Designed as an airliner, the Fokker F.14 was built in the United States at the Atlantic Aircraft factory in New Jersey. First flying in 1929, the aircraft featured a parasol wing above a fuselage containing a nine-passenger cabin. Behind the cabin was an open cockpit for the pilot, whose visibility was improved by a notch cut into the trailing edge of the wing.

In 1931 the Army Air Corps placed an order for 20 aircraft as Y1C-14s (31-381/31-400), powered by the Wright R-1750-3 Cyclone. In the end, the final aircraft was delivered as a Y1C-14A with a larger R-1820-7 engine. The first aircraft was subsequently re-engined with a Pratt & Whitney R-1690-5 Hornet to become the Y1C-14B, while the ninth machine was fitted out as an air ambulance and painted all-white. In this incarnation it received the Y1C-15 designation. A single commercial Fokker F.14 was acquired (32-398), and this was designated C-15A in service. Apart from air ambulance and general transport, a task the C-14s performed was parachute training, for which their parasol layout and fuselage cabin with side door were ideal.