Stroukoff Aircraft

Stroukoff Aircraft Company
Industry Aircraft manufacture
Fate Dissolved
Founded 1954
Founder Michael Stroukoff
Defunct 1959
Headquarters Trenton, New Jersey, United States of America
Products YC-134

Stroukoff Aircraft was an American manufacturer of experimental military transport aircraft, established in 1954 by Michael Stroukoff. Successor to Chase Aircraft, the company specialised in developing advanced variants of the C-123 Provider; however, none of the company's designs attracted a production order, and the company folded in 1959.

Founding

During the late 1940s, Russian emigré Michael Stroukoff designed the XG-20 for Chase Aircraft, the largest glider ever built in the United States.[1] Modified into the C-123 Provider,[2] the aircraft had won a contract for production from the United States Air Force, 49% of Chase being acquired by Kaiser-Frazier to produce the aircraft at the latter company's Willow Run facility.[3] However, a scandal involving Kaiser resulted in the C-123 contract being cancelled;[4] with Kaiser having bought out the remainder of Chase and dissolving the company,[3][5] Stroukoff acquired the company's facilities at the Trenton airport, and established his own company to continue development of the C-123 design.[3]

YC-123D and E

YC-123E with pantobase landing gear 1955

Stroukoff's first advanced variant of the C-123 design was the YC-123D, modified from the XC-123A prototype - itself a modified XCG-20[6] - which had been the first jet transport to fly in the United States.[7] Flying in 1954, the YC-123D was fitted with the twin piston engines of the normal C-123 family, and was equipped with a boundary layer control (BLC) system.[1] The BLC diverted air from the engines to blow over the wing, increasing lift and reducing the aircraft's takeoff and landing distances.[1]

The following year, Stroukoff modified a C-123B into the YC-123E, fitted with Stroukoff's own Pantobase landing gear system.[3] The Pantobase system allowed the aircraft to land on any reasonably flat surface - land, water, or snow[1] - and proved remarkably successful in testing.[8]

YC-134

Stroukoff Aircraft YC-134A

Following its successful trials, the YC-123E was further developed into the YC-134.[3] Designated MS-8-1 by the company,[9] the YC-134 featured both boundary layer control and the Pantobase landing gear;[10] in addition, the aircraft was fitted with more powerful engines, tailplane endplates, additional wheels for the main landing gear, and an improved fuel system.[11]

Intended for Arctic use,[12] the YC-134's test flight program proved successful.[9] However, its increase in performance over that of the C-123 was considered inadequate; in addition, there was simply no need for an additional piston-engined transport by that time, and the proposed production contract was cancelled.[3] With the failure to gain any contracts for production of its designs, Stroukoff dissolved the company in 1959.[3][N 1]

References

Notes
  1. ↑ Stroukoff Aircraft was invited to tender a design for the U.S. Navy's patrol aircraft requirement that produced the Convair XP6Y, but declined to do so, presumably choosing to concentrate on its Avitruc designs.[13]
Citations
  1. 1 2 3 4 Sergievsky et al. 1998, p.128
  2. ↑ Andrade 1979, p. 87.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Pattillo 2000, pp.165-166.
  4. ↑ Life July 6, 1953, p.22
  5. ↑ "Kaiser To Close Chase Plant In New Jersey". American Aviation, Volume 17 (1953), p.15.
  6. ↑ Gunston 1980
  7. ↑ Rolfe and Dawydoff, 1978.
  8. ↑ The Aerospace year book, Volume 39 (1958), p.115.
  9. 1 2 The Aerospace year book, Volume 39 (1958), p.307.
  10. ↑ Jane 1958, p.364.
  11. ↑ "C-134 Pantobase" GlobalSecurity.org. Accessed 2010-12-06.
  12. ↑ Air Force magazine, Volume 40 (1957), p.93.
  13. ↑ U.S. Navy (1957). Aer-EV-2 424]. P6Y Design Competition. At alternatewars.com. Accessed 2011-01-18.
Bibliography
  • Andrade, John (1979). U.S. Military Aircraft Designations and Serials since 1909. Leicester, UK: Midland Counties Publications. ISBN 0-904597-22-9. 
  • The Editors (July 6, 1953). "Kaiser Cancellation: Henry J's 'boxcars' cost too much for Air Force". Life. TIME Inc. 35 (1). Retrieved 2010-11-29. 
  • Gunston, Bill, ed. (1980). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Commercial Aircraft. New York: Exeter Books. ISBN 978-0-89673-077-9. 
  • Jane, Fred T. (1958). Jane's All The World's Aircraft. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co. ASIN B000W8DRPK. 
  • Pattillo, Donald M. (2000). Pushing the Envelope: The American Aircraft Industry. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-08671-9. Retrieved 2010-11-26. 
  • Rolfe, Douglas; Alexis Dawydoff (1978). Airplanes of the World. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-671-22684-8. 
  • Sergievsky, Boris; Allan Forsyth; Adam Hochschild (1998). Airplanes, Women, and Song: Memoirs of a Fighter Ace, Test Pilot, and Adventurer. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press. ISBN 978-0-8156-0545-4. 

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