Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter


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 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, taller vertical tail and larger Pratt and 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.

Design and development

The C-97 Stratofreighter was developed towards the end of World War II by fitting an enlarged upper fuselage onto a lower fuselage and wings that were essentially the same as those of the B-29 Superfortress with the tail, wing, and engine layout being nearly identical.Swanborough and Bowers 1989, p. 125. It was built before the death of Boeing president Philip G. Johnson. It can be easily distinguished from the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser by the "beak" radome beneath the nose and by the flying boom and jet engines on later tanker models.
The prototype XC-97 was powered by the Wright R-3350 engine, the same as used in the B-29. The XC-97 took off for its first flight on November 9, 1944.
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, which was impressive for such a large aircraft. Production models featured the Pratt & Whitney Wasp Major engine, the same engine as for the B-50. The tenth and all subsequent aircraft were fitted with the taller fin and rudder of the B-50 Superfortress.
The C-97 had clamshell doors under its tail, so that two retractable ramps could be used to drive in cargo. However, unlike the later Lockheed C-130 Hercules, it was not designed as a combat transport that could deliver directly to primitive forward bases using relatively short takeoffs and landings. The two rear ramps could not be used in flight; but removed, the C-97 could be used for air drops. The C-97 had a useful payload of and could carry two normal trucks, towed artillery, or light tracked vehicles such as the M56 Scorpion. The C-97 was also the first mass-produced air transport to feature cabin pressurization, which made long range missions somewhat more comfortable for its crew and passengers.
The civilian derivative of the C-97 was the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser, a very luxurious transoceanic airliner that featured a lower deck lounge and could be fitted with sleeper cabins. The first Stratocruiser flew on July 8, 1947. Only 56 were built.

Operational history

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 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.
Air National Guard in 1971 after service as part of Military Airlift Command
Only one C-97 is still airworthy at the present day, 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. One Israeli C-97 was downed by an Egyptian SA-2 Guideline missile on 17 September 1971, while flying as an electronic counter-measures platform some 12 miles from the Suez Canal.

Variants

;XC-97: military designation of the prototype Boeing 367, three built.
;YC-97: cargo transport, six built.
;YC-97A: troop carrier, three built.
;YC-97B: fitted with 80 airliner-style seats, later redesignated C-97B, in 1954 became C-97D, retired to MASDC 15 December 1969.
;C-97A: transport, 50 built.
;KC-97A: Three C-97As were converted into aerial refueling tankers with rear loading door removed and a flight refueling boom added. After the design was proven, they were converted back into the standard C-97A.
;C-97C: Second production version, 14 built; those used as medical evacuation transports during the Korean War were designated MC-97C.
;VC-97D: staff transport and flying command post conversions, three C-97As converted.
;C-97E: KC-97Es converted to transports.
;KC-97E
;C-97F: KC-97Fs converted to transports.
;KC-97F
;C-97G: 135 KC-97Gs converted to transports.
;EC-97G: ELINT conversion of three KC-97Gs. 53–106 was operated by the CIA for covert ELINT operations in the West Berlin Air Corridor.
;KC-97G
;GKC-97G
;JKC-97G
;HC-97G: KC-97Gs converted for search and rescue operations; 22 converted.
;KC-97H
;YC-97J: KC-97G conversion with four 5,700 hp Pratt & Whitney YT34-P-5 turboprops, two converted. Originally designated YC-137.
;C-97K: 27 KC-97Gs converted to troop transports.
;KC-97L

Operators

Military operators

;
  • Israeli Air Force
;
  • Spanish Air Force
;
  • United States Air Force

    U.S. Air Force units

The following Air Force wing organizations flew the various C-97 models at some time during their existence:

Air National Guard

  • 105th Aeromedical Transport Group
– Westchester County Airport, New York
, California, in 1973

Civil operators

  • Balair
  • Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation
  • Foundation for Airborne Relief
  • Hawkins & Powers Aviation
  • Zantop Air Transport

    Accidents and incidents

;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, 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.
;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 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,, 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 operated by Belize Air International crashed onto the Mexico City-Toluca highway after the cargo shifted, killing 5 of 12 on board and 44 on the ground.

Surviving aircraft

Israel

;On display
;Airworthy
;;C-97G
;On display
;;C-97G