http://www.history.navy.mil/planes/c2.htm
Naval Historical Center
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 Kidder Breese SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
C-2A GREYHOUND
Wing span: 81 feet
Length: 57 feet
Height: 16 feet
Weight: maximum takeoff: 54,354 pounds
Speed: maximum: 352 mph
cruise: 296 mph
Ceiling: 28,800 feet
Range: 1,440 nautical miles
Power plant: two Allison T56-A-8B turboprop engines
Contractor: Grumman Aerospace
The Navy "reprocured" the Grumman C-2A Greyhound aircraft used to carry cargo and passengers out to aircraft carriers. Nineteen were bought in the late sixties to replace the aging C-l in the "carrier onboard delivery", or "COD", role. In the 1980s the Navy bought 39 more, and the first to receive the reprocured C-2As was Fleet Logistics Support Squadron Twenty-four (VR-24), home ported at Naval Air Station Sigonella, Sicily.
Both new and old aircraft are classified as C-2As, but the new planes are better in nearly every way. They fly faster, farther, and carry heavier loads. They're safer, more comfortable, break down less often and, when they do, they are easier to fix.
The new C-2A aircraft replaced the old C-2As, referred to as "SLEPs" because they've received "service life extension program" modifications. The single most important improvement of the new C-2As is the more powerful engine, a third more horsepower than the old engine. It also has improved navigation and communications equipment. The plane is quieter inside, and has a public address system to better prepare the passengers for an arrested landing or catapult shot on a carrier. Other improvements include a three-color weather radar, an automatic carrier landing system (ACLS) and a 25% increase in payload capacity.
The improvements in the C-2A increased the flight time between failures and cut maintenance man-hours in half. With all the changes, it is still a C-2 (its basic airframe is the same as the E-2C Hawkeye), and uses components common to aircraft presently in the fleet so the new planes easily fit into fleet operations and maintenance routines.
Since the introduction of the new C-2A in the 1980s there have been continued improvements and modifications for this aircraft. The installation of the Global Positioning System and Carrier Aircraft Inertial Navigation System have been completed or are planned in the very near future. The Greyhound continues to provide Carrier Onboard Delivery service between shore bases and carriers.
http://www.time.com/time/pacific/magazine/20010416/starship.html
TIME
TIME PACIFIC
April 16, 2001 | NO. 15
Starship
A floating fortress of warplanes and warriors, America's flagship is a mighty example of big-stick diplomacy
By STEVE WATERSON U.S.S. Constellation, Tasman Sea
A few kilometers out from the carrier, the twin-turboprop grumman c-2a Greyhound banks and dips as it lines up its approach. Two hundred and forty km east of Sydney, a month into its journey from San Diego to the Arabian Gulf, the 17-story-high U.S.S. Constellation is a reassuring sight, a dark mass against the gray expanse of the Tasman Sea. At least that's how it must appear to the pilots. To the cargo plane's rear-facing passengers, lacking windows to orient themselves, the maneuvers are detected by a nervous gyroscope in their stomachs as G-forces, like giant hands, first compress then lift them in their harnesses. The crewmen grin at their civilian visitors' discomfort. "You'll feel a bump as the tailhook catches," shouts Petty Officer Brian Anderson, "and as the aircraft stops you'll sink back into your seats." Rather mild words to describe the impact as the plane decelerates from more than 200km/h to rest in less than two seconds.
To the untutored eye, as the Greyhound's ramp is lowered, the 329-m flight deck of the Constellation ("Connie" to her crew) is a manic ballet of men and aircraft, danced to the scream copter rotors and spinning propellers. The smell of aviation fuel is carried on burning blasts of exhaust; specks of tire rubber sting exposed flesh as incoming fighters are snapped to a standstill by one of the four arrestor cables stretched across the deck.
Nine flights of ladders above, the choreographer of this apparent chaos stands alert but relaxed beside his swivel chair to the port side of the bridge, overlooking the bow catapult launcher, a broad circular wing mirror showing the planes landing behind him. He answers telephones, issues orders and corrections to his officers, all the while sustaining an enthusiastic running commentary for his guests.
2003 television miniseries "Battlestar Galactica" DVD video:
Lieutenant junior grade Sharon "Boomer" Valerii - Colonial Fleet Battlestar Galactica Raptor pilot: Forty-seven. Forty-seven.
Caprica refugee: Excuse me. I forgot my glasses - I must have left them somewhere. Could you please read this for me.
Lieutenant junior grade Karl 'Helo' Agathon - Colonial Fleet Battlestar Galactica Raptor aviation officer: Hey. Aren't you Gaius Baltar?
Gaius Baltar: I haven't done anything. This lady has ticket number forty-seven. This lady here.
Lieutenant junior grade Karl 'Helo' Agathon - Colonial Fleet Battlestar Galactica Raptor aviation officer: Could you come up here, please.
Gaius Baltar: Yeah. Excuse me.
Lieutenant junior grade Sharon "Boomer" Valerii - Colonial Fleet Battlestar Galactica Raptor pilot: What are you doing?
Lieutenant junior grade Karl 'Helo' Agathon - Colonial Fleet Battlestar Galactica Raptor aviation officer: Giving up my seat.
Lieutenant junior grade Sharon "Boomer" Valerii - Colonial Fleet Battlestar Galactica Raptor pilot: Like Hell.
Lieutenant junior grade Karl 'Helo' Agathon - Colonial Fleet Battlestar Galactica Raptor aviation officer: A civilian should take my place.
Lieutenant junior grade Sharon "Boomer" Valerii - Colonial Fleet Battlestar Galactica Raptor pilot: You're going.
Lieutenant junior grade Karl 'Helo' Agathon - Colonial Fleet Battlestar Galactica Raptor aviation officer: Look at those clouds. Sharon, look at those clouds and tell me this isn't the end of everything.
