GAL.55 was a mid-wing monoplane of mixed construction, with a plywood-covered steel tube fuselage and spruce and plywood wings. Pilot and instructor sat side-by-side under an enclosed canopy, and were provided with full dual controls. The aircraft was fitted with a fixed tricycle landing gear and had split trailing edge flaps and dive brakes.{{harvnb|Jarrett|1991|pp=398–399}}
Two gliders were built, with the first prototype making its maiden flight late in 1943 from Hanworth.{{harvnb|Jarrett|1991|p=399}} Formal handling and performance trials at the Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment (AAEE) at RAF Beaulieu did not begin until November 1945. The type had light and sensitive controls, but had poor stability when being towed, and had much steeper gliding angles than the Horsa that the GAL.55 would train pilots for. The AAEE concluded that the GAL.55 was unsuitable as a trainer for contemporary troop- and cargo-carrying gliders.{{harvnb|Jarrett|1991|pp=399–400}} By the time these tests had been completed, in July 1946, there was no longer a requirement to train large numbers of glider pilots, so no effort was made to resolve the GAL.55's problems, and no production followed.
Specifications
File:GAL_55_3-view_Les_Ailes_January_4,_1947.png
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|ref={{harvnb|Ellison|1971|p=127}}
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See also
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References
{{commons category|General Aircraft GAL.55}}
=Notes=
=Bibliography=
- {{cite book |title= British Gliders and Sailplanes|last=Ellison|first=Norman| year=1971|publisher=A & C Black Ltd|location=London |isbn=978-0-7136-1189-2}}
- {{cite magazine |last=Jarrett |first=Philip |author-link=Philip Jarrett |title=Nothing Ventured...No 16 |magazine=Aeroplane Monthly |date=July 1991 |volume=19 |issue=7 |pages=398–401 |issn=0143-7240 }}
{{GAL aircraft}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:General Aircraft Gal.55}}