Army jet aircraft...what do they have??

[F/O]

Just wanted to clear this up, because I have always wondered...

I think the Army operates some Citations and Gulfstreams. Do they operate any other jet types? Where are most of these a/c based? And are they mostly in Army colors, like the C-12s, or the "United States of Amerca" colors?

Thx

 

[HueyPilot]

Army FW

The Army operates five different kinds of fixed wing aircraft (at least in their operational fleet...test fleet notwithstanding). They operate various models of the C-12 (C-12D, C-12F, C-12R), the UC-35 (Citation Bravo), the C-20, the C-23 Sherpa (Shorts 330), and the C-26 (Fairchild Metro).

The C-12s mostly have the standard all-white paint scheme, with a black cheater line, and gray "United States of America" painted on the cabin.

The UC-35s generally have a white paint scheme with gold and black (Army colors) cheater lines. Most of the C-26s have the same paint job.

The C-20s are either all white (like the C-12s) or have the USAF-style white/blue/gold paint scheme.

The C-23s have a low-vis grey paint scheme like the USAF heavy fleet.

The C-12 fleet is distributed to both the active Army and the National Guard. The C-20s are all active-duty, and most of the C-26s and C-23s are National Guard. As far as I know, the C-35s are mostly active, although I do hear the Guard is operating a few of them.

For the future, the Army will get rid of all the C-12Ds (if they aren't already retired) and the C-12F. The Guard will operate the bulk of the C-12R fleet, and the UC-35 will replace most of the older C-12 airframes. For FYI, the C-12D has the old "steam gauges" and a 3-blade prop. The C-12F has better engines and introduced the four-blade prop, and the C-12R has a glass cockpit and other improvements. The C-26 and C-23 will both be retired and replaced with a new airframe...among those considered is the C-27J Spartan.

One other thing that others have asked and I'll go ahead and get it out of the way....if you want to fly FW for the Army, better plan on spending several years in helicopters before you can consider that move.

 

[Birdstrike]

Follow-On

Did the USAR get rid of their C-12s? They used to fly them. Also- I may be mistaken but I thought I saw a marked Army Gulfstream parked at FTY recently. Is that an MTOE aircraft???

 

[Anaconda]

a few more to add to the list...

Fokker C-31A Troopship (F-27-400M) (golden knights)
dhc-7
c-182 (one that i know of)

 

[HueyPilot]

Oh, yeah

I didn't really consider the C-31 an "operational" type of aircraft, so I didn't include it in my list...along with a few types I know are operated by the test unit down at Ft. Rucker (T-34s, among them).

I don't know if the C-20 unit is an MTOE unit or not.

 

[KiloBase]

Jet Det

Unless they got rid of them, they also at one time had a few Learjets. They also have a few G-2s - G-4s.

I think they are based out of Andrew's AFB. and is commonly refered to as the Jet Det. It is for the elite Warrant Officers who go there after probably doing a tour at DC assignments.

 

[MooseTrax]

G-Vs Too

The G-IVs are the C-20Hs and they also have some G-Vs designated C-37A. Very nice jets.
Regards,

 

[HueyPilot]

Learjets in the Army

The Army operated a few ex-USAF C-21s for a while, but they sold them prior to receiving the UC-35s.

 

[FightingGravity]

Doesn't the Army also have a couple of C-12 type aircraft with about a hundred antennas sticking out for electronic intel? I remember seeing those briefly during a class one time.

 

[HueyPilot]

RC-12

Those are RC-12 Guardrail ELINT aircraft. They are painted low-vis grey, and are used for tactical electronic recon.