YC-125 Raider

YC-125 Raider
275px
The aircraft on display in the National Museum of the USAF. Painted to represent the YC-125B used for cold weather tests, Wright-Patterson AFB, 1950.
Type	transport
Manufacturer	Northrop Corporation
Maiden flight	1 August 1949
Introduced	1950
Retired	1955
Primary user	US Air Force
Produced	1949-1950
Number built	23

The Northrop YC-125 Raider was a 1940s American three-engined STOL utility transport built by Northrop Corporation, Hawthorne, California.

Design and development

Northrop's first post-war civil design was a three-engined STOL passenger and cargo transport named the Northrop N-23 Pioneer. The Pioneer could carry 36 passengers or five tons of cargo and first flew on 21 December 1946. The aircraft had a good performance, but there was little interest due to the availability of cheap war surplus aircraft. The Pioneer was lost in a fatal crash in 1947. In 1948 the United States Air Force expressed interest in an aircraft of the same configuration and placed an order with Northrop for 23 aircraft, 13 troop transports designated the C-125A Raider and 10 for Arctic rescue work designated the C-125B. With the company designation N-32 Raider the first aircraft flew on 1 August 1949.

The aircraft was powered by three 1200hp (895 kW) Wright R-1820-99 Cyclone radial engines. The aircraft could also be fitted with JATO rockets that enabled the aircraft to take off in less than 500 ft (152 m). The 13 troop transporters were designated YC-125A in-service and the Arctic rescue version the YC-125B.

The Canadian company Canadair did consider building the N-23 under licence but this was not proceeded with.

Operational history

Deliveries of the YC-125 to the USAF began in 1950. Aircraft did not serve long as they were underpowered and they were sent soon to Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas and relegated to be ground instructional trainers until retired in 1955 and declared surplus.

Several ended up at Miami International Airport in the 1960s, purchased by Frank Ambrose and sold to bush operators in South and Central America.

One was at the former NAS Hitchcock, in Texas during the early 1980s. Another survives today at the Pima County Air Museum collection.

Variants

N-23 Pioneer

Prototype three-engined STOL transport, one built.

N-32 Raider

Company designation of military version of the N-23.

YC-125A Raider

N-32 with seats for thirty troops, three built.

YC-125B Raider

Arctic rescue version of the N-32 with twenty stretchers and provision for a ski undercarriage, 10 built.

Survivors

One YC-125B (Serial 48-626) is on display at the USAF Museum.

Operators

• Template:USA: United States Air Force

Specifications (YC-125B)

General characteristics

• Crew: one
• Length: 67 ft 1 in ()
• Wingspan: 86 ft 6 in ()
• Height: 23 ft 1 in ()
• Max takeoff weight: 41,900 lb ()
• Powerplant: 3× Wright R-1820-99 Cyclone radial, (1200 hp)895 kW each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 207 mph
• Cruise speed: 171 mph
• Range: 1,856 miles ()
• Service ceiling: 12,200 ft ()

References

• The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing. 
• (1979) U.S Military Aircraft Designations and Serials since 1909. Leicestershire UK: Midland Counties Publications. ISBN 0 904597 22 9. 

External links

• National Museum of the USAF

See also

Related lists

• List of military aircraft of the United States

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "YC-125 Raider".