Found this most interesting older thread posted by Colin. The first thing that came to my mind when I saw it was an article I had read a number of years back in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. I was unaware that gliders had been manufactured in St. Louis during the war. According to Wikipedia the Robertson Aircraft Corporation produced 170 Waco CG-4 gliders for the war effort.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robertson_Aircraft_Corporation
However the focus of the newspaper article was not on glider production in St. Louis but the tragedy that unfolded on August 1st, 1943. On that Sunday an airshow was held at Lambert Field in St. Louis, a demonstration flight by one the Robertson built gliders was to be included in the show. On board the Waco along with the pilot and copilot was St. Louis Mayor William D. Becker and seven other dignitaries. Shortly after detachment from the C-47 tow plane at 2000 feet, the right wing of the Waco snapped off, sending all ten aboard to their deaths before 5000 horrified onlookers. Most sad.
Randy
