Convair C-131 Samaritan


The Convair C-131 Samaritan is an American twin-engined military transport produced from 1954 to 1956 by Convair. It is the military version of the Convair CV-240 family of airliners.
This was one of the last radial engined aircraft in US service, along with the Grumman C-1 Trader.

Design and development

The design began life in a production requirement by American Airlines for a pressurized airliner to replace the Douglas DC-3. Convair's original design had two engines and 40 seats, and thus it was designated the CV-240. The first CV-240 flew on March 16, 1947, and production aircraft were first delivered to American on February 28, 1948. Seventy-five were delivered to American, with another fifty going to Western Airlines, Continental Airlines, Pan American Airways, KLM, Sabena, Swissair and Trans Australia Airlines.

Operational history

The CV-240/340/440 series was used by the United States Air Force for medical evacuation and VIP transport and was designated as C-131 Samaritan. The first model Samaritan, the C-131A, was derived from the CV-240 model, and was delivered to the USAF in 1954.
The initial trainer model, designated the T-29, was also based on the Convair CV-240 and was used to instruct USAF navigators for all USAF aircraft and United States Navy Naval Flight Officers selected to fly land-based aircraft. The first deliveries to the USAF were made in 1950 followed by large production quantities until early 1955. The USAF and the USN operated T-29s in separate units at separate locations until 1976. In 1974, the USAF T-29s with the 323d Flying Training Wing at Mather AFB, California began to be replaced by the Boeing 737-derived T-43. In 1975, the Navy retired all of its T-29s assigned to Training Squadron Twenty-Nine at NAS Corpus Christi, Texas, deactivated VT-29, and merged their advanced navigator training program for land-based NFOs with the Air Force's program at Mather AFB.
A planned bomber training version of the T-29 was never built.
From 1952, the USN and United States Marine Corps took delivery of 36 R4Y-1 transport aircraft similar to the commercial CV-340 and USAF C-131D, configured with 44 passenger seats and powered by a pair of Pratt & Whitney R-2800-52W engines. A single otherwise similar aircraft was acquired with a 24-seat VIP interior and designated R4Y-1Z. In 1957, the USN took delivery of two additional aircraft similar to the commercial CV-440 and designated R4Y-2. With the 1962 redesignation of USN/USMC aircraft, the three types were redesignated as the C-131F, VC-131F, and C-131G respectively. A number of R4Y-1 aircraft were converted to R4Y-1Z or R4Y-2 standards after delivery, and several C-131F and C-131G aircraft were ultimately sold as military surplus and converted to civil use.
Nearly all of the C-131s left the active USAF inventory in the late 1970s, but the U.S. Coast Guard operated the aircraft until 1983, while the Air National Guard and USN units operated additional C-131 airframes, primarily as Operational Support Aircraft for ANG flying wings and as naval air station "station aircraft" until 1990. The C-131 was primarily replaced by the C-9 Nightingale in regular USAF service, with the ANG replacing their OSA with C-130 Hercules aircraft and the USN with C-12 Hurons.
In 1959, a C-131 was the first aircraft to be used as a reduced-gravity aircraft or 'vomit comet', for astronaut training as part of Project Mercury.
A Samaritan was the first aircraft used as a flying gunship testbed in mid-1963, in a program known as "Project Tailchaser". A C-131B was given a gunsight for the side window, but instead of guns it had cameras in the cargo area. Eventually the C-131 was ferried to Eglin AFB in Florida and a General Electric SUU-11A/A 7.62 mm Gatling-style Minigun was installed. Live ammunition was used and both over-water and overland tests were successful.

Accidents and incidents

On 17 December 1960, a USAF C-131D Samaritan crashed at Munich after one engine lost power on takeoff from Munich-Riem Airport. Flying in heavy fog and unable to gain altitude, the aircraft struck the steeple of St. Paul's Church and crashed onto a tram, killing all 20 people on the aircraft and 32 on the tram.

Variants

;C-131A
;HC-131A
;MC-131A
;VC-131A
;C-131B
;JC-131B
;NC-131B
;VC-131B
;YC-131C
;C-131D
;VC-131D
;C-131E
;TC-131E
;C-131F
;RC-131F
;VC-131F
;C-131G
;EC-131G
;RC-131G
;VC-131G
;C-131H
;NC-131H
;R4Y-1
;R4Y-1Z
;R4Y-2
;R4Y-2Q
;R4Y-2S
;XT-29
;T-29A
;VT-29A
;T-29B
;NT-29B
;VT-29B
;T-29C
;AT-29C
;ET-29C
;VT-29C
;T-29D
;ET-29D
;VT-29D
;XT-29E
;YT-32

Operators

  • Paraguayan Air Force operated one former USAF Convair C-131D
  • United States Air Force operated T-29 and C-131 aircraft.
  • United States Navy operated R4Y/C-131 and T-29 aircraft.
  • United States Coast Guard operated R4Y/C-131 aircraft.
  • NASA

    Surviving aircraft

;HC-131A
;C-131A
;C-131B
;C-131D
;C-131F
;NC-131H
;T-29A
;T-29B
  • 51-7906 – On display at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona.
;T-29C