Northrop YC-125 Raider

The Northrop YC-125 Raider was a 1940s American three-engined STOL utility transport built by Northrop Corporation, Hawthorne, California.

Design and development
Northrop's first postwar civil design was a three-engined STOL passenger and cargo transport named the Northrop N-23 Pioneer. The Pioneer could carry 36 passengers or five tons of cargo and first flew on 21 December 1946. The aircraft had a good performance, but there was little interest due to the availability of cheap war surplus aircraft. The Pioneer was lost in a fatal crash in 1947. In 1948 the United States Air Force expressed interest in an aircraft of the same configuration and placed an order with Northrop for 23 aircraft, 13 troop transports designated the C-125A Raider and 10 for Arctic rescue work designated the C-125B. With the company designation N-32 Raider the first aircraft flew on 1 August 1949.

The aircraft was powered by three 1200 hp (895 kW) Wright R-1820-99 Cyclone radial engines. The aircraft could also be fitted with JATO rockets that enabled it to take off in less than 500 ft (152 m). The 13 troop transporters were designated YC-125A in-service and the Arctic rescue version the YC-125B.

The Canadian company Canadair considered building the N-23 under licence but did not proceed.

Operational history
Deliveries of the YC-125 to the USAF began in 1950. Aircraft did not serve long as they were underpowered and they were sent soon to Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas and relegated to be ground instructional trainers until retired in 1955 and declared surplus.

Most of the surplus aircraft were purchased by Frank Ambrose and sold to bush operators in South and Central America.

Variants

 * N-23 Pioneer: Prototype three-engined STOL transport, one built.
 * N-32 Raider: Company designation of military version of the N-23.
 * YC-125A Raider: N-32 with seats for thirty troops, 13 built (serials 48-628/640).
 * YC-125B Raider: Arctic rescue version of the N-32 with twenty stretchers and provision for a ski undercarriage. Ten built (serials 48-618/627).

Survivors

 * YC-125A (XB-GEY, former 48-636) is on display at the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona
 * YC-125B (Serial 48-626, painted as 48-622) is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio

Operators

 * 🇺🇸: United States Air Force