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Fairchild XC-123 'Provider'

Description
  Manufacturer:Fairchild
  Base model:C-123
  Designation:XC-123
  Nickname:Provider
  Designation System:U.S. Air Force
  Designation Period:1925-1962
  Basic role:Transport
  Status:Experimental

Specifications
Not Yet Available


 

Recent comments by our visitors
 Major Richard A. Strong (AF,Ret)
 Dayton, OH
I heard or read, long ago, that the -20/-123's flat belly resulted in an air-cushion effect on landing. I have cited it as an example of the principle for my aircar design project (http://www.strongware.com/dragon). I only discussed this with one former 123 pilot, but he said he never noticed the effect. Please inform me if you know anything about this. TIA.
08/09/2008 @ 15:44 [ref: 22405]
 Michael Stroukoff
 Langhorne, PA
The YC-123 and its sister ship, the YCG-20 were designed and developed by my father, Michael Stroukoff. The YC-123 airframe became the progenitor for almost all succeeding military assault troop/cargo aircraft up to and including the present.

The YC-123A was the first American-made full jet-propelled cargo aircraft and was flown in April of 1951. Curiously enough, the recognition of this appeared only in the May 1951 issue of Model Aircraft Magazine in a cover story by Alex Dayedieff.

In 1951, the C-122 and the C-123 won a USAF performance competition with the Northrup C-124 and the Fairchild C-82 at Eglin AFB, FL. The C-123B USAF production contract for 398 aircraft was awarded to Chase Aircraft in late 1951 and named the Kaiser-Frazier plant in Ypsilanti, MI as prime production source while the Chase home facility in West Trenton, NJ, had engineering and development.

In late 1953, The USAF cancelled the contract and awarded the remaninder of the contact for 250 aircraft to Fairchild Aircraft of Hagerstown, MD. The Chase Aircraft company was bought by the Kaiser interests in late 1953 and Stroukoff Aircraft was then organized with most of the original work force (engineering, production and support), facilities and tooling at West Trenton, NJ.

Stroukoff Aircraft developed larger versions of the C-123 into the YC134 and YC-134A with boundary layer control and Pantobase variants. Despite sound financing, Stroukoff Aircraft never recovered from the 1953 contract loss and finally closed its doors completely in 1958. All of its future developmental data was destroyed and is lost.

In 1996, the Russian Academy of Science's Institute of the History of Aviation and Science reported that it ranked my father, Michael Stroukoff with Alexander de Seversky and Igor Sikorsky as Russian emigree aviation designers that helped pioneer and further American aviation developement.
03/26/2005 @ 20:55 [ref: 9806]