C-1A Trader

Developed from the successful S2F Tracker, the C-1A was for many years the most popular aircraft for sailors underway.  Why? Because it brought the mail!!  Probably the last piston-engined aircraft in the Navy, the C-1A soldiered on until 1986, when completely replaced by the much more capable and modern C-2A Greyhound.

In Addition to COD duties, it was used as a station hack, performing a myriad of useful functions from delivering time-sensitive cargo, to giving desk jockeys the ability to do their 4 hours a month for flight pay!

Story and photos courtesy of Scott Van Aken Archives

Photos courtesy of Terry in KC

Eventually, the C-2 Greyhound replaced all C-1 Traders