Northrop C-125 Raider in Mexico?

[BrianB]

Back in the early 1980's a friend of mine who ran a parachute club claimed to have seen a rare Northrop C-125 tri-motor abandoned but possibly flyable somewhere in central Mexico. He was trying to get enough money together to bring it north and use it as a skydiving ship. Nothing ever happened and I never even knew if the a/c was really there. Do any of the "south of the border" WIXers have any info on this acft.

[Nathan]

There is one at Pima I think.

[mustangdriver]

As far as I know, there are only two left. The NMUSAF, and PIMA. Am I missing any?

[RMAllnutt]

Well, one Raider was active in Mexico as XB-GEY. It is now at Pima. There are some photographs of it here... the father of the website's operator actually used to fly it in Mexico.

http://www.geocities.com/jmsalomon/sinaloa2.htm



photo from 1959 at Tayoltita, gold mine in Mexico.

There is at least one other complete C-125, at Dayton. Air Britain states that there is a third, but cannot locate it at present. One was operational in Colombia as CP-650. Maybe it migrated a little north, and that's your beast.

Cheers,
Richard

PS. Please let us know... the Raider's a pretty cool beast!

[shoki]

I think one was brought up from Mexico in the late 80's or early 90's by Asher Ward. The plane crashed and burned up in Tulsa. If I'm wrong about that let me know.

[mustangdriver]

There used to be one at PIA Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics years ago. I never saw it, but they have pictures of it in the lobby.

[Michel C-GNCJ]

Here is the one at Pima in its actual look:

[Mike]

There ought to be some sort of a law against making aeroplanes that ugly!

Interesting machine though. I did wonder if there were any other survivors after I saw the Dayton one back in September.

[BrianB]

I think one was brought up from Mexico in the late 80's or early 90's by Asher Ward. The plane crashed and burned up in Tulsa. If I'm wrong about that let me know.

That is probably the one. The FAA database shows that it crashed in Tulsa in 1988.... probable cause run-away prop on take-off due to corroded wires in the prop control circuit. The picture that I found of that aircraft showed it as bare aluminum, the same as the one that my friend described to me back in the early 1980's.

[Jay]

The YC-125 in question is now located at Wright-Patterson AFB. The aircraft was formerly located in Zacateas Mexico. It was purchased by Asher Ward and Daryl Greenameyer after they crashed a YC 125 in route to the Air Force Museum for a trade deal. The aircraft was disassembled and transported to Rockford, IL for paint work and etc. Later transported by truck to Wright-Patterson.
I know this to be true because I almost bought the aircraft while it was in Zacateas. Small problem. I was told that the aircraft was a FORD Trimotor with the engines removed. Nice flight to Zacatecas for nothing but a good steak dinner. I tried to sell the aircraft to the Air Force Museum but they told me they were getting one from Asher and Daryl. After their ill-fated flight, I tried to sell the aircraft to Asher but he was in Mexico purchasing my aircraft. (actually I never owned the aircraft, I was just trying to sell it before buying it) Asher made the purchase and the rest is history.
Jaybo

[BrianB]

Thanks Jay, that solves the mystery for me. Any idea what Daryl and Mr Ward traded it for?

[Jay]

Terms of the original trade called for the YC-125 to be flown to the Air Force Museum. The actual crash happened in route to the museum in 1988. After the second aircraft was obtained from Mexico, I'm sure the contract changed. No longer a flying (restored) aircraft, the museum now was trading for a static display aircraft.
Jaybo

[Tulio]

A U.S. Oil Company operated YC-125s in Guatemala during the late 1950s and very early 60s, with one example being reported as "abandoned" after a landing mishap on a very rough jungle runway.

I have no additional information on this airframe.


Saludos,


Tulio

[RMAllnutt]

What are the details on the crash of the first museum aircraft (ie. what happened to the aircraft.... scrapped?).

Cheers,
Richard

[p51dman]

I have two very nice b&w photos of two different C-125's, N2561B and N65884. Without going to the FAA for their records, I can't tell you what became of those two.
Dick Phillips