Century Circle, Edwards AFB, Boeing YC-15, s/n 72-1875
@ Edwards AFB, CA
March 2018
Outside the West Gate of the Edwards AFB is a display of aircraft called the Century Circle, aircraft that were tested here at this fabled facility. Among the planes is this McDonnell Douglas YC-15, a prototype short take-off and landing (STOL) tactical transport that was intended to replace the Lockheed C-130 Hercules as the USAF’s standard STOL tactical transport. First flown in 1975, it competed against the Boeing YC-14 prototype in the Advanced Medium STOL Transport (AMST) competition. Noteworthy was the design incorporation of a supercritical wing and externally blown flaps to meet the performance requirements.
In the end, neither the YC-15 nor the Boeing YC-14 was ordered into production, although the YC-15’s basic design would be used as a basis for the successful McDonnell Douglas (later Boeing) C-17 Globemaster III. After the flight test program ended in 1977, the two YC-15 aircraft went to boneyard status. This aircraft (72-1875) was subsequently moved to the nearby Pima Air & Space Museum in 1981, and returned to flying status in 1996 to support the C-17 program. In 1998, this aircraft suffered an in-flight failure of the No. 1 engine during flight and made an emergency landing at Palmdale, California. On inspection, the aircraft was deemed too expensive to repair and was stored at Palmdale until 2008 when the aircraft was moved by road to its current location in Century Circle. The other airframe was on boneyard display for many years until destroyed in place in 2012. Nikon D500 w/18-200mm.
