Grumman C-1 Trader

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, for "Trainer", a secondary role)[1] was outfitted to carry nine passengers or 3,500 pounds (1,600 kg) of cargo and first flew in January 1955.

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.[2] 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.”[3]

In August 2010, Brazilian Naval Aviation announced that it would 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.[4] In 2011 contract was signed with Marsh Aviation to convert four ex-US Navy C-1A Trader airframes into KC-2 Turbo Traders.[5] The first KC-2 prototype flight was expected for November 2017 and the delivery of the first operational aircraft was scheduled for December 2018.

Grumman C-1 at Willow Grove

C-1A on board USS Coral Sea

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.[6]

G-101

proposed 10-12 seat passenger variant

G-104

proposed tanker variant

 United States

• United States Navy

 Brazil (Retired)

• Brazilian Naval Aviation

Airworthy

• BuNo 136752 - based at Lauridsen Aviation Museum in Buckeye, Arizona.[7][8]
• BuNo 136766 - privately owned in Carson City, Nevada.[9]
• BuNo 136773 - privately owned in Wilmington, Delaware.[10]
• BuNo 136778 - based at Champaign Aviation Museum in Urbana, Ohio.[11][12]
• BuNo 136781 - based at Pacific Coast Air Museum in Santa Rosa, California.[13][14]
• BuNo 146027 - privately owned in Wilmington, Delaware.[15]
• BuNo 146044 - privately owned in Eskridge, Kansas.[16]
• BuNo 146048 - privately owned in Reno, Nevada.[17]
• BuNo 146052 - based at Lone Star Flight Museum in Galveston, Texas.[18]

On display

• BuNo 136754 - National Museum of Naval Aviation, NAS Pensacola, Pensacola, Florida.[19]
• BuNo 136790 - Grissom Air Museum, Grissom ARB (former Grissom AFB), Kokomo, Indiana.[20]
• BuNo 136792 - NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[21] (formerly display at the Quonset Air Museum)
• BuNo 146034 - Wings of Freedom Aviation Museum, former NAS Willow Grove, Horsham, Pennsylvania.[22]
• BuNo 146036 - USS Midway Museum, San Diego, California.[23]

Data from Grumman aircraft since 1929.[24]

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Capacity: 9 pax / 8,500 lb (3,856 kg) payload
• Length: 42 ft (13 m)
• Wingspan: 69 ft 8 in (21.23 m)
• Height: 16 ft 3.5 in (4.966 m)
• Wing area: 485 sq ft (45.1 m²)
• Airfoil: root: NACA 63A420; tip: NACA 63A415[25]
• Empty weight: 16,631 lb (7,544 kg)
• Gross weight: 23,031 lb (10,447 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 24,600 lb (11,158 kg)
• Powerplant: 2 × Wright R-1820-82WA Cyclone 9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines, 1,525 hp (1,137 kW) each
• Propellers: 3-bladed constant-speed fully-feathering reversible-pitch propellers

Performance

• Maximum speed: 280 mph (450 km/h, 240 kn) at 4,000 ft (1,219 m)
• Cruise speed: 167 mph (269 km/h, 145 kn)
• Range: 1,110 mi (1,790 km, 960 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 24,800 ft (7,600 m)
• Rate of climb: 1,950 ft/min (9.9 m/s)
• Wing loading: 47.5 lb/sq ft (232 kg/m²)
• Power/mass: 0.1315 hp/lb (0.2162 kW/kg)

• Carrier onboard delivery

Related development

• Grumman S-2 Tracker
• Grumman E-1 Tracer

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

• Grumman C-2 Greyhound

Media related to Grumman C-1 Trader at Wikimedia Commons