Grumman C-1 Trader

The Grumman C-1 Trader (TF prior to 1962) is a carrier onboard delivery (COD) variant of the Grumman S-2 Tracker. It was replaced by a similar version of the Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye, the Grumman C-2 Greyhound. It entered service in 1956 and was retired in 1988, with 87 aircraft produced.

Design and development

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)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> was outfitted to carry nine passengers or Template:Convert of cargo and first flew in January 1955.

Operational history

File:C-1A Trader landing on USS Midway (CV-41), circa in 1982.jpg

C-1 Trader lands on USS Midway (CV-41), 1982

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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 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.Template:Citation needed

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.”<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2011 contract was signed with Marsh Aviation to convert four ex-US Navy C-1A Trader airframes into KC-2 Turbo Traders.<ref name=FG>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The first KC-2 prototype flight was expected for November 2017 and the delivery of the first operational aircraft was scheduled for December 2018; in 2014 the contract was reaffirmed,<ref name="FG"/> but by 2023, with no aircraft having been delivered and São Paulo long since having been stricken, the contract was cancelled.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Variants

File:Grumman C-1 taking off at Willow Grove.jpg

Grumman C-1 at Willow Grove Base, Pennsylvania, USA. 1987

File:Grumman C-1 wings folded aboard USS Lexington.jpg

On the deck of the USS Lexington, 1985

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.<ref>"Brazilian Traders set for modernisation" Fight Global, 14 Dec 2011 Retrieved: 23 December 2011</ref>

G-101

proposed 10-12 seat passenger variant

G-104

proposed tanker variant

Operators

Template:USA

• United States Navy

Template:BRA (Retired)

• Brazilian Naval Aviation

Surviving aircraft

File:C-1A Trader (21240943122).jpg

Retired C-1 on display at an air show, 2011

Airworthy

• BuNo 136752 – based at Lauridsen Aviation Museum in Buckeye, Arizona.<ref>Template:Usurped Lauridsen Aviation Museum. Retrieved: 6 August 2021.</ref><ref>"FAA Registry/N71456." faa.gov Retrieved: 6 August 2021.</ref>
• BuNo 136766 – privately owned in Carson City, Nevada.<ref>"FAA Registry/N6193Z." faa.gov Retrieved: 6 August 2021.</ref>
• BuNo 136773 – privately owned in Wilmington, Delaware.<ref>"FAA Registry/N6193N." faa.gov Retrieved: 6 August 2021.</ref>
• BuNo 136778 – based at Champaign Aviation Museum in Urbana, Ohio.<ref>"Grumman C-1 Trader/136778." Champaign Aviation Museum. Retrieved: 6 August 2021.</ref><ref>"FAA Registry/N778SR." faa.gov Retrieved: 6 August 2021.</ref>
• BuNo 136781 – based at Pacific Coast Air Museum in Santa Rosa, California.<ref>"Grumman C-1A Trader/136781." Pacific Coast Air Museum. Retrieved: 6 August 2021.</ref><ref>"FAA Registry/N475AM." faa.gov Retrieved: 6 August 2021.</ref>
• BuNo 146027 – privately owned in Wilmington, Delaware.<ref>"FAA Registry/N927BN." faa.gov Retrieved: 6 August 2021.</ref>
• BuNo 146044 – privately owned in Oklahoma City, OK.<ref>"FAA Registry/N189G." faa.gov Retrieved: 3 January 2023.</ref>
• BuNo 146048 – privately owned in Reno, Nevada.<ref>"FAA Registry/N7171M." faa.gov Retrieved: 6 August 2021.</ref>
• BuNo 146052 – based at Lone Star Flight Museum in Galveston, Texas.<ref>"FAA Registry/N81193." faa.gov Retrieved: 6 August 2021.</ref>

On display

• BuNo 136754 – National Museum of Naval Aviation, NAS Pensacola, Pensacola, Florida.<ref>"Grumman C-1A Trader/136754." National Naval Aviation Museum. Retrieved: 27 April 2016.</ref>
• BuNo 136790 – Grissom Air Museum, Grissom ARB (former Grissom AFB), Kokomo, Indiana.<ref>"Grumman C-1A Trader/136790." Grissom Air Museum. Retrieved: 27 April 2016.</ref>
• BuNo 136792 – NAVSUP Weapon Systems Support Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> (formerly display at the Quonset Air Museum)

• BuNo 146034 – Wings of Freedom Aviation Museum, former NAS Willow Grove, Horsham, Pennsylvania.<ref>"Grumman C-1A Trader/146034." Wings of Freedom Museum. Retrieved: 27 April 2016.</ref>
• BuNo 146036 – USS Midway Museum, San Diego, California.<ref>"Grumman C-1A Trader/146036." USS Midway Museum. Retrieved: 27 April 2016.</ref>

Specifications (C-1A)

File:C-1A CVA-43 1967.jpg

C-1A on board USS Coral Sea, with its wings folded.