Home

Museums

Manufacturers

Mission

Airshows

Performers


Boeing YC-97 'Stratofreighter'

Description
  Manufacturer:Boeing
  Base model:C-97
  Designation:YC-97
  Nickname:Stratofreighter
  Designation System:U.S. Air Force
  Designation Period:1925-1962
  Basic role:Transport
  Status:Prototype

Specifications
  Length: 117' 5" 35.7 m
  Height:38' 3' 11.5 m
  Wingspan: 141' 3" 43.0 m
  Empty Weight: 85,000 lb 38,548 kg
  Gross Weight: 175,000 lb 79,365 kg

Propulsion
  No. of Engines: 4
  Powerplant: Pratt & Whitney R-4360-59B
  Horsepower (each): 3500

Performance
  Range: 4,300 miles 6,924 km
  Max Speed: 370 mph 595 km/h 321 kt
  Ceiling: 30,000 ft 9,143 m


 

Recent comments by our visitors
 Smokey Beucus
 , TX
The last YC 97 I saw was in 1960 in Spain, it had 4 Allison Turbo prop engines 6,000 hp each. It flew nice with the extra power. I flew KC 97F&G models, they had P.W 4360-59C engines, 3,500HP as a Radio Operator & later a flight Engineer. Like the Lt said, it was like flying a house. Remember that the KC 97 played it's roll in winning the cold war as we allowed the B47 & B52 to reach it's target without having to land to refuel. It also allowed the F111 to say hello to Omar in Iran. Reach out & touch someone they say? Happy landings to all you former flyboys where ever you are.
06/08/2006 @ 13:07 [ref: 13475]
 Smokey Beucus
 , TX
The last YC 97 I saw was in 1960 in Spain, it had 4 Allison Turbo prop engines 6,000 hp each. It flew nice with the extra power. I flew KC 97F&G models, they had P.W 4360-59C engines, 3,500HP as a Radio Operator & later a flight Engineer. Like the Lt said, it was like flying a house. Remember that the KC 97 played it's roll in winning the cold war as we allowed the B47 & B52 to reach it's target without having to land to refuel. It also allowed the F111 to say hello to Omar in Iran. Reach out & touch someone they say? Happy landings to all you former flyboys where ever you are.
06/08/2006 @ 13:06 [ref: 13474]
 Bryan Best
 Kent, OH
I am researching a pilot who flew B-24s during WWII in India and was called back during the Berlin Airlift and was flying C-54s during the airlift. But during July 1949 he flew the Yc-97A on the 18th, 23rd, and 24th.
03/19/2006 @ 17:59 [ref: 12864]
 CHARLES HALL
 las vegas, NV
I WAS A CREW MEMBER ON YC-97 AT BIGGS A.F.B.S.N559588 IT HAD R-3350 ENGINES LATER TAKEN TO BOEING PLANT IN WASINTON RETURNED WIH A NEW C-97 WITH R-4360 ENGINES.THIS WAS IN 1950
08/22/2005 @ 14:31 [ref: 11060]
 Richard Leffler
 Balboa, CA
Summer 1964. A YC-97, outfitted with firefighting dump tanks, was purchased from the government and coverted back to a freighter. Mr. Charles Rector (owner) secured a contract to fly cargo in the mediterranian for the next five years. I was 18 and only cleaned parts as they replaced the four engines and prepared to fly it to Rome. I was supposed to go as well but with the Viet Nam war heating up I decided to start college instead.
I later heard that it crash landed in Belgrade Yugoslavia the following year and was impounded by the Tito government. I always wondered what happend to the plane that I spent a summer cleaning so meticulously in the heat of Chino, California.

11/21/2004 @ 19:43 [ref: 8677]
 Frederick Parker
 West monroe,, LA
I first came in contact with the YC-97 in 1950 at Hickham Field, I was assigned to the 1266th Air Transport Squadron as a flight engineer during the Korean airlift. We had five YC-97s and< I believe, eight C-97A models. The YC was used mainly for shorter flights to Travis and other islands and the A model for longer flights to Haneda and other points in support of the Korean war.
It was my understanding that there were originally six YCs built, one had crashed and the others wound up in MATS at Hickham. It had the 3350 engine, curtis electric reversible props, and was fitted with deicing boots rather than the heated airfoils of the C-97. Underpowered, of course, but not a bad airplane.
03/05/2002 @ 04:57 [ref: 4449]
 Andrew S. Telek
 Traverse City, MI
I flew KC-97s out of as a young air force Lieutenant in the late fifties. It was a great airplane except when loaded to it's maximum weight. When I first flew it I thought I was flying my house.

01/08/2002 @ 15:43 [ref: 4016]
 Gene Van Houten
 , IL
The YC-97 was a derivative of the B-29 and had R3350 engines, only a few were built and served in the 1st Strategic Support Sqdn.(SAC)until they rec'd the C-124 in the late '50s. The C-97 and later models was derived from the B-50 and had P&W R4360 engines.
10/23/2001 @ 18:39 [ref: 3463]

 

Recent photos uploaded by our visitors