Props Persist

July 19, 2008: The U.S. Navy is buying six C-12 light transports, for about $8.2 million each. The C-12 is basically a military version of the civilian King Air aircraft. This is a twin-propeller, 5.6 ton aircraft that carries 14 people (including one or two pilots), or about a ton of cargo or equipment (like for electronic warfare). In the last thirty years, the various services have ordered several hundred C-12s, most of them used as VIP transports, or light cargo haulers.