Gliders from a Russian émigré

Chase Aircraft was founded in New York in 1943 with Michael Stroukoff, a Russian émigré, as president and chief designer. Its first design, the XCG-14 assault glider, flew in January 1945. The company moved to Trenton, New Jersey, in 1946, and its next glider, the XG-18, was the world’s first all-metal transport glider. When the Air Force decided in 1949 that gliders were obsolete, Stroukoff simply bolted engines on: the XG-18 became the YC-122 Avitruc, and one was later converted into the Hiller X-18 tiltwing.

From glider to Provider

Stroukoff’s XG-20, the largest glider ever built in the United States, met the same fate. The first prototype was re-engined with radials as the XC-123, the ancestor of the C-123 Provider. The second was fitted with four J47 turbojets in two bomber pods and flew in early 1951 as the XC-123A, the first jet-powered transport aircraft in the United States. It was too thirsty for production, but the piston XC-123 impressed the Air Force enough to order five pre-production C-123Bs.

Kaiser and the scandal

Chase’s factory was too small for big orders, so in 1951 Kaiser-Frazer bought 49 percent and won a contract for 300 C-123Bs at Willow Run. Then Senate hearings found Kaiser’s licence-built Fairchild C-119s cost $1.2 million each against Fairchild’s $260,000. In June 1953 both contracts were cancelled and the C-123 was re-bid; Fairchild won and built the Provider that served in Vietnam. Kaiser bought the rest of Chase in September 1953 and shut it down. Stroukoff took the assets and founded Stroukoff Aircraft.

Factories

• Trenton plant · Trenton, New Jersey — From 1946; too small for C-123 series production

People

• Michael Stroukoff · president and chief designer — Later founded Stroukoff Aircraft

Records and firsts

• XC-123A was the first jet-powered transport aircraft in the United States, 1951
• XG-18 was the world’s first all-metal transport glider