November 11, 2006,
the First Weedwacker
Aero Squadron of
Lakeside, California,
honored its local
veterans from all
branches of the
service during its
annual Veterans Day
Warbird Fly-In.
THE SAN DIEGO County Association of
Model Clubs and the First Weedwacker
Aero Squadron of Santee, California,
honored Carl Gwartney Jr. at its 2006
Veterans Day Warbirds Fly-in.
Carl Gwartney, 86, distinguished himself
as a glider pilot in World War II and
received many awards and decorations for
his military service between 1942 and 1946.
He learned to fly at the age of 18 and
accumulated more than 300 flight hours
before enlisting in the US Army Air Corp in
1942. Carl completed his flight training in
August 1942, was assigned to fly CG-4A
gliders, and was sent overseas with the 29th
Troop Carrier Squadron.
Special recognition was bestowed on Carl
Gwartney Jr. of San Diego, California, for his
heroic service as a World War II glider pilot
with the 29th Troop Carrier Squadron.
Donn Stewart (L), Bill Hutchins, Steve
Lanning, and Frank Gagliardi received this
year’s Peoples Choice awards.
Carl served in Tunisia, Morocco, and
Sicily. His squadron flew the 82nd Airborne
into Sicily where 35-mile-per-hour winds
scattered the troops across the terrain. In that
same action many of the US gliders loaned to
the British were lost at sea and 23 US C-47s
were shot down by inadvertent friendly fire.
Carl Gwartney (L)
is pictured at the
Lubbock, Texas,
museum standing
next to the fullscale
glider he flew
in World War II.
Carl displays
his RC Scale
model of the
CG-4A in
the photo to
the right.
Carl’s squadron was shipped to England
in August of 1944 in preparation for the
Normandy invasion. On September 18
Carl’s CG-4A was the 17th glider to land in
Holland during the Market Garden
Operation. Upon landing, his orders were
to return to base as soon as possible for
another glider mission. Carl spent 21 days
walking, hitching rides, and fighting his
way back.
Shortly thereafter, Carl was transferred
to Blackpool, England, in preparation for
the invasion of Japan. Thankfully these
preparations were curtailed on August 15,
1945, with the Japanese surrender and the
end of World War II.
Carl Gwartney Jr. received numerous
awards, decorations, and battle stars for his
service and today is a proud member of
America’s “Greatest Generation.” He is an
active club member and an avid RC flier.
Till next time ... Keep ’em safe and Keep
’em fly’n.
Alan Brown, club secretary of the RC
Bees of Santa Cruz County reported on
the RC Bees of Santa Cruz:
“The RC Bees of Santa Cruz is a
small club in northern California.
Located on the Monterey Bay, most of
our weekday fliers are retirees.
“One Thursday morning a couple of
weeks ago we had such an eclectic
collection of model airplanes show up at
the field that we felt compelled to put
them all out on the runway and take a
couple of pictures.”
The aircraft included (L-R) an
Uproar, an Israeli L-39, a North
American Navion, a Westland-
Hill Pterodactyl, a P-51, a
Grumman F9F, a Sik Stik (at
least 30 years old), an
Antoinette, an S.E.5, a Fokker
D.VII, a Lincoln Beachey Curtiss
Pusher, a Graupner Elektro
Kadet, a miniature helicopter,
and a Piper Super Cub. In front
of the Antoinette there’s a Long
Eze modified with two electric
ducted-fan motors!
Edition: Model Aviation - 2007/04
Page Numbers: 176