Airspeed Horsa

AS.51 and AS.58 Horsa
Horsa replica at Pegasus Bridge Museum
Role	Troop and cargo military glider
National origin	United Kingdom
Manufacturer	Airspeed Ltd
First flight	12 September 1941
Introduction	1941
Primary users	Army Air Corps United States Army Air Forces
Number built	over 3,600

The Airspeed AS.51 Horsa was a British World War II troop-carrying glider built by Airspeed Limited and subcontractors and used for air assault by British and Allied armed forces. It was named after Horsa, the legendary 5th-century conqueror of southern Britain.

The German military was a pioneer in the use of airborne operations, conducting several successful operations during the Battle of France in 1940, including the use of glider-borne troops in the Battle of Fort Eben-Emael. Impressed by the success of German airborne operations, the Allied governments decided to form their own airborne formations. This decision would eventually lead to the creation of two British airborne divisions, as well as a number of smaller units. The British airborne establishment began development on 22 June 1940, when the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, directed the War Office in a memorandum to investigate the possibility of creating a corps of 5,000 parachute troops. In 1941, the United States embarked on a similar programme.

When the equipment for the airborne forces was under development, it was decided by War Office officials that gliders would be an integral component of such a force; these would be used to transport troops and heavy equipment. The first glider to be designed and produced was the General Aircraft Hotspur, the first prototype of which flew on 5 November 1940. However, several problems were found with the Hotspur's design, the primary one being that the glider did not carry sufficient troops. Tactically it was believed that airborne troops should be landed in groups far larger than the eight the Hotspur could transport, and also the number of aircraft required to tow the gliders needed to carry larger groups would be impractical. There were also concerns that the gliders would have to be towed in tandem if used operationally, which would be extremely difficult during nighttime and through cloud formations. So it was decided to use the Hotspur as a training glider, and continue with the development of several other types of glider, including a 25-seater assault glider which became the Airspeed Horsa.

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