Operationally, it was designed as a Arctic rescue aircraft, possibly the same specification to the USAF developing the Piasecki H-21 Workhorse.
An aircraft that was restored and enroute to the NMUSAF crashed/force landed on its delivery flight. That was sometime in the 80s.
I don’t think it was repaired…but judging by the damage photos I saw at the time, there still could be “substantial remains”.
The event was covered by American historic aviation magazines at the time, so perhaps someone at WIX could come up with an identity.
UPDATE: Here’s a link to the WIX discussion on the aircraft…it seems the plane that crashed was repaired and is the example now on display at the MNUSAF….
http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=17753&start=0
And here’s an Aviation Safety database link concerning the crash of one in Bolivia (cn 2516) in 1966:
http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=26974
And the 1988 crash of the NMUSAF aircraft (c/n 2518)::
http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19880629-1
In both instances the ac are identified only by the c/ns.
But if the c/ns correspond with the USAF serials, then the Bolivia crash ac is 48-624.
Here’s an AP story on the 1988 crash:
http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1988/Plane-Bound-For-Air-Force-Museum-Crashes-On-Takeoff/id-524f49eafcd89142ed07c38abc304ef6
I was there when #2518 came to Tulsa, took pics of it while it was there for paint for the USAFM, and then after the crash and its eventual turning into a big pile of aluminum pieces.
Called a bunch of museums who might be interested, no takers.
Still have a big pile of pieces from it, saved from scrapper.
Oh, and Darryl and Co. also stripped cockpit of anything of value too.
What they told me:
Came from Houston area, either Conroe, or as goodall.com.au site says Hitchcock.
Tulsa for paint on way to USAFM.
This was not destined for NM/Pima, I think they already had one, saw it a year later in 1989.
There was a recent article in Jan 2013 issue of Warbirds International.
It was a Fugly airplane, but had blown flaps with, IIRC, 40* of drop giving is a very low stall speed but unfortunate habit of flipping on its back.
When I worked on C-17 just over a year later, lo and behold it had the same blown flaps!!!
I was every impressed with what it could do, very very roomy for a 1947 design, easily carry any vehicle, a tall person could walk upright anywhere inside.
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