Gribovski G - 11 The Gribowski G - 11 ( Г - 11 ) was a Soviet light troop / cargo military glider of World War II . History . The Soviet Union was the world ' s pioneer in designing transport gliders - the first design , Grokhowski G - 63 was built in 1932 . However , no transport gliders were produced in series before World War II . Shortly after the German attack in 1941 , the Soviet headquarters realized a need of transport gliders and ordered to develop several designs . Vladimir Gribovski agreed to design a light glider in two months and the tests of a prototype started on September 1 , 1941 . It was initially designated G - 29 or Gr - 29 . It appeared a successful design and was accepted for a production , under a subsequent designation G - 11 ( for Gribowski , 11 - men including pilot ) . G - 11s were produced from late 1941 until mid - 1942 in two factories : 138 were built in Shumerlya ( factory no . 471 ) and 170 in Kozlovka village ( factory no . 494 ) , 308 in total . The production started again in 1944 in Riazan . From October 1944 there were also produced G - 11U gliders with twin controls , fit for training . G - 11 remained in production until 1948 . There are no data as for a total production number , it is estimated in books at around 500 - 600 . In summer 1942 there was tested a variant with an auxiliary engine M - 11 , mounted over a fuselage , designated G - 11M , then G - 30 , but it did not enter production . Combat history . G - 11s , along with Antonov A - 7 constituted a majority of Soviet transport gliders . They were mainly used from mid - 1942 for supplying Soviet partisans with provisions , weapons , equipment and trained men . They were towed mainly by SB or DB - 3 bombers . Most intensive use was from March to November 1943 in Belarus , in Polotsk - Begoml - Lepel area , on the Kalinin Front . Several hundreds of Soviet gliders ( of all types ) were used in night supply flights then . After landing , gliders were destroyed and pilots were sometimes taken back by aircraft . In April 1943 there occurred the only event of taking off from a short provisional partisan airfield , when a famous glider and test pilot Sergei Anokhin evacuated two wounded partisan commanders ( it was hauled by SB bomber piloted by Yuriy Zhelutov , on a 10 - m short rope ) . Gliders were also used to supply partisans in some areas in 1944 and to transport sabotage groups behind enemy lines . G - 11 gliders were also used in at least one small scale airborne operation , the Dnepr crossing , carrying anti - tank guns and mortars . Less typical action was an air bridge from Moscow to Stalingrad area in November 1942 , in order to quickly deliver antifreeze cooling liquid for tanks , during the battle of Stalingrad . G - 11 was a successful design of a light glider . It had more capacity , than the other type Antonov A - 7 , and its transport compartment was better fit for cargo , although light guns could only be carried in parts due to small hatches . Description . High - wing , all - wooden construction , plywood covered transport glider . Fuselage rectangular in cross - section . Single - seat pilot ' s cab in front , with a canopy opening upwards . Behind it , a transport compartment , not separated from a cab , 3 . 24 m long , 1 . 25 - 1 . 36 m width . There were two doors in opposite fuselage sides , dimensions 1 . 2 x 0 . 7 m . Later series had only one hatch on a left side , 1 . 4 m width . Troops sat on folding benches along sides . There were two small rectangular windows in each side . Wings were three - part , fitted with flaps for landing . Landing gear was fixed , but it could be folded by the pilot in order to shorten landing , then the glider land on a skid under a fuselage .