Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter: История и Развитие Тяжелого Военного Транспортного Самолета

Long range heavy military cargo aircraft built 1944 1952

The Boeing C 97 Stratofreighter was a long range heavy military cargo aircraft developed from the B 29 and B 50 bombers. Design work began in 1942, the first of three prototype XC 97s flew on 9 November 1944 and the first of six service test YC 97s flew on 11 March 1947. All nine were based on the 24ST alloy structure and Wright R 3350 engines of the B 29, but with a larger diameter fuselage upper lobe (making a figure of eight or "double bubble" section) and they had the B 29 vertical tail with the gunner's position blanked off. The first of three heavily revised YC 97A incorporating the re engineered wing (higher strength 75ST alloy), taller vertical tail and larger Pratt & Whitney R 4360 engines of the B 50 bomber, flew on 28 January 1948 and was the basis of the subsequent sole YC 97B, all production C 97s, KC 97s and civilian Stratocruiser aircraft. Between 1944 and 1958, 888 C 97s in several versions were built, 811 being KC 97 tankers. C 97s served in the Berlin Airlift, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Some aircraft served as flying command posts for the Strategic Air Command, while others were modified for use in Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadrons (ARRS).

The C 97 Stratofreighter was developed towards the end of World War II by fitting a second lobe on top of the fuselage and wings of the B 29 Superfortress with the tail, wing, and engine layout being nearly identical. The XC 97 and YC 97 can be distinguished from the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser and later C 97s by the shorter fin, and later ones by the flying boom and jet engines on the tanker models. The prototype XC 97 was powered by the same Wright R 3350 engines as used in the B 29. The XC 97 took off for its first flight on November 9, 1944, just after the death of Boeing president Philip G. Johnson. On 9 January 1945, the first prototype, piloted by Major Curtin L. Reinhardt, flew from Seattle to Washington, D. C. in 6 hours 4 minutes, an average speed of with of cargo. The tenth and all subsequent aircraft were fitted with the Pratt & Whitney Wasp Major engines and taller fin and rudder of the B 50 Superfortress.

The C 97 entered service in 1947, during a period of rapid development of heavy transport aircraft. Only 77 were built before the Douglas C 124 Globemaster II was delivered in 1950, with nearly twice the payload capacity of the C 97. The USAF Strategic Air Command operated C 97 Stratofreighters from 1949 to 1978. Early in its service life, it served as an airborne alternative SAC command post. While only 77 C 97 transports were built, 811 were built as KC 97 Stratofreighters for inflight refueling. The KC 97 began to be phased out with the introduction of the Boeing KC 135 Stratotanker in 1957. Many KC 97s were later refitted as C 97G transports and equipped several squadrons of the U. S. Air National Guard. One YC 97A (45–59595) was used in the Berlin Airlift during April 1949, operating for the 1st Strategic Support Squadron. It suffered a landing gear accident at Gatow and by the time it was repaired, the Soviet Blockade was lifted. C 97s evacuated casualties during the Korean War. C 97s also participated in the Biafran airlift, delivering relief materials to Uli airstrip in Biafra during the Nigerian Civil War. Flying under the cover of darkness and at treetop level to evade radar, at least two C 97s were lost. Only one C 97 is still airworthy at the present day, (S/N 52 2718, named "Angel of Deliverance") operated by the Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation. It is painted as YC 97A 45–59595, the only C 97 to participate in the Berlin Airlift. The Israelis turned to Stratocruisers and KC 97s when they could not buy the preferred C 130. They adapted Boeing 377 Stratocruiser airliners into transports, including many using C 97 tail sections including the loading ramps. Others were adapted with swiveling tails and refueling pods.

22 May 1947 USAF XC 97 43 27472 crashed in a wheat field near Wright Patterson Air Force Base and caught fire, killing five of seven crew on board. 6 June 1951 USAF C 97A 48 0398 crashed near Kelly Air Force Base due to a possible asymmetric flap extension on takeoff, killing all nine crew on board. 15 October 1951 After taking off from Lajes Field, Azores, USAF C 97A 49 2602 of the Military Air Transport Service went missing on a flight from Lajes AFB (LFB), Azores to Westover Air Force Base, Massachusetts. The aircraft was piloted by Captain John Francis Dailey Jr. and had a crew of 11. A total of 50 aircraft and ships searched the intended route but no trace of the aircraft or crew was ever found. 22 October 1951 USAF C 97A 48 0413 crashed and burned next to a runway at Kelly AFB, killing four of six on board. 22 March 1957 USAF C 97C 50 0702 en route to Tokyo went missing over the Pacific Ocean, with 10 crew and 57 passengers on board. It is the deadliest incident ever involving the C 97. 8 August 1957 USAF C 97 en route to Hawaii from US. No.1 engine lost its propeller and damaged No.2 engine. Aircraft flew for 5 hours at 150ft altitude to land at Hilo. 19 January 1958 USAF C 97A 49 2597 en route to Wake Island from Honolulu went missing over the Pacific Ocean with seven crew on board. The U. S. Navy confirmed that debris found 277 miles to the southwest of Honolulu, was wreckage of the plane. 29 June 1964 USAF HC 97G 52 2773, along with USAF HC 54D 42 72590, were performing pararescue training and photography missions for the NASA Gemini program when the HC 54 banked to the right, colliding with the HC 97 and shearing off the wing and tail section; both aircraft crashed in the water off Bermuda, killing 17 on board both aircraft; seven survived after they jumped before the aircraft collided. The cause was probably incapacitation of the HC 54 pilot. 26 September 1969 A Nordchurchaid C 97G, (N52676), struck trees and crashed while on final approach to Uli Airstrip, killing all five on board. 30 July 1987 After taking off, a C 97G (HI 481) operated by Belize Air International (a cargo airline) crashed onto the Mexico City Toluca highway after the cargo shifted, killing 5 of 12 on board and 44 on the ground.