Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob C
...And a final word - much has been said about the Super King Airs being an interim Caribou replacement. But has anyone seen a platoon of soldiers scramble out of the back of a King Air or tonnes of supplies off loaded to flood or drought stricken areas ?
I think the King Air is a good communications and training aircraft but certainly not an "interim Caribou replacement".
|
Whilst being an Interim Light Transport, the purpose of the King Air 400/600 series aircraft is to provide an operational capability whilst at the same time training aircrew and maintainers to operate an aircraft with modern avionics and turboprop engines the likes of which are found on the Alenia C-27J (or whichever aircraft was going to win the Project AIR 8000 contest). So rather than an
interim aircraft it is more of a transitional aircraft.
Also, whilst they may not carry tonnes of cargo or platoons of soldiers, the 38SQN King Airs were working around the clock during the floods early last year and have acquitted themselves so well, that we are very likely to see them continue to operate well after the C-27Js achieve operational capability. They actually perform a bucket-load of roles and are really the unsung heroes of the ADF.