Chase Aircraft
defunct American aircraft manufacturing company
The Chase Aircraft Company, founded in 1943, was an American aircraft manufacturer, primarily constructing assault gliders and military transport aircraft. Lacking space for expansion, the company was purchased by Henry J. Kaiser in 1951. Plans to produce the C-123 transport for the United States Air Force collapsed amid scandal, and the company closed in 1953. A successor company, Stroukoff Aircraft, continued experimental work for several years before closing in 1959.
Early products
Founded in New York, New York, in 1943 with Michael Stroukoff, a Russian émigré, as president and chief designer, Chase's first aircraft design was the XCG-14 assault glider, produced for the U.S. Army Air Forces and first flying in January 1945. Development of improved, enlarged versions of the aircraft continued over the next two years, with the company moving to Trenton, New Jersey, in 1946, before the XCG-14 was superseded by the XG-18, an even larger and heavier aircraft that was the world's first all-metal transport glider.
By 1949, the United States Air Force had determined that the glider was no longer a viable weapon on the battlefield, and the XG-18 was modified, being fitted with a pair of radial engines. Redesignated as the YC-122 Avitruc, three prototype and one pre-production aircraft were produced. Despite favorable evaluations, the Air Force had reconsidered its requirement for small transports, and decided not to proceed with full production of the design. One YC-122 was later modified into the Hiller X-18, an experimental tiltwing VTOL aircraft.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Chase Aircraft” as defunct American aircraft manufacturing company. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the history & society register because the source frames it as defunct American aircraft manufacturing company. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5087093. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1943, 1951, 1953 and 1959.
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This entry incorporates text from “Chase Aircraft” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.