By Randy Malmstrom
Since his childhood, Randy Malmstrom has had a passion for aviation history and historic military aircraft in particular. He has a particular penchant for documenting specific airframes with a highly detailed series of walk-around images and an in-depth exploration of their history, which have proved to be popular with many of those who have seen them, and we thought our readers would be equally fascinated too. This installment of Randy’s Warbird Profiles takes a look at the Taylorcraft TG-6 glider kept in airworthy condition at the Western Antique Aeroplane and Automobile Museum in Hood River, Oregon.
Taylorcraft TG-6. A three-seat training glider and a variant of the Taylorcraft L-2 Grasshopper built by Taylorcraft Aircraft for the U.S. Army Air Corps to train glider pilots for World War II airborne assault missions in the Waco CG-4 glider. The instructor sat in the rearmost seat, the beginning student in the middle seat, and the intermediate student sat in the front seat. As far as I have determined, this particular aircraft was built in 1942 and restored at Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum in Hood River, Oregon where it is on display. My photos.
Editor’s note: This aircraft was originally delivered to the U.S. Army Air Force as serial number 43-12498 but was later transferred to the U.S. Navy to serve as XLNT-1 Bureau Number 36430. The glider was flown at EAA Airventure 2018 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, alongside the WAAAM’s Piper TG-8 training glider. After WWII, many surplus Taylorcraft TG-6s and Piper TG-8s were converted by civilian owners into powered aircraft.
About the author: Randy Malmstrom grew up in a family steeped in aviation culture. His father, Bob, was still a cadet in training with the USAAF at the end of WWII but did serve in Germany during the U.S. occupation in the immediate post-war period, where he had the opportunity to fly in a wide variety of types which flew in WWII. After returning to the States, Bob became a multi-engine aircraft sales manager and as such flew a wide variety of aircraft; Randy frequently accompanied him on these flights. Furthermore, Randy’s cousin, Einar Axel Malmstrom flew P-47 Thunderbolts with the 356th FG from RAF Martlesham Heath. He was commanding this unit at the time he was shot down over France on April 24th, 1944, spending the rest of the war as a prisoner of war. Following his repatriation at war’s end, Einar continued his military service, attaining the rank of Colonel. He was serving as Deputy Wing Commander of the 407th Strategic Fighter Wing at Great Falls AFB, MT at the time of his death in a T-33 training accident on August 21, 1954. The base was renamed in his honor in October 1955 and continues to serve in the present USAF as home to the 341st Missile Wing. Randy’s innate interest in history in general, and aviation history in particular, plus his educational background and passion for WWII warbirds, led him down his current path of capturing detailed aircraft walk-around photos and in-depth airframe histories, recording a precise description of a particular aircraft in all aspects.
