McDonnell Douglas YC-15A, 72-1875 / CX001, Pima Air & Space Museum
This picture is © Martin Laycock and may not be used or published without permission.
Registration: 72-1875
Construction Number: CX001
Code Number: 01875 / 53
Model McDonnell Douglas YC-15A
Operator: Pima Air & Space Museum
Airport: Tucson - Pima Air and Space Museum, USA - Arizona
Photographer: Martin Laycock
Date Taken: 13/05/1993
Date Submitted: 10/07/2009
This aeroplane was the first of two YC-15As built. It was designed in response to the USAFs Advanced Medium STOL Transport (AMST) competition, to replace the venerable C-130 Hercules. Although the YC-15 and the other competitor, Boeing's YC-14 both met or even exceeded the specifications of the contest, the increasing importance of the strategic vs. tactical mission eventually led the Air Force to conclude that they were better off with an updated C-130 in the short term. In the longer term, a much larger aircraft would be developed out of the YC-15, as the C-17 Globemaster III. The AMST project was eventually shut down in 1979. After the flight test program, the two aircraft were stored at AMARC, at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. This one was subsequently displayed at Pima for a while, but was later returned to flying status by McDonnell Douglas in 1996, and resumed flying in April 1997. For this mission she was given the new civil registration N15YC. The YC-15 was used to evaluate new technology for advanced tactical transports. She can be rightly thought of as the 'mother' of the current C-17 Globemaster III. After an engine failed, the aircraft was deemed too expensive to repair and she was returned to storage, sitting for a number of years at the Boeing facility at Air Force Plant 42, in Palmdale, California, before being moved back to Edwards, where she is now on display at the Air Force Flight Test Center Museum's "Century Circle" display area, just outside the base's west gate.
Picture ID:1182209