<p>TOM ROEDER
THE GAZETTE</p>
<p>The Air Force Academy is bringing in new gliders to replace its current fleet of unpaired planes used to give cadets their first flying experience.</p>
<p>The first of 19 new German-built TG-16 gliders will be accepted into the academys fleet during a Friday morning ceremony, the academy said in a news release. The academy said $4.8 million has been spent to acquire 19 of the gliders and 11 trailers to haul them. Theyll be used in the schools soaring program, which introduces cadets to flight.</p>
<p>The new gliders are part of an aircraft-buying boom at the academy, which also rolled out a fleet of new single-engine training planes this summer. The academy announced the $6.1 million purchase of 25 TG-53A aircraft last month.</p>
<p>The new gliders were brought in because the schools of TG-10 gliders have reached the end of their service life and spare parts for those planes are becoming scarce, an academy spokesman said.</p>
<p>The two-seat TG-16 has a 59-foot wingspan and is 29 feet long.</p>