Editing Fairchild C-123 Provider (section)

==Design and development==
[[File:Chase XG-20 glider USAF.jpg|thumb|right|A Chase XG-20 glider, which was later converted to the XC-123A prototype.]]
[[File:Chase XC-123 Provider prototype c1949.jpg|thumb|right|The XC-123 prototype.]]

The C-123 Provider was designed originally as an assault [[military glider|glider]] aircraft for the [[United States Air Force]] (USAF) by [[Chase Aircraft]] as the [[Chase XCG-20|XCG-20]] (Chase designation MS-8 Avitruc)<ref name="Gunston p. 170">Gunston 1980a, p. 170.</ref> Two powered variants of the XCG-20 were developed during the early 1950s, as the XC-123 and [[Chase XC-123A|XC-123A]]. The only difference was the class of engines used. The XC-123 used two [[Pratt & Whitney R-2800]]-23 air-cooled radial piston engines, while the XC-123A was fitted with four [[General Electric J47]]-GE-11 turbojets, in two pods.<ref name="Andrade87">Andrade 1979, p. 87.</ref> The XC-123A also has the distinction, while being experimental, of being the first USAF's jet-powered military transport.<ref>Rolfe, Douglas and Alexis Dawydoff. ''Airplanes Of The World''. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1962.</ref> While the piston-powered XC-123 was initially well-regarded for its ruggedness, reliability, and its ability to operate from short and unimproved airstrips, the turbojet-powered XC-123A – designed for high-speed transport between USAF bases for critical parts and personnel – was found unable to operate from short and rough airstrips. There was also no practical speed advantage due to the wing and fuselage design, and a drastic reduction in range. Only the one turbojet-powered test and evaluation version was built.{{Citation needed|date=August 2010}}

While the United States Air Force was interested in placing an order for the new transport, Chase did not have the production capacity to meet the Air Force's needs, and sought a partner to handle production of the new aircraft.<ref name="am222p116-7">Beck 2022, pp. 116–117</ref> By 1953, [[Henry J. Kaiser]] purchased a majority share in Chase Aircraft, feeling that after having completed [[Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar|C-119]]s for Fairchild under contract, he could take control of the impending C-123 contract. Two airframes were completed at Kaiser's [[Willow Run]] factory in [[Ypsilanti, Michigan]], before a pricing scandal that led to Kaiser's being told that no further contracts with him would be honored. The C-123 contract was put up for bid, and the two completed airframes scrapped. The contract was finally awarded to [[Fairchild Aircraft|Fairchild Engine and Airplane]], who assumed production of the former Chase C-123B, a refined version of the XC-123.<ref>Gunston 1977, p. 164.</ref> Before turning production over to Fairchild, Chase originally named their C-123B the ''AVITRUC'' but it never stuck.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1954/1954%20-%203019.html |title=Military transports: Fairchild C-123 Provider  |magazine=[[Flight International|Flight]] |date=5 November 1954 |page= 682 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305165119/https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1954/1954%20-%203019.html |archive-date=5 March 2016}}</ref>