Grumman C-1 Trader

The C-1 Trader grew out of a need by the United States Navy for a new anti-submarine airplane. In response to this Grumman began development on a prototype twin-engine, high-wing aircraft which it designated the G-89. In 1952 the Navy designated this aircraft the XS2F-1 and flew it for the first time on December 4 that year. During the rest of the 1950s three major variants emerged, the C-1 Trader being one of them. The C-1 (originally the TF-1, for "Trainer", a secondary role){{cite book |last= Bishop |first= Chris |last2=Chant |first2= Chris |title= Aircraft Carriers |year= 2004 |publisher= Summertime Publishing Ltd. |location= London |isbn= 0-7603-2005-5 |pages= 168}} was outfitted to carry nine passengers or {{convert|3500|lb|kg}} of cargo and first flew in January 1955.

File:C-1A Trader landing on USS Midway (CV-41), circa in 1982.jpg, 1982]]

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s the C-1 Trader carried mail and supplies to aircraft carriers on station in the Pacific Ocean during the Vietnam War and also served as a trainer for all-weather carrier operations. Over its production life 87 C-1 Traders were built, of which four were converted into EC-1A Tracer electronic countermeasures aircraft.{{cite book |last= Donald |first= David |author2=Daniel J. March |title= Carrier Aviation Air Power Directory |year= 2001 |publisher= AIRtime Publishing |location= Norwalk, CT |isbn= 1-880588-43-9 }} The last C-1 was retired from USN service in 1988; it was the second-to-last radial-engine aircraft in U.S. military service (The last C-131 wasn't retired until 1990). As of 2010, approximately ten were still airworthy in civil hands, operating as warbirds.{{citation needed|date=August 2010}}

In 1956 the U.S. Marine Corps Test Unit Number 1 (MCTU #1) tested the concept of using the TF-1 variant as a vehicle for inserting reconnaissance teams behind enemy lines. “On 9 July 1956 MCTU Recon Marines became the first to parachute from a TF-1. Less than three weeks later, four recon parachutists launched from the USS Bennington, which was 70 miles at sea, and jumped on a desert drop zone near El Centro California, some 100 miles inland. For the first time in Marine Corps and Naval Aviation history, the technique of introducing recon personnel off a carrier sea base to an inland objective had successfully been tested.”{{cite book|last1=Lanning and Stubbe|first1=Michael, Ray|title=Inside Force Recon|date=1989|publisher=Ivy Books|isbn=-08041-0301-1|page=34|ref=21}}

In August 2010, Brazilian Naval Aviation announced that it would buy and modernize eight C-1 airframes to serve in carrier onboard delivery (COD) and aerial refueling roles for use on its aircraft carrier São Paulo.{{Cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/08/23/346412/brazilian-navy-buys-traders.html|title=Brazilian navy buys Traders}} In 2011 contract was signed with Marsh Aviation to convert four ex-US Navy C-1A Trader airframes into KC-2 Turbo Traders.{{Cite web|url=https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/brazilian-navy-restarts-kc-2-turbo-trader-contract-406169/|title = Brazilian Navy restarts KC-2 Turbo Trader contract|website=FlightGlobal}} The first KC-2 prototype flight was expected for November 2017 and the delivery of the first operational aircraft was scheduled for December 2018; in 2014 the contract was reaffirmed, but by 2023, with no aircraft having been delivered and São Paulo long since having been stricken, the contract was cancelled.{{cite web |title=Brazilian Navy kills KC-2 project 12 years later and without receiving any aircraft |url=https://www.riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/defense-updates/brazilian-navy-kills-kc-2-project-12-years-later-and-without-receiving-any-aircraft/ |access-date=14 November 2024 |publisher=The Rio Times |date=29 March 2023}}

File:Grumman C-1 taking off at Willow Grove.jpg, Pennsylvania, USA. 1987]]

File:Grumman C-1 wings folded aboard USS Lexington.jpg

;TF-1

:Carrier Onboard Delivery version of the S-2 Tracker with enlarged fuselage for nine passengers, redesignated C-1A in 1962, 87 built.

;TF-1Q

:Electronic Countermeasures conversion of the TF-1, redesignated EC-1A in 1962, four conversions.

;TF-1W

:Airborne Early Warning project that was developed in the WF-2 Tracer.

;C-1A

:TF-1 redesignated in 1962.

;EC-1A

:TF-1Q redesignated in 1962.

;KC-2 Turbo Trader

:Marsh Aviation modernization project for Air-to-Air Refueling, requested for the Brazilian Navy.[http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/brazilian-traders-set-for-modernisation-365929/ "Brazilian Traders set for modernisation"] Fight Global, 14 Dec 2011 Retrieved: 23 December 2011

;G-101

:proposed 10-12 seat passenger variant

;G-104

:proposed tanker variant

;{{USA}}

• United States Navy

;{{BRA}} (Retired)

• Brazilian Naval Aviation

File:C-1A Trader (21240943122).jpg

;Airworthy

• BuNo 136752 – based at Lauridsen Aviation Museum in Buckeye, Arizona.{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20190314143538/http://lauridsenaviationmuseum.com/portfolio-item/c-1a-2/ "Grumman C-1 Trader/136752."]}} Lauridsen Aviation Museum. Retrieved: 6 August 2021.[https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=71456 "FAA Registry/N71456."] faa.gov Retrieved: 6 August 2021.
• BuNo 136766 – privately owned in Carson City, Nevada.[https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=6193Z "FAA Registry/N6193Z."] faa.gov Retrieved: 6 August 2021.
• BuNo 136773 – privately owned in Wilmington, Delaware.[https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=6193N "FAA Registry/N6193N."] faa.gov Retrieved: 6 August 2021.
• BuNo 136778 – based at Champaign Aviation Museum in Urbana, Ohio.[https://www.champaignaviationmuseum.org/c-1a "Grumman C-1 Trader/136778."] Champaign Aviation Museum. Retrieved: 6 August 2021.[https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=778SR "FAA Registry/N778SR."] faa.gov Retrieved: 6 August 2021.
• BuNo 136781 – based at Pacific Coast Air Museum in Santa Rosa, California.[https://pacificcoastairmuseum.org/aircraft/c-1a-trader/ "Grumman C-1A Trader/136781."] Pacific Coast Air Museum. Retrieved: 6 August 2021.[https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=475AM "FAA Registry/N475AM."] faa.gov Retrieved: 6 August 2021.
• BuNo 146027 – privately owned in Wilmington, Delaware.[https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=927BN "FAA Registry/N927BN."] faa.gov Retrieved: 6 August 2021.
• BuNo 146044 – privately owned in Oklahoma City, OK.[https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=189G "FAA Registry/N189G."] faa.gov Retrieved: 3 January 2023.
• BuNo 146048 – privately owned in Reno, Nevada.[https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=7171M "FAA Registry/N7171M."] faa.gov Retrieved: 6 August 2021.
• BuNo 146052 – based at Lone Star Flight Museum in Galveston, Texas.[https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=81193 "FAA Registry/N81193."] faa.gov Retrieved: 6 August 2021.

;On display

• BuNo 136754 – National Museum of Naval Aviation, NAS Pensacola, Pensacola, Florida.[http://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/attractions/aircraft-exhibits/item/?item=c-1_trader "Grumman C-1A Trader/136754."] National Naval Aviation Museum. Retrieved: 27 April 2016.
• BuNo 136790 – Grissom Air Museum, Grissom ARB (former Grissom AFB), Kokomo, Indiana.[http://www.grissomairmuseum.com/gallery/cargotransports/plane6 "Grumman C-1A Trader/136790."] Grissom Air Museum. Retrieved: 27 April 2016.
• BuNo 136792 – NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.{{cite web|url=https://www.grummantracker.com/usatraders.htm|title=USA Museum or Outside Display TF-1 /C-1A Traders|website=Grumman S2F Tracker Survivors|accessdate=3 August 2023}} (formerly display at the Quonset Air Museum)
• BuNo 146034 – Wings of Freedom Aviation Museum, former NAS Willow Grove, Horsham, Pennsylvania.[http://wingsoffreedommuseum.org/index.php/our-aircraft/17-aircraft/aircraft-fixed-wing/20-aircraft-c-1a-trader "Grumman C-1A Trader/146034."] Wings of Freedom Museum. Retrieved: 27 April 2016.
• BuNo 146036 – USS Midway Museum, San Diego, California.[https://www.midway.org/exhibits-activities/exhibits/aircraft-gallery/propellers-airplanes/c-1-trader/ "Grumman C-1A Trader/146036."] USS Midway Museum. Retrieved: 27 April 2016.

File:C-1A CVA-43 1967.jpg, with its wings folded.]]

{{Aircraft specs

|ref=Grumman aircraft since 1929.{{cite book |last1=Francillon |first1=René Jacquet |title=Grumman aircraft since 1929 |date=1989 |publisher=Putnam |location=London |isbn=0851778356 |pages=387–393 |edition=1st}}

|prime units?=imp

|crew=3

|capacity=9 pax / {{cvt|8500|lb|0}} payload

|length ft=42

|length in=

|length note=

|span ft=69

|span in=8

|span note=

|height ft=16

|height in=3.5

|height sigfig=3

|height note=

|wing area sqft=485

|wing area note=

|aspect ratio=

|airfoil=root: NACA 63A420; tip: NACA 63A415{{cite web |last1=Lednicer |first1=David |title=The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage |url=https://m-selig.ae.illinois.edu/ads/aircraft.html |website=m-selig.ae.illinois.edu |access-date=16 April 2019}}

|empty weight lb=16631

|empty weight note=

|gross weight lb=23031

|gross weight note=

|max takeoff weight lb=24600

|max takeoff weight note=

|fuel capacity=

|more general=

|eng1 number=2

|eng1 name=Wright R-1820-82WA Cyclone

|eng1 type=9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines

|eng1 hp=1525

|eng1 note=

|prop blade number=3

|prop name=constant-speed fully-feathering reversible-pitch propellers

|prop dia ft=

|prop dia in=

|prop dia note=

|max speed mph=280

|max speed note=at {{cvt|4000|ft}}

|max speed mach=

|cruise speed mph=167

|cruise speed note=

|stall speed mph=

|stall speed note=

|never exceed speed mph=

|never exceed speed note=

|minimum control speed mph=

|minimum control speed note=

|range miles=1110

|range note=

|ferry range miles=

|ferry range note=

|endurance=

|ceiling ft=24800

|ceiling note=

|climb rate ftmin=1950

|climb rate sigfig=1

|climb rate note=

|time to altitude=

|wing loading lb/sqft=47.5

|wing loading note=

|fuel consumption lb/mi=

|power/mass={{cvt|0.13|hp/lb}}

|more performance=

|avionics=

}}

{{aircontent

|related=

• Grumman S-2 Tracker
• Grumman E-1 Tracer

|similar aircraft=

• Grumman C-2 Greyhound

|lists=

|see also=

• Carrier onboard delivery

}}

{{Reflist}}

{{commons category-inline}}

{{Grumman aircraft}}

{{US transport aircraft}}

{{USN trainer aircraft}}

C-001 Trader

Category:1950s United States military transport aircraft

Category:High-wing aircraft

Category:Carrier-based aircraft

Category:Aircraft first flown in 1955

Category:Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft

Category:Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear