Talk:Messerschmitt Me 321 Gigant

Maiden flight
According to this the first flight occurred on February 25 1941, not March 7. Can anyone confirm either of these dates? Drutt 17:18, 25 September 2007 (UTC)
 * David Mondey / "Axis Aircraft of WWII" confirms the February date. I have changed the article accordingly. Drutt (talk) 00:05, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Any details about accidents ?
I have heard that some of the worst aviation disasters and massive loss of life involved this aircraft (or maybe the Me 323). Are there any details of training accidents or major combat losses involving this type? Since it could carry so many people and the takeoff and tow were such risky propositions there must have been at least one major accident. I remeber from the "Wings" episode on this type that there was mention of at least one case of the tugs colliding due to an engine failure in one tug during a tow.

Also, were any used operationally? That should be described too. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.31.184.166 (talk) 16:17, 19 October 2007 (UTC)

Some details of accidents
An accident is cited here stating 129 lives lost when a RATO unit failed to ignite causing asymetrical thrust and causing the glider to veer off it's flightpath. Other training accidents involving tug collisions are also cited. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.31.184.166 (talk) 17:59, 6 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Do we know the date/location of this incident? Drutt (talk) 00:05, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

A video about this giant glider
This site: [] has a video about this giant glider.Messerschmitt Me 321 remains the biggest glider ever used in combat, in all times.Agre22 (talk) 01:16, 6 September 2008 (UTC)agre22

History
Anything referencable that clears up whether the Gigant was inspired by Sealion or Barbarossa? The article as it stands suggests that an issue for Sealion was the range involved, which is ridiculous (you can swim the Channel, it's hardly the sort of distance the Eastern Front had to contend with).
 * You're quite right, the real driving force behind the Gigant was carrying capacity, so I've amended the text appropriately. Salmanazar (talk) 15:55, 24 September 2008 (UTC)

Photo
Here is a link to a photo. As it is obviously from Nazi German files it is safe to assume that it is public domain. http://api.ning.com/files/rSGuLGjYM3MsP6moZtLgrSvHa-iWc4lDE3trtmy9*UK*4EhyuNNBqfciKcbsZDgT/Me32300.jpg RoyBatty42 (talk) 05:19, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

Assessment comment
Substituted at 23:45, 29 April 2016 (UTC)

1941 accident
The article mentions a 1941 accident which resulted in 129 fatalities. This has a single source. On the other hand, this source says the worst Me.321 accident resulted in 5 fatalities. Can anyone provide another source that backs up the former claim, or debunks it? 80.2.106.75 (talk) 10:46, 23 September 2017 (UTC)
 * There is no source for the 129-killed-accident other than books. Nothing can be found in the MBB-Archive or the Bundesarchiv/Militärarchiv Freiburg. The worst accident was Me 321 c/n 452, which was destroyed on the 28th of May, 1941 due to technical problems with the tailplane. 5 crew were killed: 3 from Luftwaffe, 1 from Messerschmitt and 1 from Erprobungsstelle Rechlin (Source: Loss files for Schools and other Units, 30.05.1941, BA/MA Freiburg). But there was one major accidents during towing: While towing a Ju 52/3m for training, two Bf 110 E2 (c/n 3933 and 3974) crashed on 19th of May, 1941 in Merseburg. The crew of both planes were killed (4 from Luftwaffe). The Ju 52/3m escaped without accident (same source as before).--Emil Erpel (talk) 12:27, 24 November 2017 (UTC)

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