Case SI Airborne

By Leslie C. Mcmanus
Published on October 8, 2012
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The Case SI was a leaner version of the popular Case SC designed to fit into WACO gliders during World War II. 
The Case SI was a leaner version of the popular Case SC designed to fit into WACO gliders during World War II. 
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The Case SI was outfitted with hydraulics but the Hough loader was operated with cables. 
The Case SI was outfitted with hydraulics but the Hough loader was operated with cables. 
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Sand or rocks were loaded into this box as ballast when the loader tackled big jobs, lending stability to the downsized tractor.
Sand or rocks were loaded into this box as ballast when the loader tackled big jobs, lending stability to the downsized tractor.
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The Case SI saw active duty in battle zones. “Gliders could get in behind enemy lines, carrying equipment to construct a small airfield,” says tractor owner Ken Cerra. 
The Case SI saw active duty in battle zones. “Gliders could get in behind enemy lines, carrying equipment to construct a small airfield,” says tractor owner Ken Cerra. 
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The Case SI, torn down for restoration.
The Case SI, torn down for restoration.
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The restored Case SI, complete with U.S. Army invasion star on the ballast box.
The restored Case SI, complete with U.S. Army invasion star on the ballast box.
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The Case SI, before restoration.
The Case SI, before restoration.
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This 1945 BSA W-M20 military motorcycle makes a fitting companion piece for the Case SI at Heartland Acres Agribition Center. On loan from the National Motorcycle Museum, Anamosa, Iowa, the single-cylinder 4-stroke, 496-cc engine was rated 13 hp at 4,200 rpm.
This 1945 BSA W-M20 military motorcycle makes a fitting companion piece for the Case SI at Heartland Acres Agribition Center. On loan from the National Motorcycle Museum, Anamosa, Iowa, the single-cylinder 4-stroke, 496-cc engine was rated 13 hp at 4,200 rpm.
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At Heartland Acres Agribition Center, it's not all antique farm relics. Muscle cars share space with the earliest examples of automobiles, including a 1905 Cadillac.
At Heartland Acres Agribition Center, it's not all antique farm relics. Muscle cars share space with the earliest examples of automobiles, including a 1905 Cadillac.

Case SI Airborne by the numbers
Length:
9 feet, 11 inches
Width: 59 inches
Height to top of steering wheel: 56 inches
Wheelbase: 56 inches
Turning Radius: 11-1/2 feet
Operating weight with fluids: 3,188 pounds

A certain irony existed during World War II, when American industry shifted its energies from production of durable goods to wartime materiel. In the mid-1940s, the American farmer couldn’t get a new tractor for love or money — but the Army could, and did. J.I. Case was among several manufacturers that built tractors for wartime use, converting its popular Model SC into the Case SI Airborne tractor.

The Case SI, equipped with a Hough loader built by Frank G. Hough Co., Libertyville, Ill., was one of several pieces of construction equipment developed for transport by WACO CG-4A gliders and cargo planes. Other pieces included a Clarkair CA-1 bulldozer developed by Clark Equipment Co., Michigan; a scraper built by LaPlant-Choate, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and an 11-S towed grader manufactured by J.D. Adams & Co., Indianapolis. The four units (and similar pieces) were used to maintain and repair aircraft runways and perform other construction jobs in battle zones.

These units are highly prized collectibles today, partly because they were produced in small numbers and partly because very few of them returned home after the war ended. “Probably 99 percent of the material manufactured for the war effort never made it back to the U.S.,” says Ken Cerra, Indianapolis. “It was typically abandoned or just given to our allies as part of the redevelopment effort after the war.”

If Ken sounds well versed in the World War II airborne equipment, it’s because he is. He owns examples of the four pieces of airborne construction equipment listed above. Each of his four restored pieces is historic, but the Case is clearly at the head of the pack.

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