The Spanish CASA C-212 Aviocar plane used by the US Navy to reach the Arctic

@DefAviation ES 3·14·2024 · 21:11 0

With almost 500 units sold, the CASA C-212 Aviocar is the greatest success of the Spanish aeronautical industry and a very versatile aircraft.

CASA C-212 Aviocar: the story of the greatest success of the Spanish aeronautical industry
C-41A: the Spanish aircrafts used by the United States special operations forces

One of the most notable characteristics of this small transport aircraft is its STOL capability, that is, landing and takeoff on short runways. This has made it the ideal solution for many countries that need an aircraft capable of operating on small and poorly prepared runways. Precisely for this reason, among its operators is the United States Army Special Operations Command (USASOC), which names its C-212s as C-41A.

On March 12, the multimedia portal of the US Armed Forces, DVIDShub.net, published a photo of a C-212 Aviocar in one of the most remote places in which it has been photographed: the Deadhorse Aviation Center, in Prudhoe Bay, northern Alaska, on the shores of the Beaufort Sea, in the Arctic Ocean. In the photo we can see a CASA C-212-CD Aviocar at the door of the East Hangar of that airfield.

DVIDShub.net has published more photos of this plane in recent days, on the occasion of a visit by the US Secretary of the Navy, Carlos Del Toro (on these lines we see him in the center of the photo, very well sheltered) to that town in Alaska, on the occasion of Ice Camp 2024 of the US Navy, "a three-week operation that allows the Navy to evaluate its operational readiness in the Arctic, increase expertise in the region, advance understanding of the Arctic environment and continue to develop relationships with other services, allies and partner organizations," according to the US Navy.

These photos were taken by US Navy Specialist First Class Scott Barnes. In the image above we see the C-212-CD Aviocar in which the Secretary of the Navy has traveled (a unit with five-blade propellers) in the East Hangar of the Deadhorse Aviation Center.

In the photos released by the US Navy we see that this C-212-CD Aviocar has a US civilian registration: N309HG. This aircraft is operated by a private company, CHI Aviation, based in Howell, Michigan, and which It has several C-212s in its fleet. This company's website defines this Spanish aircraft as follows: "The CASA 212 is a capable and extremely versatile aircraft specifically designed for maximum maneuverability at low speeds. The aircraft’s wide, high wing, large cargo area, and wide rear ramp make the CASA 212 the ideal aircraft for skydiving, passenger and cargo transportation, and Short-Takeoff and Landing (STOL) operations in remote and austere environments utilizing unimproved runways."

This Monday, March 11, CHI Aviation published this photo of its C-212-CD at the Deadhorse Aviation Center, a nice image in which we can see the northern lights over the cockpit of the plane.

There are more photos of their C-212s on CHI Aviation's website. Here we see one of them with four-bladed propellers.

Here we see another of CHI Aviation's Aviocares, the N604AR, a C-212-200 with a characteristic black painted drift that it was seen in December 2015 at the Spanish airport of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. In this photo from CHI Aviation we see him during what appears to be a medical evacuation involving military personnel.

This other photo from CHI Aviation shows its C-212-200 N604AR, in a desert environment and accompanied by two light military vehicles.

On August 31, 2021, CHI Aviation posted this photo on its Facebook page in which we see another of their C-212s, the C-212-DF N621AR, during the aid efforts to Haiti after the disaster suffered by that country that year. CHI Aviation was founded in 1980 and flies for the Department of Defense, for the Navy and also for the US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), as reflected the frontpage of its website.

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Photos: U.S. Navy / CHI Aviation.