More about the YC-62 project has surfaced, notably since a member of the R/C Groups forum dug up the original wind tunnel and plans for the project.
In 1941, the U.S. Air Corps ordered a new transport aircraft for the transport of ammunition, weapons and a variety of equipment. The specific requirements put forward were high capacity, larger cargo doors and a special ramp for loading and unloading equipment.
One of the firms that submitted USAAC cargo plane projects was Waco Aircraft. In the prewar period it handled multi-purpose light aircraft, and in the war years produced the CG-3, CG-4, CG-13 and CG-15 gliders at its plants. Waco's 1941 cargo project, the Model 2-FBH, featured an original approach. The design of the aircraft was all-wood (!) with minimal use of strategic materials. In order to facilitate the loading/unloading Americans followed the same path as the German engineers who created the Gotha Go 242 glider. However, in contrast with the Germans, the American plane had only one tail boom with a spaced twin-finned tail at its end. The crew of the aircraft cargo hold was placed in the front of the fuselage. The cargo bay, with a maximum width of 2.5 meters, could accommodate 22 soldiers with full uniforms or 2,000 kg of cargo. The aircraft was planned with two Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 (1200 hp) radial engines located in underwing pods to which the fixed landing gear was attached.
In early 1942, the project was considered by the leadership of USAAC, and even received the official designation YC-62. The program had not even been completed when the Fairchild C-82 was selected as the winner. The most weighty argument put forward was its two-fold higher capacity. Thus, the pre-production contract for 13 pre-production YC-62 aircraft (serial numbers 42-12554/12566) and 240 production C-62 aircraft (42-35584/35823) was canceled. It would seem that the aircraft was completed only in wind tunnel form, but according to one source, the aircraft was in final production when the program was cancelled and scrapped at the end of WWII.
Length: 22.50 m
Wingspan: 30.48 m
Height: 5.82 m
Empty weight: 9825 kg
Take-off weight: 13,381 kg
Maximum speed: 241 km/h
Ceiling: 5182 m
Range: 966 km
Engines: two 1200 hp P & W R-1830-39 14-cylinder radials with 3-blade propellers
Crew: 2 people
Payload: 22 soldiers or up to 2,000 kg (2 tons) of cargo.
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