Early in the Second World War, the United States Army Air Forces initiated research into the possibility that gliders, towed by other, conventional aircraft to the area of a target, then released and guided to impact via radio control, could be a useful weapon of war.[1] Essentially an early form of (very large) guided missile,[1] the concept was similar to a Navy project underway at the same time, known as Glomb (from "glider-bomb"),[2] and led to the establishment of the 'BG' series of designations, for 'Bomb Glider', in early 1942.[1] [2]
Among the designs considered for use as a bomb glider was an unconventional design submitted by the Cornelius Aircraft Company. Cornelius, having established a reputation for unconventional aircraft designs,[3] proposed a design that featured a "tail-first" configuration,[1] with canard foreplanes and a radical forward-swept wing.[2] The USAAF considered the design interesting enough to award a contract to Cornelius for the construction of a single prototype, designated XBG-3.[4] However the project was cancelled in late 1942, when the bomb glider concept was abandoned by the USAAF.[2] [5]
An enlarged, tailless, forward-swept wing glider would be built by Cornelius later in the war, acting as a "flying fuel tank" for long-range bombers, as the XFG-1.[6]
. Bill Gunston. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft Armament. 1988. Salamander Books. London. 978-0-86101-314-2.