C-76 Caravan

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C-76 Caravan
Type	Medium transport
Manufacturer	Curtiss-Wright
Maiden flight	1 January 1943
Status	Out of service
Primary user	U.S. Army Air Force
Number built	5

C-76 Caravan is the United States military designation for the Curtiss-Wright CW-27 medium military transport aircraft.

In 1941 Curtiss-Wright were contracted by the United States Army to design and construct an all-wooden military transport. The all-wooden construction was an insurance against any wartime shortage of light alloys.

The Curtiss-Wright CW-27 was designed to meet the requirements. A high-wing twin-engined aircraft with tri-cycle undercarriage. It had accommodation for 23 persons. The initial contract was for 11 YC-76 pre-production aircraft. The prototype YC-76 first flew on January 1, 1943. Further orders for five C-76 production aircraft and nine revised YC-76A were placed by the US Army.

Only 5 aircraft were delivered in 1943, when production was terminated as the shortage of light alloys did not materalise. A proposed order for 175 aircraft was cancelled.

[edit] Specification

General characteristics

Crew: 1-2
Capacity: 23
Length: 68ft 4in (20.83m)
Wingspan: 108ft 2in (32.97m)
Height: 27ft 3in (8.31m)
Wing area: 1560.05ft² (144.92m²)
Empty weight: 18300lb (8301kg)
Max takeoff weight: 28000lb (12701kg)
Powerplant: × Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 Twin Wasp radial piston engine , 1200hp (895kW) each