Chase XC-123A
{{Short description|Experimental transport aircraft}}
{{Infobox aircraft
|name = XC-123A
|image = File:Chase XC-123A.jpg{{!}}border
|caption =
|type = Military transport aircraft
|manufacturer = Chase Aircraft
|designer = Michael Stroukoff
|first_flight = 21 April 1951
|introduction =
|retired =
|status =
|primary_user = United States Air Force
|more_users =
|produced =
|number_built = 1
|program cost =
|developed_from= Chase XCG-20
|variants =
|developed_into =
|sole example of type? = Y
|other_names = Jet Avitruc
|construction_number =
|construction_date =
|military_serial = 47-787
|radio_code =
|flights =
|total_hours =
|total_distance =
|fate = Converted to YC-123D {{USAF serial|53|8068}}
|preservation =
}}
The Chase XC-123A was an experimental transport aircraft developed by Chase Aircraft. The first jet-powered transport built for the United States Air Force, it was intended for use as a high-speed transport for high-priority cargo and personnel. The XC-123A was determined to have insufficient advantages over existing types in service, and did not go into production. The sole prototype was converted into the piston-powered Stroukoff YC-123D to evaluate boundary layer control systems.
Design and development
In the late 1940s, Chase Aircraft had developed the XG-20, the largest glider ever built in the United States.Sergievsky et al. 1998, p.128 By the time it was ready for operations, however, U.S. military doctrine had been altered to remove the requirement for the use of transport gliders in combat.Mitchell 1992, p.164.
However, the XG-20's aircraft had been designed to allow for the easy installation of power plants, and Chase modified the two prototypes into powered aircraft, one becoming the XC-123, with twin piston engines.Adcock 1992, p.4. The second XG-20, however, was taken in hand for a more radical reconfiguration, being fitted with two twin-jet engine pods, of the type used by the Convair B-36 and Boeing B-47 bombers, to become the XC-123A. As there was no provision for housing fuel in the former glider's wings, fuel tanks were installed underneath the cabin floor.
Operational history
Dubbed "Avitruc" by its manufacturer,Air League 1975, p. 113. the XC-123A conducted its maiden flight on April 21, 1951, becoming the first jet-powered transport aircraft to successfully fly in the United States. It was considered "excellent" in flight trials, with the aircraft showing few vices, and demonstrating reasonably good short-field capability.
Despite this, even as the XC-123 proved successful, the XC-123A failed to win sufficient favor in flight testing to receive a production order. Although the aircraft's short-field performance was good, on rough, unimproved fields the low-slung jet pods would suck debris into the intakes, damaging the engines. In addition, the aircraft's design was mismatched to its engines,Sweetman 1979, p.97. resulting in the XC-123A being incapable of providing sufficient cargo capacity compared to the amount of fuel its jet engines required. As a result, the XC-123A project was abandoned without additional aircraft being built.
Following the conclusion of trials, the XC-123A was converted to be powered by two Pratt & Whitney R-2800 radial engines, and was used for boundary layer control trials as the Stroukoff YC-123D, receiving serial number {{USAF serial|53|8068}}.Baugher 2010aBaugher 2010b
Specifications (XC-123A)
File:Chase XC-123A on runway.png
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=GunstonGunston (ed.) 1980 and AdcockAdcock 1992, p.7.
|prime units?=imp
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|crew=3
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|length ft=77
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|span ft=110
|span in=0
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|height ft=33
|height in=10
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|wing area sqft=1222.78
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|airfoil=NACA 23017Lednicer 2010
|empty weight kg=
|empty weight lb=25000
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|max takeoff weight lb=60000
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|eng1 number=4
|eng1 name=General Electric J47-GE-11
|eng1 type=turbojets
|eng1 kn=
|eng1 lbf=5200
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|max speed mph=500
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|cruise speed mph=400
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See also
{{Portal|Aviation}}
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References
=Notes=
{{reflist}}
=Bibliography=
- {{cite book |last1=Adcock |first1=Al |title=C-123 Provider in action |series=Aircraft In Action |volume=124 |year=1992 |publisher=Squadron/Signal Publications |location=Carrollton, TX |isbn=978-0-89747-276-0}}
- {{cite journal |author=Air League |author-link=Air League |year=1975 |title=Chase XC-123A |journal=Air Pictorial |volume=37 |page=113 |publisher=Air League of the British Empire |location=London}}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1946.html |title=1946-1948 USAAF Serial Numbers |first=Joe |last=Baugher |year=2010 |work=USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers--1908 to Present |access-date=2010-11-28}}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1953.html |title=1953 USAAF Serial Numbers |first=Joe |last=Baugher |year=2010 |work=USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers--1908 to Present |access-date=2011-01-22}}
- {{cite book |editor1-last=Gunston |editor1-first=Bill |editor-link=Bill Gunston |title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Commercial Aircraft |year=1980 |publisher=Exeter Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-89673-077-9}}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.ae.illinois.edu/m-selig/ads/aircraft.html |title=The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage |first=David |last=Lednicer |year=2010 |publisher=University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |access-date=2010-11-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100420012244/http://www.ae.illinois.edu/m-selig/ads/aircraft.html |archive-date=2010-04-20 |url-status=dead }}
- {{cite journal |last=Mitchell |first=Kent A. |year=1992 |title=The C-123 Provider |journal=AAHS Journal |volume=37 |publisher=American Aviation Historical Society |location=Santa Ana, CA |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TkkpAQAAIAAJ&q=%22transport+the+fuel%22 |access-date=2010-11-28}}
- {{cite book |last1=Sweetman |first1=William |author-link=Bill Sweetman |title=A History of Passenger Aircraft |year=1979 |publisher=W.H. Smith/Hamlyn Publishing Group |location=London |isbn=978-0-600-37248-6}}
External links
{{commons category|Chase XC-123A}}
- {{cite magazine|magazine=Popular Science|author=Bonnier Corporation|title=Jet Power Troop Transport|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0SADAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA81|date=July 1951|publisher=Bonnier Corporation|page=81}}
{{Chase aircraft}}
{{USAF transports}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chase XC-123A}}