History of the device

The second half of 1925 and the beginning of the following decade saw the birth in the United States of a military transport aviation based on civilian aircraft adapted to the needs of the US Army Air Corps and the US Navy. The first aircraft manufacturers to supply such aircraft were mostly those who would mark American military aeronautical history, such as Boeing, Consolidated, and Douglas. The industrialist Northrop even managed the feat of selling a few copies of its first mass-produced aircraft. It was used for staff transport within the USAAC as the Northrop Y1C-19 Alpha.

It was during the year 1930 that the young Northrop Aircraft Corp. decided to offer on the civilian market a single-engine metal transport plane that could accommodate four passengers over a distance of 2,200 kilometers at a cruising speed of 235 kilometers per hour. The idea of Jack Northrop and his engineers was to offer an aircraft with a polished aesthetic, resulting from work carried out some time earlier at Lockheed. The first aircraft designed to be mass-produced, it was named Alpha by the aircraft manufacturer.

Externally it appeared in the form of a single-engine, low-wing cantilever monoplane of metal construction. Equipped with a classic fixed landing gear and a classic tail, the Northrop Alpha was also powered by a completely ducted nine-cylinder radial engine. It was a Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp C with a power of 425 horsepower driving a two-blade metal propeller. If the pilot took place in an open-air cockpit with a small windshield placed at the rear, the four passengers were installed in a closed cabin located just behind the engine. The Alpha was also offered in a postal transport version with a carrying capacity of 850 kilograms of mail. The plane’s first flight took place on November 22, 1930 and the plane was immediately certified by the American Civil Aviation Authority. The first production aircraft, designated Alpha 2, began commercial service in April 1931 with the TWA company. They inaugurated the first east-west connection between New York and Los Angeles, via a stopover.

In July 1931 the US Army Air Corps in turn purchased an Alpha 2 which received the designation Northrop YC-19 Alpha. Tested in real conditions, the aircraft was used to support the actions of generals and officials of the US Department of War. Two and a half months later two other examples were purchased in staff liaison configuration with capacity for five passengers. Designated Northrop Y1C-19 Alpha, these planes were primarily used to transport USAAC generals. At the beginning of 1933 the single YC-19 was modified to the Y1C-19 standard and therefore used for the same missions. A few weeks later one of these planes crashed near the town of Petersburg in eastern Virginia. The pilot and two passengers were killed instantly. One of them was the director of the West Point military school training future US Army officers. Finally the last two Northrop Y1C-19 Alphas were withdrawn from service in April 1939 in favor of three Beechcraft UC-43A Traveler biplanes.

Northrop subsequently developed the Alpha 3 for mixed mail-passenger transport, the very similar Alpha 4 with a streamlined landing gear and sold only to TWA, and finally the Alpha 4A for pure postal transport. The twelfth Alpha 4A was transformed into a float plane in order to complete a world tour for the benefit of adventurer and aviator Frederick B. Lee. Despite the success of the work, this long-distance raid never took place. A total of fourteen civilian Northrop Alphas were built between 1930 and 1933, to which must be added the three military Y1C-19s.

The first real aircraft designed specifically in the United States for staff transport, the Northrop Y1C-19 Alpha were also the first aircraft built by this company to be purchased by the American military aviation. Northrop would subsequently become one of the main suppliers to the US Army Air Force and the US Air Force to the present day. A Northrop Alpha 2 repainted in TWA colors is currently preserved and on display at the National Air & Space Museum.