The Things It Carried
How an unremarkable Convair C-131H transported cops, patients, prisoners, and Gerald Ford.
- By Thomas DeFrank
- Air & Space magazine, July 2008
As vice president, Gerald Ford (with pipe) toured the country in a VC-131H, one of several in the executive fleet.
David Hume Kennerly / Courtesy Gerald R. Ford Library
(Page 2 of 3)
“I fell in love with the aircraft,” recalls former VR-48 commander Ryan Swah, now a FedEx pilot. “It was reliable, did a nice mission, and never broke down. But it vibrated a lot and sure was noisy.”
In 1990, the squadron converted to McDonnell Douglas C-9 jets and transferred its three Convairs to the state department’s Bureau of International Narcotics, where on February 1, no. 42815 began a new life as a drug interdiction transport. But not before the galley and the rest of its executive features were stripped out and replaced with industrial-strength seating for about 48 soldiers and drug enforcement agents. The airplane was re-registered N7146X.
Assigned to the state department’s air wing at Patrick Air Force Base in Florida, the Convair flew missions in Belize, Bolivia, Colombia, Guatemala, and Peru. Because it was nominally under the control of the Peruvian National Police, the airplane became PNP-025. By March 1994, after the state department acquired bigger and faster jets, the Convair, now painted light gray with black trim, was retired and flown to the boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, outside Tucson, Arizona. In late 1995, Ford’s airplane was acquired by the justice department’s U.S. Marshals Service, which transports thousands of prisoners and illegal aliens each year.
“It didn’t cost a cent,” says Dick Rake, now chief pilot for the marshals’ Mesa, Arizona office. The General Services Administration, he explains, “was getting rid of it, and gave other government agencies first crack at it. It was a beautiful airplane, in surprisingly good shape.”
The Federal Aviation Administration re-registered the aircraft N723ES. Even so, the Marshals Service needed only one airplane, and its other Convair had logged fewer hours. So Ford’s airplane stayed parked in the desert another four years, partially cocooned in sealant to protect its windows and engine nacelles.
In 1999, the airplane finally was rescued from oblivion by IFL Group, a Pontiac, Michigan cargo outfit that bought it and two other 580s at a government auction for slightly more than $1 million. An IFL team drained the preservatives from the Convair’s fuel and oil systems, changed filters, and installed an avionics ferry package to fly it home.
“Overall, it was in reasonably good shape,” says IFL’s Mark Bunner. “The engines were in good condition. The props had aged but were functional.” All that remained of the interior was military-style “parachute” seating along the bulkheads. As it turned out, the new owners never flew it. The airplane wasn’t certified for commercial service, and the retooling costs were prohibitive. It sat in Michigan for seven years.
In the spring of 2006, the Saskatchewan government bought the airplane and began remanufacturing it for firefighting. Overhauled at Kelowna Flightcraft in British Columbia, Tanker 475 had its front door and most of the windows removed and was upgraded with new avionics, wiring, hydraulics, electronics, Allison D-22 engines, and yet another registration: C-GSKQ.
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Comments (6)
Why wasn't a photo of the actual aircraft used in the print article?
The photo illusted another of the type, but not the actual aircraft.
Posted by Douglas E. Slowiak on June 23,2008 | 12:23 PM
If you put Convair C-131H on Google there are several sites that show this type aircraft. I agree, a picture should have been with the article.
Posted by John Hamilton on June 29,2008 | 01:30 AM
I know these aircraft and the engines were Allison 501D13D or H models (can't remember) rated at 3506 SHP & 3750 ESHP not 2900. T56-A-4 is not a valid model based on the latest publications from Rolls-Royce/Allison
My company did much of the overhaul and repair work on them when they were in use by the Navy.
These are wonderful aircraft and the engines are also great powerplants.
Steve Stein
Posted by Steve Stein on November 12,2008 | 10:07 AM
One of my first 'sales' assignments after being trnsferred to Military Sales For Allison Division of (then) General Motors, was to manage a series of demonstration flights for several two-star Generals of the Air National Guard. The flights took place in Reno, Nevada during the early 1980s. The plane and aircrew had to contend with unstable winds boiling off the top of the Sierras, and all the flights were in turbulent air and we got tossed around quite a bit. However, the rugged VC-131 took it all in stride and we sort of enjoyed the thrills. Take-off performance with a low fuel load and no passengers was REALLY impressive! The T-56 provided ample power for any circumstance. In spite of the comments, pilots generally loved the airplane.
Posted by Jim Korn on November 14,2008 | 12:14 PM
On a good cool day the 501-D13 actually put out something like 4,000 SHP at least according to the torque meters, specs and my aging memory. It spun a Aero Products 13' 6" prop at at about 1020 RPM geared down from an engine speed of about 13820 I think. It also had water injection for those really hot days which helped get a HP boost when it was lost due to heat.
Posted by Steve Imrisek on November 18,2008 | 02:53 AM
I used to fly a C-131D with the Mass. Air National Guard. We named it "DUMBO". I flew it on it's last military flight to the bone yard. That aircraft (542809) has been restored and is in the CAF fleet in CA.
Posted by bob kusterer on December 17,2012 | 07:02 PM