1/144 BR-20 Horsa British Glider 10mm to N Scale

The Horsa first flew on 12 September 1941.  It was was a high-wing cantilever monoplane with wooden wings and a wooden semi-monocoque fuselage. The fuselage was built in three sections bolted together:  the front section was the pilot's compartment and main freight loading door; the main section was accommodation for troops or freight; the rear section supported the tail unit.

It was one of the first gliders equipped with a fixed tricycle undercarriage for take off. On operational flights this could be jettisoned and landing was then on a sprung skid under the fuselage. The wing carried large "barn door" flaps which, when lowered, made a steep, high rate-of-descent landing possible, allowing the pilots to land in constricted spaces.

Aft of the pilot's compartment was the freight loading door on the port side. The hinged door could also be used as a loading ramp. The main compartment could accommodate 15 troops on benches along the sides with another access door on the starboard side. The fuselage joint at the rear end of the main section could be broken on landing to assist in rapid unloading of troops and equipment on landing. Supply containers could also be fitted under the centre-section of the wing, three on each side. The later AS.58 Horsa II had a hinged nose section, reinforced floor and double nose wheels to support the extra weight of vehicles. The tow was attached to the nose-wheel strut, rather than the dual wing points of the Horsa I.

The Horsa was considered sturdy and very manoeuvrable for a glider. Production was by Airspeed and subcontractors including the Austin Motors and the furniture manufacturers Harris Lebus. A total of 3655 were built. The specification for the gliders had demanded that they were built in a number of sections, and to use facilities not needed for more urgent production. As a result, production was spread across separate factories which limited the likely loss in case of German attack.

On operations they were towed variously by Stirling, Halifax, Albemarle, Whitley and Dakota tugs.

The Horsa was first used operationally on the night of 19 November 1942 in the unsuccessful attack on the German Heavy Water Plant at Rjukan in Norway (Operation Freshman). On 10 July 1943, 27 Horsas were used in Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily. Large numbers were subsequently used in Operation Tonga and the American airborne landings in Normandy (Battle of Normandy), Operation Dragoon (southern France), Operation Market Garden (Arnhem), and Operation Varsity (crossing the river Rhine). In Normandy, the first units to land in France did so by Horsas, capturing Pegasus Bridge.