Grumman C-1 Trader
| C-1 Trader | |
|---|---|
 | |
| A C-1A Trader from Naval Air Station, Willow Grove, Pennsylvania in 1987 | |
| Role | Carrier onboard delivery |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Grumman |
| First flight | 19 January 1955 |
| Retired | 1988 |
| Primary user | United States Navy |
| Number built | 87 |
| Developed from | Grumman S-2 Tracker |
| Developed into | Grumman E-1 Tracer |
The Grumman C-1 Trader is a carrier onboard delivery (COD) variant of the Grumman S-2 Tracker. It was replaced by a similar version of the Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye, the Grumman C-2 Greyhound.
Design and development
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) was outfitted to carry nine passengers or 3,500 pounds (1,600 kg) of cargo and first flew in January 1955.
Operational history
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.[1] 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.
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.”[2]
In August 2010, Brazilian Naval Aviation announced that it will 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.[3]
In 2011 contract was signed with Marsh Aviation to convert four ex-US Navy C-1A Trader airframes into KC-2 Turbo Traders.[4] The first KC-2 prototype flight is expected for November 2017 and the delivery of the first operational aircraft is scheduled for December 2018.
Variants
- 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.[5]
Operators
Surviving aircraft
- Airworthy
- BuNo 136752 - privately owned in Phoenix, Arizona.[6]
- BuNo 136766 - privately owned in Carson City, Nevada.[7]
- BuNo 136773 - privately owned in Wilmington, Delaware.[8]
- BuNo 136778 - privately owned in Eufaula, Alabama.[9]
- BuNo 136781 - based at Pacific Coast Air Museum, Santa Rosa, California.[10][11]
- BuNo 146044 - privately owned in Topeka, Kansas.[12]
- BuNo 146048 - privately owned in Saint Cloud, Minnesota.[13]
- BuNo 146049 - privately owned in St. Louis, Missouri.[14]
- BuNo 146052 - based at Lone Star Flight Museum in Galveston, Texas.[15]
- On display
- BuNo 136754 - National Museum of Naval Aviation, NAS Pensacola, Pensacola, Florida.[16]
- BuNo 136790 - Grissom Air Museum, Grissom ARB (former Grissom AFB), Kokomo, Indiana.[17]
- BuNo 136792 - Quonset Air Museum, (former NAS Quonset Point), North Kingston, Rhode Island. This aircraft was modified with the Grumman E-1 Tracer-type radome assembly (but no radar) and twin tails and served (under the designation XTF-1W) as the aerodynamic prototype for the E-1. After testing, it reverted to the transport role, (as C-1A) with radome removed but retaining the twin tails. Throughout, this aircraft retained the S-2/C-1 upward folding wings, not the E-1 wing fold which were necessitated (by the radome atop the fuselage) to fold wings back along the sides of the fuselage.[18]
- BuNo 146034 - Wings of Freedom Aviation Museum, former NAS Willow Grove, Horsham, Pennsylvania.[19]
- BuNo 146036 - USS Midway Museum, San Diego, California.[20]
- BuNo 146045 - Beaufort MCAS (West Side), Beaufort, South Carolina.[21]
Specifications
General characteristics
- Crew: two
- Length: 42.2 ft (12.9 m)
- Wingspan: 69.6 ft (21.2 m)
- Height: 16.3 ft (4.9 m)
- Empty weight: 18,750 lbs (8,504 kg)
- Max. takeoff weight: 29,150 lbs (13,222 kg)
- Powerplant: 2 × Wright R-1820-82WA Cyclone 9-cylinder radial piston engine, 1,525 hp (1,137 kW) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 287 mph (462 km/h)
- Range: 1,300 miles (2,092 km)
See also
- Related development
- Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era
References
- ↑ Donald, David; Daniel J. March (2001). Carrier Aviation Air Power Directory. Norwalk, CT: AIRtime Publishing. ISBN 1-880588-43-9.
- ↑ Lanning and Stubbe, Michael, Ray (1989). Inside Force Recon. Ivy Books. p. 34. ISBN -08041-0301-1.
- ↑ Brazilian navy buys Traders
- ↑ https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/brazilian-navy-restarts-kc-2-turbo-trader-contract-406169/
- ↑ "Brazilian Traders set for modernisation" Fight Global, 14 Dec 2011 Retrieved: 23 December 2011
- ↑ "FAA Registry/N71456." faa.gov Retrieved: 27 April 2016.
- ↑ "FAA Registry/N6193Z." faa.gov Retrieved: 27 April 2016.
- ↑ "FAA Registry/N6193N." faa.gov Retrieved: 27 April 2016.
- ↑ "FAA Registry/N778SR." faa.gov Retrieved: 27 April 2016.
- ↑ "FAA Registry/136781." faa.gov Retrieved: 27 April 2016.
- ↑ "Grumman C-1A Trader/136781." Pacific Coast Air Museum. Retrieved: 27 April 2016.
- ↑ "FAA Registry/N189G." faa.gov Retrieved: 27 April 2016.
- ↑ "FAA Registry/N7171M." faa.gov Retrieved: 27 April 2016.
- ↑ "FAA Registry/N81389." faa.gov Retrieved: 27 April 2016.
- ↑ "FAA Registry/N81193." faa.gov Retrieved: 27 April 2016.
- ↑ "Grumman C-1A Trader/136754." National Naval Aviation Museum. Retrieved: 27 April 2016.
- ↑ "Grumman C-1A Trader/136790." Grissom Air Museum. Retrieved: 27 April 2016.
- ↑ "Grumman C-1A Trader/136792." Quonset Air Museum. Retrieved: 27 April 2016.
- ↑ "Grumman C-1A Trader/146034." Wings of Freedom Museum. Retrieved: 27 April 2016.
- ↑ "Grumman C-1A Trader/146034." USS Midway Museum. Retrieved: 27 April 2016.
- ↑ "Grumman C-1A Trader/146045." aerialvisuals.ca Retrieved: 27 April 2016.
External links
Media related to Grumman C-1 Trader at Wikimedia Commons