The LARGEST piston-engine aircraft in the world. The GIANT and FORGOTTEN Convair XC-99
Video from the channel Aero Por Trás da Aviação about Convair, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 17:30. Language: Portuguese. Video type: Documentary.
What it's about
The video, in Portuguese, tells the story of the Convair XC-99, presented as the largest land-based piston-engine aircraft. Only one example was built, which the author regards as both an operational success and a commercial failure.
Historical context
Convair emerged from the merger of Consolidated Aircraft and Vultee Aircraft. In 1942 Consolidated was studying a large transport while developing the B-36 bomber, and the US Army Air Forces asked it for a prototype. The XC-99 kept the wings and the six piston engines of the B-36, but with a double-deck fuselage for cargo or troops. The war stalled the project, which resumed in 1947.
Key facts
It flew on 24 November 1947 in San Diego and, after 18 months of testing, was delivered to the Air Force in May 1949. It could carry 400 equipped soldiers and used six 28-cylinder Pratt & Whitney radials in pusher configuration. In Operation Elephant, between San Diego and San Antonio, it set a cargo record, and during the Korean War it transported parts for the B-36 and other aircraft. Fuel consumption, maintenance and the retirement of the B-36 led to its own retirement in 1957 after more than 7,400 flight hours. The civilian Model 37 version, of which Pan Am ordered 15 units, was never built. Displayed at Kelly Air Force Base (Texas), it corroded; between 2004 and 2008 it was moved, disassembled, to the Air Force museum in Ohio, without ever being restored.