Airplane :Fairchild C-132B Provider.
Manufacturer :The Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corp.
Type :transport.
Year :1953.
Engine :two Pratt &Whitney R-2800-99W.Double Wasp air-cooled 18-cylinder radial, 2,300 HP each.
Wingspan :33.53 m.
Length :23.08 m. — Height:10.38 m.
Take-off weight :32,205 kg.
Cruising speed speed:330 km/h.
Maximum operating altitude :8,840 m.
Range :2,365 km.
Crew :2 people.
Payload :61 passengers.
This medium transport twin-engine was derived from a transport glider designed by Chase Aircraft in 1949 and built in two prototypes. Some time later, this plane - called XG-20 - gave birth to a version powered by a pair of Pratt &Whitney R-2800 radials, called XC-123, and to another equipped with four General Electric J47 turbojets, the SC- 123A.
For production, the United States chose the first model and, in 1952, placed an order for 5 pre-production units with Chase. Called C-132B, the first of these aircraft flew in 1953, but a financial crisis within the company (which, in 1952, had already been absorbed by the Kaiser-Franz Corporation) delayed the development of the machine, then led to cancellation of the program. Nevertheless, the Fairchild put this one back on the road.
It eventually manufactured 300 of the transport aircraft, dubbed Provider, which entered service with Troop Carrier Command in 1955.