EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2013: The Detroit Tuskegee Airmen Glider Club

Fred Harl and Carmelo Turdo

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2013 continued the tradition of attractive a diversity of aircraft, exhibits, pilots and visitors, and The Aero Experience will showcase many of them in the months to come.  Continuing with our themes of the Tuskegee Airmen and sailplanes from the previous several posts, we now present the Detroit Tuskegee Airmen Glider Club. The club is part of the Tuskegee Airmen National Historical Museum in Detroit, Michigan, and flies three (of twelve built) Schweizer SGM 2-37 (TG-7A) motorgliders donated by the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1993.  Besides airshow appearances, the aircraft are used for Young Eagle Flights, flight training for museum scholarship winners and other goodwill missions.  The aircraft remains in the glider category, and by virtue of the on-board motor can self-launch and tow other gliders. After reaching altitude, the aircraft can fly well with the engine off using conventional glider piloting techniques, or can be flown at over 100mph using 4 gallons of fuel per hour.  Other versions of this aircraft are used for surveillance missions with loiter times of up to 12 hours.  Here are some views of the three aircraft during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2013: