page_title: Michael Stroukoff
section_title: American career
hierarchical_section_title: Michael Stroukoff / American career
caption_attribution_description: English: The U.S. Air Force Stroukoff Aircraft Corportaion YC-134 (s/n 52-1627), in 1956. A standard Fairchild C-123B Provider was fitted with two 3,500 hp (2,600 kW) Wright Turbo Compound R3350-89A radial engines, turning four-blade, thirteen foot Aeroproducts constant-speed fully-feathering propellers, a boundary layer control system, tailplane endplates, redesigned landing gear with tandem mainwheels. Later it was designated YC-134A when fitted with a "Pantobase" landing gear. It was cancelled in favour of the Lockheed C-130.
context_page_description: Michael Stroukoff was a Russian-born aircraft designer, who served in the White Army before emigrating to the United States. After spending some time as an architect, he joined the Chase Aircraft Company and designed a number of transport aircraft for the United States Army Air Forces and the United States Air Force, later starting his own company to perform further aeronautical work.
context_section_description: Following his emigration, Stroukoff started a career in architecture and interior design, before being appointed chief engineer and president of Chase Aircraft upon its foundation. His first design was the XCG-14, a wooden troop-carrying assault glider, which was developed into the larger CG-18 and CG-20 gliders, the latter being the largest glider ever constructed in the United States.
  Following World War II, the assault glider fell out of favour, replaced by powered transports, and Stroukoff modified a YG-18 into the prototype YC-122, and a small number of the aircraft were built. More important was the conversion of the G-20 into the C-123, described as a "Winged Truck" by Stroukoff. While one version of the aircraft was the first jet-powered  transport built in America, it was the piston-engined 'assault transport' version of the C-123 that won a contract from the United States Air Force for production; due to limited capacity at Chase, this was subcontracted to the Kaiser Manufacturing Company, which purchased a 49% interest in Chase Aircraft. However, following a procurement scandal and political issues, the C-123 contract was awarded to Fairchild Aircraft, and Kaiser bought out Chase Aircraft.
  Setting up a new company, the Stroukoff Aircraft Corporation, Stroukoff continued work on improved versions of the C-123, most notably the YC-134, however none of them would go into production, and in 1959 the company closed down.
caption: Stroukoff Aircraft YC-134A
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