OTTO AND THE WACO CG4A
GORDON PEARSON (Williamsburg, Michigan) sent in a photo of himself and Otto Heithecker (L), who is holding Gordon’s Waco CG4A model. “The militaries used these to tow gliders from England to France early in World War II, carrying 12 to 14 combat men and an officer,” he wrote. “They were released in the air over France and glided to the ground, where they hopefully landed with no damage to the people or the Waco CG4A. Some crashed on the ground and lost everything, including all those on board.”
Gordon stated that he wanted to build one and found the full-scale aircraft at a museum in Michigan. Although he was not allowed to take photos of it, the museum did give him blueprints and information about where to locate a Waco with the same markings. He purchased everything that he needed to build it from scratch and traded a stained-glass picture he had made of a glider for the markings. “It was well worth it for the markings for the Waco.”
Otto made the model’s first flight on July 16, 2011. “He was the best flier of airplanes I have ever seen, bar none,” wrote Gordon. “I am sure everyone who flew with Otto would feel the same.” The photo was taken approximately five years before Otto passed away.
Gordon currently has plans to build a 120-inch wingspan Waco CG4A. “My plan was to install an electric motor on the nose, but everyone who has seen the blueprint says that the Waco should only be built to tow, with no motor up front.” A club near Traverse City, Michigan, mostly flies gliders from a winch, but he is hoping someone will start flying aerotow.
Gordon joined AMA in 1947. He first flew Control Line Speed with a .49 Doling engine at Washtenaw Airport in Michigan. He was invited to fly Speed at the 1948 International Model Airplane Event in Detroit.
At the time, Gordon was working at a large, wholesale hobby shop in Detroit. “There was a young girl from Detroit who was hired to work at the International [event] on paperwork, and she saw my name in the papers,” he stated. “After the contest, she and her mother decided to build a Gollywock from the hobby shop where I was employed. They wanted to purchase everything and not have to come back.”
He continued, “Three weeks later, she returned, wanting help to build the single-blade propeller. I said I would make a propeller in a week for her and asked for her phone number [to] let her know when it was finished. We went to a flying field, where she made her first flight, which went perfectly.
“We started going out and were married in 1950. Unfortunately, Glenna had a massive stroke in 2019 and passed three days later. Neither of us ever dated anyone else. I didn’t have the time [before I met her], because building model airplanes was my passion, and still is.”
