Aviation of World War II

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C-76 ✪ Caravan
Medium Transport Aircraft
Curtiss-Wright

C-76 Caravan

The C-76 Caravan (brand designation CW-27) is a solid wood military transport aircraft designed to cope with the expected shortage of light alloys in wartime production. However, both the prototype and production samples did not pass several critical flight and static tests, and after the production of aluminum in the United States was sufficient for wartime requirements, the order for the C-76 was canceled and its production was discontinued.

The first flight of the YC-76 prototype took place on May 3, 1943, showing very modest results: a cruising speed of 160 miles per hour (260 km / h), a service ceiling of 22 600 feet (6900 m), a flight range of only 750 miles ( 1210 km) with a payload of up to 8000 pounds (3600 kg) Structurally, the aircraft was an all-wood high-wing aircraft with a front landing gear. The power plant consisted of two Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 Twin Wasp radial piston engines with a capacity of 1200 hp (895 kW) each. During the year, 25 aircraft were produced at two factories of the company. Eleven pre-production YC-76-CKs were produced at the Looseville plant and were numbered 42-86918 / 42-86928. The same plant produced nine YC-76A-1-CK test aircraft (numbers 42-86929 / 42-86937). Only five aircraft were officially delivered to the Air Force - they were manufactured at the St. Louis plant C-76-CS (numbers 42-86913 / 42-86917).

The War Department canceled its orders for the C-76 on August 3, 1943, five C-76s were soon withdrawn from the transport regiments and reclassified as ZC-76. The entire C-76 project cost the US government $ 400 million and several months wasted on its production.



C-76
Crew 3
Dimensions
Length, m 20.82
Height, m 8.30
Wing span, m 32.96
Wing area, m² 144.92
Weight, kg
Empty weight 8300
Loaded weight 12700
Powerplant
Engine 2×PE Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 Twin Wasp
Takeoff power, h.p. 2 × 1200
Лётные данные
Maximum speed, km/h 309
Cruising speed, km/h 260
Rate of climb, m/min 244
Service range, km 1,207
Service ceiling, m 6,900
Carrying capacity, soldiers 45
Photo Description
Drawing C-76 Caravan

Drawing C-76 Caravan

C-76 Caravan 42-86913

Bibliography

  • "Encyclopedia of military engineering" /Aerospace Publising/
  • "American Warplanes of World War II" /under cor. David Donald/

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January 30, 2020
$ 400 million for the C-76 program, at present it would seem a little, however ...
The cost of P-51D Mustang powered by a Packard Merlin, an efficient American fighter, was only $ 50,985 at the time. Calculations show that this money could buy about 8 thousand Mustang fighters, which is about half of all Mustangs of all modifications produced.
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