The Slingsby Hengist was a British military glider designed and built by Slingsby Sailplanes Ltd in the Second World War. It took its name from the legendary Jutish invader of Britain, Hengist. His brother Horsa gave his name to another glider.
The use of assault gliders by the British was prompted by the use by Germany of the DFS 230 transport glider, which was first used in May 1940 to successfully land assault troops on the Eben Emael fort in ...
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The Slingsby Hengist was a British military glider designed and built by Slingsby Sailplanes Ltd in the Second World War. It took its name from the legendary Jutish invader of Britain, Hengist. His brother Horsa gave his name to another glider.
The use of assault gliders by the British was prompted by the use by Germany of the DFS 230 transport glider, which was first used in May 1940 to successfully land assault troops on the Eben Emael fort in Belgium. Their advantage compared to parachute assault was that the troops were landed together in one place, rather than being dispersed.
The Slingsby T.18 Hengist was designed by John "Jack" Frost who had worked with Airspeed Ltd, Miles Aircraft and Westland Aircraft and later worked on the De Havilland Hornet and De Havilland Mosquito.
The Hengist was a 15-seat glider designed to meet Specification X.25/40 (in accordance to O.R.98), issued in February 1941. Four prototypes were ordered in late 1940, the first prototype DG570 flying in...
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