Douglas C-1
The Douglas C-1 was a cargo/transport aircraft produced by the Douglas Aircraft Corporation for the United States Army Air Service starting in 1925.
Design and development
Douglas received an order for nine single-engined transport aircraft in 1925, the first aircraft flying from Douglas's Santa Monica, California factory on 2 May 1925. The C-1 was the first aircraft assigned in the new C- category. The aircraft design was based on several earlier and similar designs developed by Douglas in the early 1920s. The C-1 featured an enclosed passenger compartment capable of carrying six passengers or about 2,500 lb of cargo. A trap door was placed in the lower fuselage to allow large and/or heavy cargo to be lifted directly into the cargo compartment. An auxiliary door for passengers and light cargo was included on the right side of the center fuselage.Operational history
The C-1 biplane was powered by the Liberty L-12 engine and carried a crew of two in an open cockpit. A C-1 was flown in the 1926 Ford National Reliability Air Tour.Seventeen additional aircraft were ordered in 1926 and 1927 for the United States Army Air Corps as C-1Cs and were slightly larger than the original C-1s.
Several C-1s were used in test programs—as an engine testbed, as a prototype air ambulance and as refueling aircraft for early air-to-air refueling experiments. Two of these aircraft were used as "tankers" in the 1929 record endurance flight of the Fokker C-2 Question Mark.
Variants
;C-1: Single-engined cargo/passenger transport aircraft, powered by a 435 hp Liberty V-1650-1 piston engine, accommodation for two crew and six to eight passengers.;C-1A: One C-1 used to test a variety of engines and cowlings, it was also used for number of experiments with ski landing gear.
;C-1C: Single-engined cargo/passenger transport aircraft, fitted with a metal cabin floor, modified landing gear, it had a higher gross landing weight and increased dimensions, plus a new balanced rudder; 17 built