This unfortunate German glider of 1941 had a hilarious history. The Nazis ordered the Junkers company to produce 200 all-wood assault gliders, they were to be used in the invasion of Britain in the same role as the Messershmitt 321. {See my entry on the Me 323 for details.} Junkers had to start from scratch, the company had abandoned wood construction years before. They wound up with a 203 foot flying wing with a conventional tail that loaded cargo through the "nose". During loading tests a light tank crashed through the floor and it had to be strengthened, reducing payload by 20 percent. On it's first flight test a Ju 90 tow plane laboured to pull it into the air, barely making it before the end of the runway. The Mammut then jettisoned it's wheeled take-off trolley, which smashed itself into fragments. The poor pilot had other things to worry about as the unstable glider began to pitch up violently, putting the tow plane into a full-power dive. In desperation the Mammut pilot cut loose the tow and the glider straightened out and landed in a field nearby. Two weeks later it was towed back to the flying field by the tanks it was supposed to carry. The project was cancelled and the rest of the 98 gliders being built were cut up for firewood. The above picture may show it after it's first flight.