C-27J is first brand-new Air Guard plane

[unhappycamper]

The C-27J Spartan begins a right turn over downtown Atlanta.


C-27J is first brand-new Air Guard plane
By Michelle Tan - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Nov 7, 2009 16:26:14 EST

No hand-me-downs this time from the big Air Force.

The Air National Guard is getting C-27J Spartans straight from the assembly line in 2010. It will be the first time the Air Guard has owned and operated brand-new aircraft.

The first two C-27Js are already being used at Robins Air Force Base, Ga., to train air crews. The rest of the 38-aircraft fleet will be delivered to six Air Guard bases, said Lt. Col. Chris Beckman, aviation planning and executing chief for the Air Guard.

The propeller-driven airlift plane will augment the Air Force’s C-130 Hercules fleet, Beckman said.

The C-27J resembles a C-130J — the newest airframe to be added to the Air National Guard’s inventory — but is about half its size. Beckman estimates about 350 people will be trained to fly the new plane, which is manned by a four-person crew of two pilots and two loadmasters.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2009/11/airguard_c27j_new_110709w/



unhappycamper commment: The C-130J costs around $62 million dollars a pop. I'll betcha this thing costs more than $31 million dollars.