C-27 Spartan

C-27 Spartan airplane model. The C-27A Spartan is a twin turboprop engine aircraft designed to meet Air Force requirements for a rugged, medium size transport. The Spartan, which looked like a toned-down, twin engine version of the C-130, gave the U.S. military a unique, short-take-off-and-landing capability, providing access to airstrips otherwise unreachable by fixed-wing aircraft. The C-27 can carry up to 18,000 pounds of fuel and cargo and can fly farther than cargo helicopters. Much like its big brother, the C-130 Hercules, the C-27 also has the unique ability to land and take-off on extremely small (less than 3,000 feet) undeveloped strips of land. These advantages made the C-27 a key player in delivering food, water and other supplies to remote areas that other airplanes and helicopters can't get to. That included support of Hurricane Mitch relief efforts in Honduras and other Central America countries in 1998. While C-130 Hercules aircraft out of Howard ferried most of the supplies into Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras, it was the C-27s that delivered them to the remote locations hit hardest by the devastating storm. Scale: 1/72. Wingspan 15 3/4 inches, Length 11 1/2 inches.