Overview With a requirement to replace the aging Curtiss C-46 Commando, the Japan Air Self-Defence Force drew up its C-X specification for an indigenous, medium-sized troop and freight transport in the early-1960s. The Nihon Aeroplane Manufacturing Company began its design in 1966 and, even before approval of the full-size mock-up, the company was contracted to build …
Overview Based on (or converted from) the airframe of the Il-76M military freighter, this aerial refueling tanker aircraft entered service in 1987 to replace the elderly and incapable Myasishchev M-4 “Bison”. Fitted with three Severin/UPAZ PAE external refueling units, one under each wing (which are reportedly sometimes removed on missions involving only a single receiver aircraft) and …
Overview In the mid-1960s, the Ilyushin OKB were tasked with designing a successor to the Antonov An-12 “Cub”, a medium range turboprop transport with good rough field capability. This new aircraft would have to possess twice the range and payload of the earlier type without suffering any loss in field performance, a many-wheeled chassis with high cross-country …
Overview Howard Hughes’s famous HK-1 Hercules (#NX37602) is a cargo-type flying boat designed to transport men and materials over long distances. Originally conceived by Henry J. Kaiser, a steelmaker and builder of Liberty ships, the aircraft was designed and constructed by Hughes and his staff. The original proposal for the enormous, 400,000-pound wooden flying boat, …
Overview The C-37 is a military version of the Gulfstream V business jet. It, along with the new C-32s, will replace the 89th Airlift Wing’s aging fleet of C-137s. The first C-37A (#70400) arrived at Andrews AFB in July 1998, joining the wing’s current fleet of five C-20Bs, two C-20Hs and three C-9Cs. The C-37A …
Overview The C-20 Gulfstream III (launched by Grumman American in 1976, its development and production becoming the responsibility of Gulfstream American in 1978 after Grumman sold its interest) is a twin-engine, turbofan aircraft which fills the special airlift mission requirement for high-ranking government and Department of Defense officials. First flown on 2 December 1979, the …
Mission The E-2C Hawkeye is the Navy’s all-weather, carrier-based tactical warning and control system aircraft. Background The continuous improvements in early airborne radars by 1956 led to the concept of an airborne early warning and command and control aircraft. The first aircraft to perform this mission was the Grumman E-1 Tracer (a variant of the …
Mission The C-2A Greyhound is a naval Carrier Onboard Delivery (COD) transport aircraft assigned to Fleet Logistics Support Squadrons (VRCs). Greyhounds serve 12 carriers from two primary locations: VRC-30 based at Naval Air North Island, CA and currently operates 12 C-2A aircraft throughout the Pacific and Central Commands, including two C-2A aircraft permanently forward deployed to …
Overview The C-21 Learjet is the military version of the a twin-engine Gates (a subsidiary of Bombardier in Canada) 35A business jet. It provides cargo and passenger airlift and can transport litters during medical evacuations. Eighty-four C-21As were acquired by the USAF in 1984 to be used as an Operational Support Aircraft. Delivery of the …
Overview The C-119 Flying Boxcar, developed from the Fairchild C-82 Packet, was a twin-engine, twin-boom, twin-tail transport designed to carry cargo, personnel, litter patients, and mechanized equipment, and to drop cargo and troops by parachute (utilizing its “clamshell” cargo doors in the rear cockpit). The first C-119 made its maiden flight in November 1947 and by …
