C-12 pilots support special operations mission

[unhappycamper]

C-12 pilots support special operations mission
By Bryce S. Dubee, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Thursday, January 3, 2008

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — When most people think about military aircraft, they envision fighter jets streaking through the sky or massive cargo planes air-dropping thousands of pounds of equipment and troops.

They don’t tend to picture a small, twin turboprop plane like the C-12J Huron.

But don’t let the size or look fool you. The C-12 carries its load in the military, too.

A group of C-12J planes and their pilots assigned to Yokota’s 459th Airlift Squadron got their chance to shine during a recent deployment to support Operation Enduring Freedom-Philippines, a U.S. special operations mission aimed at helping the Philippine military deal with insurgents and terrorist organizations.

Transporting cargo and personnel during the four-month deployment, the pilots often found themselves landing on rural runways, some no more than 4,000 feet long, explained Capt. Troy Saechao, the OEF-P mission commander. Yokota’s runway is about 11,000 feet long.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=51377



uhc comment: Meet the $2,000,000 C-12:



http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/c-12.htm

C-12 Huron
The C-12 Huron, a twin turboprop passenger and cargo aircraft, is the military version of the Beachcraft Super King Air. The C-12 aircraft, manufactured by Raytheon Aircraft Company (RAC) (formerly Beech Aircraft Corporation), is a high-performance, fixed-wing, T-tail, pressurized, twin engine turboprop that accommodates places for a pilot, co-pilot, and passengers. It is powered by two Pratt and Whitney PT6A-41/42/65 turbo prop engines. The Government’s C-12 aircraft fleet is similar to the Beech Super King Air 200 & 1900C, which is operated extensively around the world by many private and commercial users. The aircraft provides operational support for military bases, sites, fleet and shore units.

The C-12F can carry up to eight passengers and has a cargo capacity of 56 cubic feet. It can be used to transport patients on medical evacuation litters. There are 19 C-12Fs in the active duty Air Force. Delivery began in May 1984 and was completed by the end of that year. The Air Force acquired the C-12F at the direction of Congress to support the Defense Attaché and Security Assistance Offices.

The aircraft provides on-call, rapid response, modern air transport for high priority supply and movement of key personnel. Specifically, it is used for VIP transport or to deliver repair parts; equipment; and technical, crash investigation, and accident investigation teams wherever needed. Its support role also includes such functions as range clearance, medical evacuation, administrative movement of personnel, transportation connections, and courier flights.

The support concept is total contractor support wherein a commercial Contractor provides all FAA approved maintenance and material support. The contractor is solely responsible for all materials (including acquisition, storage, configuration, repair, packaging, and shipping) until they are consumed in support of the aircraft. The Contractor also provides other maintenance functions such as: crash damage repair; engine repair/overhaul; propeller repair/overhaul; and airframe and avionics overhaul, repair, and modification. Aircraft modification efforts are "turnkey" projects (procurement and installation) implemented as part of competitively awarded maintenance contracts. Where extensive integration efforts are required, the non-recurring engineering phase, including test and certification, is typically performed by the aircraft OEM under a sole source engineering contract with the Navy.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. a whole 56 cubic feet of cargo space? wow.

That's about the size of a modern casket.

That means it would take this $2 million dollar toy 4,0000 take offs and landings just to remove the US war dead from Iraq, or more than 11 months of daily flights by the entire fleet of 12 planes.

[Stinky The Clown]

2. That's the rear compartment. if the passnger bay is stripped of seats ......

..... it holds a lot more.