Chase XC-123A

XC-123A
XC-123A
General information
Other name(s)	Jet Avitruc
Type	Military transport aircraft
Manufacturer	Chase Aircraft
Designer	Michael Stroukoff
Primary user	United States Air Force
Number built	1
Serial	47-787
History
First flight	21 April 1951
Developed from	Chase XCG-20
Fate	Converted to YC-123D 53-8068

Last updated May 20, 2025

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.^[1] 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.^[2]

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.^[3] 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.^[4] As there was no provision for housing fuel in the former glider's wings, fuel tanks were installed underneath the cabin floor.^[4]

Operational history

Dubbed "Avitruc" by its manufacturer,^[5] the XC-123A conducted its maiden flight on April 21, 1951,^[4] becoming the first jet-powered transport aircraft to successfully fly in the United States.^[4] It was considered "excellent" in flight trials, with the aircraft showing few vices,^[6] and demonstrating reasonably good short-field capability.^[4]

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.^[4] In addition, the aircraft's design was mismatched to its engines,^[7] resulting in the XC-123A being incapable of providing sufficient cargo capacity compared to the amount of fuel its jet engines required.^[2] As a result, the XC-123A project was abandoned without additional aircraft being built.^[2]

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 53-8068.^[4]^[8]^[9]

Specifications (XC-123A)

Data from Gunston^[6] and Adcock^[4]

General characteristics

Crew: 3
Length: 77 ft 1 in (23.50 m)
Wingspan: 110 ft 0 in (33.53 m)
Height: 33 ft 10 in (10.31 m)
Wing area: 1,222.78 sq ft (113.600 m²)
Airfoil: NACA 23017 ^[10]
Empty weight: 25,000 lb (11,340 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 60,000 lb (27,216 kg)
Powerplant: 4 × General Electric J47-GE-11 turbojets, 5,200 lbf (23 kN) thrust each

Performance

Maximum speed: 500 mph (800 km/h, 430 kn)
Cruise speed: 400 mph (640 km/h, 350 kn)

References

Notes

↑ Sergievsky et al. 1998, p.128
1 2 3 Mitchell 1992, p.164.
↑ Adcock 1992, p.4.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Adcock 1992, p.7.
↑ Air League 1975, p. 113.
1 2 Gunston (ed.) 1980
↑ Sweetman 1979, p.97.
↑ Baugher 2010a
↑ Baugher 2010b
↑ Lednicer 2010

Bibliography

Adcock, Al (1992). C-123 Provider in action. Aircraft In Action. Vol. 124. Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications. ISBN 978-0-89747-276-0.
Air League (1975). "Chase XC-123A". Air Pictorial. 37. London: Air League of the British Empire: 113.
Baugher, Joe (2010). "1946-1948 USAAF Serial Numbers". USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers--1908 to Present. Retrieved 2010-11-28.
Baugher, Joe (2010). "1953 USAAF Serial Numbers". USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers--1908 to Present. Retrieved 2011-01-22.
Gunston, Bill, ed. (1980). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Commercial Aircraft. New York: Exeter Books. ISBN 978-0-89673-077-9.
Lednicer, David (2010). "The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage". University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Archived from the original on 2010-04-20. Retrieved 2010-11-27.
Mitchell, Kent A. (1992). "The C-123 Provider". AAHS Journal. 37. Santa Ana, CA: American Aviation Historical Society . Retrieved 2010-11-28.
Sweetman, William (1979). A History of Passenger Aircraft. London: W.H. Smith/Hamlyn Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-600-37248-6.

External links

Bonnier Corporation (July 1951). "Jet Power Troop Transport". Popular Science. Bonnier Corporation. p. 81.

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[BS-1] Sergievsky et al. 1998, p.128

[AAHS-2] 1 2 3 Mitchell 1992, p.164.

[3] Adcock 1992, p.4.

[AiA-4] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Adcock 1992, p.7.

[5] Air League 1975, p. 113.

[BG-6] 1 2 Gunston (ed.) 1980

[7] Sweetman 1979, p.97.

[8] Baugher 2010a

[Bau2-9] Baugher 2010b

[10] Lednicer 2010

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v t e Chase and Stroukoff aircraft
Gliders	YCG-14 XCG-18 XCG-20
Powered	YC-122 C-123 XC-123A YC-134
See also: X-18

v t e United States military transport aircraft designations, Army/Air Force and Tri-Service systems
Army/Air Force sequence (1925–1962)	C-1 C-2 C-3 C-4 C-5 C-6 C-7 C-8 C-9 C-10 C-11 C-12 C-13¹ C-14 C-15 C-16 C-17 C-18 C-19 C-20 C-21 C-22 C-23 C-24 C-25 C-26 C-27 C-28 C-29 C-30 C-31 C-32 C-33 C-34 C-35 C-36 C-37 C-38 C-39 C-40 C-41 C-41A C-42 C-43 C-44 C-45 C-46 C-47 C-47F C-47T AC-47 C-48 C-49 C-50 C-51 C-52 C-53 C-54 C-55 C-56 C-57 C-58 C-59 C-60 C-61 C-62 C-63 C-64 C-65 C-66 C-67 C-68 C-69 C-70 C-70B C-71 C-72 C-73 C-74 C-75 C-76 C-77 C-77B–D C-78 C-79 C-80 C-81 C-82 C-83 C-83A C-83B C-84 C-85 C-86 C-87 C-88 C-89 C-90 C-91 C-92 C-93 C-94 C-95 C-96 C-97 KC-97 C-98 C-99 C-100 C-101 C-102 C-103 C-104 C-105 C-106 C-107 C-108 C-109 C-110 C-111 C-112 C-113 C-114 C-115 C-116 C-117 C-117D C-118 C-119 AC-119 C-120 C-121 C-121F EC-121 C-122 C-123 C-123A C-124 C-125 C-126 C-127² C-127 (I) C-127 (II) C-128 C-129 C-130 C-130J AC-130 DC-130 EC-130/H HC-130 KC-130 LC-130 MC-130 WC-130 C-131 NC-131H C-132 C-133 C-134 C-135 KC-135 C-136 C-137² YC-137 (I) YC-137 (II) C-137 C-138¹ C-139¹ C-140 C-141 C-142
Tri-service sequence (1962–present)	C-1 C-2 C-3 C-4 C-5 C-6 C-7² C-7 RC-7 C-8 C-9 C-10² C-10 KC-10 C-11 C-12 RC-12 C-13¹ C-14 C-15 C-16¹ C-17 C-18 C-19 C-20² C-20A–D C-20F–J C-21 C-22 C-23 C-24 C-25 C-26 C-27 C-27J C-28 C-29 C-30¹ C-31 C-32 C-33 C-34¹ C-35 C-36 ³ C-37 C-37B C-38 C-39¹ C-40 C-41 C-42¹ C-43¹ C-44¹ C-45 C-46
Revived original sequence (2005–present)	C-143 C-144 C-145 C-146 C-147
Non-sequential designations	C-767 C-880
Related designations	CT-39 CT-43 CV-2 CV-7
¹ Not assigned •² Assigned to multiple types •³ Unconfirmed