YAC-1 / CV-2 / CV-7 Caribou

The U.S. Army acquired the YAC-1/CV-2 Caribou in 1958, initially procuring 173 of the De Havilland aircraft, which was the largest fixed-wing aircraft in the Army inventory. Originally designated YAC-1, it was redesignated CV-2 in 1962 and kept that designation for the rest of its Army service. The Army took the CV-2 to Vietnam in 1962, where its short-field performance and 3-ton payload made it an excellent tactical transport airplane, especially for resupplying Special Forces outposts inaccessible by road and otherwise supplied by air drop or helicopter. In 1966, under an Army-Air Force agreement, the Army released the CV-2s to the Air Force in exchange for an end to all restrictions on helicopters, a trade that led many to regard the Caribou as the most significant aircraft in Army aviation history. The USAF redesignated the Caribou as the C-7 and soon ended the short-field missions for which it had been known, relegating it to general cargo transport. The Army retained several prototypes, including tail number 57-3079, the fifth prototype YAC-1 delivered in November 1958 as a replacement for the first prototype, which had crashed. The Army's Golden Knights parachute team used this aircraft from October 1973 to December 1985, when it was retired after a nearly 30-year flying career as the last Caribou in Army service.

Newport News, Virginia · United States