Fairchild C-26 Metroliner

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairchild_C-26_Metroliner

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The Fairchild C-26 "Metroliner" is the designation for the Fairchild Swearingen
Metroliner series twin turboprop aircraft in the service of the United States
military. It was not officially named by the US Armed Forces, but is
unofficially known by the same name as its civilian counterpart. The C-26A is
the military version of the Model SA227-AC Metro III; the C-26B is the military
version of the Model SA227-BC Metro III and Model SA227-DC Metro 23; and UC-26C
is the military designation for the Model SA227-AT Merlin IVC.

Design and development?

The United States Air Force bought eleven C-26A aircraft based on the SA227-AC,
two of these being supplied to the Venezuelan Air Force. The first three C-26Bs
were procured later in the 1980s, two for the US Army and one for the USAF.
These three had been built as SA227-BC models. Later C-26Bs were the military
equivalent of the Metro 23 and the USAF took delivery of 37 examples. Some of
these were transferred to the Peruvian Air Force and the US Army, while six were
transferred to the US Navy as C-26Ds. The US Army also took a second-hand Merlin
IVC and operated it as the solitary UC-26C.

A Metro III, c/n AC-614, was modified as the Fairchild Aircraft/Lockheed Multi
Mission Surveillance Aircraft, featuring a Lockheed phased array radar in a long
pod under the fuselage. Several aspects of the MMSA aircraft were incorporated
on some USAF C-26s redesignated as the RC-26B, operated by the Air National
Guard (ANG) in various states. These aircraft have been primarily used for
Department of Defense reconnaissance mission support to various agencies of the
Department of Homeland Security such as the United States Coast Guard (USCG) and
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in the War on Drugs, and to USCG and/or the
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the wake of natural disasters. The
RC-26B aircraft were originally configured with a belly pod containing a sensor
turret and a data recorder. Recently, this pod has been removed and a sensor
turret has been added to the belly of the aircraft. Some of the RC-26Bs were
operated for a time with civil registrations. On 4 February 2019, a contract for
Elbit Systems of America to provide an avionics upgrade to the Air National
Guard's RC-26Bs was announced. The US Navy operates several C-26D aircraft,
modified for range support, at the Pacific Missile Range Facility Barking Sands
in Hawaii.


Role
Military transport aircraft

Manufacturer
Fairchild Aircraft

Status
Active, not in production

Primary users
United States Air Force
United States Army
United States Navy

Developed from
Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner

Specifications (C-26A)

General characteristics
Crew: two
Capacity: 22/14 passengers
Length: 42 ft 2 in (12.85 m)
Wingspan: 46 ft 3 in (14.01 m)
Height: 16.83 ft (5.13 m)
Max. takeoff weight: 14,000 lb (6,400 kg)
Fuel: 625 gal (2,370 L))
Powerplant: 2 × Allied Signal Garrett TPE-331-11U-601G turboprops, 1,400 hp
(1080 kW) each

Performance
Maximum speed: 288 knots (331 mph, 533 km/h)
Range: 2,025 nm (2,331 mi, 3,750 km)
Service ceiling: 31,000 ft (9,500 m)
Power/mass: 0.2 hp/lb (337.5 W/kg)




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