The Budd RB-1 Conestoga was a twin-engine,
stainless steel cargo aircraft
A cargo aircraft (also known as freight aircraft, freighter, airlifter or cargo jet) is a fixed-wing aircraft that is designed or converted for the carriage of cargo rather than passengers. Such aircraft usually do not incorporate passenger ...
designed for the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
by the
Budd Company of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
. Although it did not see service in a combat theater, it pioneered design innovations in American cargo aircraft, later incorporated in modern military cargo airlifters.
Design and development
World War II created a great demand for military transport aircraft in the United States. Because of initial fears of a shortage of
aluminum
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...
, the
War Department War Department may refer to:
* War Department (United Kingdom)
* United States Department of War (1789–1947)
See also
* War Office, a former department of the British Government
* Ministry of defence
* Ministry of War
* Ministry of Defence
* D ...
explored the use of other materials for aircraft construction. Budd, the developer of the
shotweld technique for welding stainless steel and a manufacturer of stainless steel railroad cars, automobile, bus, and truck bodies, hired an aeronautical engineering staff and worked with the
U. S. Navy to develop a new twin-engine transport aircraft constructed primarily of stainless steel. The U.S. Navy accepted the proposal for the new aircraft, and placed an order for 200, to be designated RB-1. The
U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) followed with an order for 600, designated C-93.
The Conestoga was a twin-engine high-wing
monoplane
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes.
A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...
with
tricycle landing gear
Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has a single nose wheel in the front, and two or more main wheels slightly aft of the center of gravity. Tricycle g ...
. The elevated flight deck was contained in a distinctive, almost hemispherical nose section. Its two
Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 air cooled 14-cylinder, twin-row,
radial engine
The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ...
s, the same engines fitted to the
C-47, drove three-bladed
Hamilton Standard
Hamilton Standard was an American aircraft propeller parts supplier. It was formed in 1929 when United Aircraft and Transport Corporation consolidated Hamilton Aero Manufacturing and Standard Steel Propeller into the Hamilton Standard Propeller C ...
Hydromatic constant-speed, full-feathering
propellers and powered a 24-volt electrical system. While the fuselage was thin-gauge stainless steel, only a portion of the wing was made of the metal; the trailing section of the wing and all control surfaces were fabric-covered.
Innovations
![Budd RB Conestoga on ground](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Budd_RB_Conestoga_on_ground.jpg)
The RB-1/C-93 was radical for its day, introducing many of the features now standard in military transports. The flight deck could accommodate three crew members, pilot and copilot side-by-side, the navigator behind them. Stairs connected the flight deck to the cargo area, which was long with an unobstructed cross-section of 8 × 8 feet (2.4m) throughout its length. Cargo loading and unloading could be accomplished in two ways: through 40 × 60 inch (102 × 152 cm) doors on both sides of the
fuselage
The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraf ...
or by an electrically operated 10 × 8 foot (3.0 × 2.4 m) ramp at the aft end of the cargo area under the upswept
tail
The tail is the section at the rear end of certain kinds of animals’ bodies; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage to the torso. It is the part of the body that corresponds roughly to the sacrum and coccyx in mammal ...
, a similar development to what had been initially fitted to the Germans' own
Ju 90 four-engined transport aircraft as their ''Trapoklappe'' ramp in 1939. The RB-1's loading ramp, accessed by manually operated clamshell doors, along with the tricycle landing gear, meant cargo could be loaded/unloaded at truck-bed height. A manually operated two-ton (1814 kg) hoist for unloading trucks and a one-ton winch for pulling cargo up the ramp were also provided in the cargo area. The aircraft could accommodate:
*24
paratroopers
A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during World ...
, or
*24 stretchers and 16 sitting wounded, or
*9,600 pounds of cargo, or
*a 1½ ton truck, or
*The largest ambulance in use by the U.S. military.
Operational history
The prototype first flew from the Budd Red Lion Factory Airfield in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 31 October 1943, piloted by Guy Miller.
[Juptner, Joseph P. ''U.S. Civil Aircraft Series''. Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania: TAB Aero, 1993. .] The prototype had a takeoff run when empty of just , and could carry a maximum payload of with a takeoff run of .
[Merriam 2000, p. 45.] However, the aircraft demonstrated greater than expected fuel consumption; the range with a standard payload was only , with a maximum payload.
Three prototype aircraft: ''NX37097'', ''NX41810'', and ''NC45354'' were built; one was used for testing radio equipment, while the other two were used for flight test evaluations.
During testing, a few aircraft had difficulty with the simultaneous deployment of the right and left landing gear. With the same engines as the C-47, but heavier (empty), the aircraft was relatively underpowered; it was reportedly said that, for an aircraft built by a railroad car company, it indeed handled like one.
At the Budd factory and airfield in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, there were construction delays due to cost overruns and problems with stainless steel fabrication. By late 1943, aluminum production had been increased with the construction of new processing facilities, and other more conventional cargo aircraft (such as the
Curtiss C-46 Commando and the
Douglas C-47 Skytrain
The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained ...
) were being produced in large numbers. This caused the Army to cancel its order for the C-93 and the Navy to reduce its RB-1 order from 200 to 25, of which 17 were delivered in March 1944.
On 13 April 1944, during a
Naval Air Training Command
The Naval Air Training Command (NATRACOM) is a one star command that conducts flight training of student Naval Aviators, and Naval Flight Officers. Though it does not conduct Naval Aircrew training which is conducted by Naval Education and Trai ...
(NATC) evaluation flight of RB-1 prototype U.S. Navy ''NX37097'' at
Patuxent River NAS, Maryland, the aircraft crashed, killing one of the crew. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair and written off, but the pilot reported that the stainless steel construction of the aircraft contributed to saving his life.
Production RB-1 aircraft never entered squadron service with the Navy, but a few were briefly used by
Naval Air Stations as utility aircraft. With only 17 aircraft in inventory, the RB-1 was not feasible to maintain on the active list, and it was retired from U.S. Navy service in early 1945. The extant RB-1s were then transferred to the
War Assets Administration
The War Assets Administration (WAA) was created to dispose of United States government-owned surplus material and property from World War II. The WAA was established in the Office for Emergency Management, effective March 25, 1946, by Executive Ord ...
(WAA) to be sold as war surplus. In 1945, the WAA sold 12 Conestogas to the
National Skyway Freight Corp
Flying Tiger Line, also known as Flying Tigers, was the first scheduled cargo airline in the United States and a major military charter operator during the Cold War era for both cargo and personnel (the latter with leased aircraft). The airline ...
["Flying Tiger History: The 1940s."](_blank)
''flyingtigerline.org.'' Retrieved: 13 November 2010. for $28,642 each (equivalent to $ in dollars) at a time when new C-47s were selling for approximately $100,000 each (equivalent to $ million in dollars). The new company, founded by members of the
AVG Flying Tigers
The First American Volunteer Group (AVG) of the Republic of China Air Force, nicknamed the Flying Tigers, was formed to help oppose the Japanese invasion of China. Operating in 1941–1942, it was composed of pilots from the United States ...
immediately sold four RB-1 aircraft to other buyers, which paid for the entire WAA contract.
The seven remaining National Skyways aircraft were used to transport a variety of cargo, shipping fruit and furniture from its base in
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporate ...
. Pilots reported that the Budd transports were temperamental; in particular, exhaust stacks kept falling off and causing engine fires.
There were three more crashes of Conestogas while in service with National Skyway Freight, one each in
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
,
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...
, and
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
.
The crash in Virginia was a belly landing at a country club brought on by fuel exhaustion following weather-related problems. The Albuquerque, New Mexico crash was due to a downdraft during a snow storm, from Albuquerque.
Pilot and copilot were killed when they were thrown through the windshield and the aircraft skidded over them; the flight engineer survived.
In 1947, the U.S. Army (and later the U.S. Air Force) gave National Skyway Freight a large contract for trans-Pacific freight, for which it leased military aircraft. The company changed its name to Flying Tiger
The First American Volunteer Group (AVG) of the Republic of China Air Force, nicknamed the Flying Tigers, was formed to help oppose the Japanese invasion of China. Operating in 1941–1942, it was composed of pilots from the United States Ar ...
and replaced the RB-1s with C-47s for its U.S. freight routes; the RB-1s were sold off to other buyers. One of these aircraft, a prototype RB-1, "NC45354" was sold to the Tucker Motor Company to transport its demonstration 1948 Tucker Sedan
The Tucker 48, commonly referred to as the Tucker Torpedo, was an automobile conceived by Preston Tucker while in Ypsilanti, Michigan and briefly produced in Chicago, Illinois in 1948. Only 51 cars were made including their prototype before the ...
to auto shows around the U.S.; it was reportedly later abandoned at an airfield in Oakland, California after repeated mechanical troubles.
Brazil
The V.A.S.D. (Viação Aérea Santos Dumont) was born on January 18, 1944. He started with the purchase of two Catalinas and a Budd Conestoga, both former Rubber development Corporation. Budd RB.1 Conestoga had the PP-SDC "Tio Sam" enrollment. It was damaged in an emergency landing at Campo dos Afonsos on 04.01.1947, landing with one train collected, declared unrecoverable and there scrapped.
Surviving aircraft
A single unrestored Budd RB-1 is on display at the Pima Air & Space Museum
The Pima Air & Space Museum, located in Tucson, Arizona, is one of the world's largest non-government funded aerospace museums. The museum features a display of nearly 300 aircraft spread out over 80 acres (320,000 m²) on a campus oc ...
in Tucson
, "(at the) base of the black ill
, nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town"
, image_map =
, mapsize = 260px
, map_caption = Interactive map ...
, Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
.
Specifications (RB-1)
See also
* Fleetwings BT-12 Sophomore
The Fleetwings BT-12 Sophomore, also known by the company designation Model 23, was a 1940s all-metal basic training monoplane built by Fleetwings for the United States Army Air Forces. Only 24 production examples of the type were built before t ...
also a stainless steel design
*Curtiss-Wright C-76 Caravan
The Curtiss-Wright C-76 Caravan (company designation CW-27) was an American all-wood military transport aircraft. The C-76 was intended as a substitute standard aircraft in the event of expected wartime shortages of light alloys.Dreher, Carl, ...
* List of aircraft of World War II
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
* List of military aircraft of the United States
Lists of military aircraft of the United States cover current and former aircraft of the United States Armed Forces.
By designation
* List of United States Air Force aircraft designations (1919–1962)
* List of United States Navy aircraft des ...
* List of United States Navy aircraft designations (pre-1962)
This list of United States Navy aircraft designations (pre-1962) includes prototype, pre-production and operational type designations under the 1922 United States Navy aircraft designation system, which was used by the United States Navy, the Un ...
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
* Bridgeman, Leonard. “The Budd Conestoga.” ''Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II.'' London: Studio, 1946. .
* Merriam, Ray. ''U. S. Warplanes of World War II.'' Bennington Vermont: Merriam Press, 2000. .
External links
Flying Tiger Line
General Aviation News editorial
A Story of the Budd RB-1 Conestoga
{{DEFAULTSORT:Budd Rb Conestoga
R1B
1940s United States military transport aircraft
High-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1943
Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft