Plans for production of a huge air transport, the C-132, able to carry 50 tons for 3500 miles at more than 460 miles per hour have diminished to the making of a wooden mockup with an uncertain future, U.S. Air Force announcements revealed (september 1954 - my annotation). Speed, range and cargo capacity reportedly might have shortened aerial-supply pipelines to insignificance and eliminated supply storage problems at the "using end" of the line. The C-132 is said to double cargo-carrying potential of its nearest rival, the C-133, which has a wingspan of 180 feet, length of 153 feet and diameter of 16 feet.
As conceived, maximum take-off weight of the C-132 would have been 500,000 pounds and maximum pay load nearly 200,000 pounds. A representative pay load of 100,000 pounds theoretically would have enabled the plane to reach maximum range. Main landing gear was to have included 16 wheels arranged as two coaxial quadruple wheel units in tandem on each side of the fuselage, plus a dual nose-wheel assembly. The giant transport, using four engines with 15,000 horsepower each, was to have tremendous range without refueling. Use of current runways and ramps had been anticipated.
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