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Part 2 C-27J Geneology

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Aerospace  –  Background  –  C-27J Geneology: Fiat G.222 Ancestry [1]

C-27J Origins –  From Lightweight V/STOL Fighter Support  to Middlweight  Mini-Hercules The C-27J  lineage began as Italy's response to an early '60s NATO Basic Military Requirement (NBMR 4) for a vertical take-off support aircraft. The aircraft were to provide dedicated support for V/STOL fighters.[1] Initially the Fiat design featured a twin- boom layout (like the Fairchild C-119 it was to replace). Each boom mounted a turboprop engine (3025 shp Rolls-Royce Darts) as well as 2,495 kg thrust lift jet engines (Rolls- Royce RB 162s, varying from three to four  lift jets  per side at different points in the design's evolution). This twin-boom design was eclipsed.

Revised Ruminant or a Craggy Border Peak  –  Complete Redesign for the Italian Transport In 1963, Fiat designer, Ing. Giuseppe Gabrielli, started afresh on his NMBR 4 concept. [2]  Twin booms were gone and  the fuselage was now a portly, pressurized structure. Since lift at take-off was to be generated by jets, the wings were stubby ( like most VTOL designs of  the time). At first, puffer pipes were to provide the lateral control.  Eventually, wingtip and  tail fans were added. The G.222 'Cervino'  design evolved until  Fiat was offering  'plug-in'  lift jets – a VTOL with eight lift jets, a STOL with four lift jets, or a conventional take- off transport with no lift jets fitted. But still no takers.

Somebody's Gotta be Conventional  –  CTOL and Another Engine In 1966, the Italian MoD placed an order for two CTOL prototype G.222s.  Lift jets were dropped, airframe enlarged [3], and engines changed to GE T64s. [4] The final G.222 entered Italian service as a tactical airlifter in 1976  – 16 years after design work began. The only major variant [5] were 21 R-R Tyne-powered G.222Ts built to skirt around US embargo rules preventing the T64-powered G.222 from being sold to Libya. This tweaked G.222T proved a dead-end. Next in the lineage was the revamped C-27J.

[1] NBMR 4 was not formally unveilled until 1962 but designs were produced more than a year earlier. Other unbuilt Italian entries into the contest included the Agusta tilt-rotor A119 and twin-rotor A118.  See: Italian V/STOL Concepts of the Twentieth Century  (a 2.6 MB pdf ). [2] In June 1958, Italy, France, and Germany issued a joint requirement for a common replacement for in-service piston-engined transports (Italian C-119s and the Franco-German Noratlas). That contest produced the Transall.  But Italy dropped out, buying 14 x C-130 Hercules instead (the first arriving in 1972). It was rumoured that the C-130 purchase was linked to licences for another Lockheed aircraft, the F-104 Starfighter. This left the door open for Fiat /Aeritalia to successfully lobby for the development of  a CTOL version of  their smaller G.222. Giuseppe Gabrielli (best known for WWII Fiat fighters) designed the G.222 alongside Fiat's NMBR 3 entry,  the unbuilt G.95 VTOL fighter. [3] Wingspan was progressively increased four times during the design process, becoming 50% larger (from 18.10m long in 1963 to 27.50m in the final form). The fuselage was stretched by 2m.  Weight rose from under 13000kg for the 1963 VTOL version to a CTOL of  28000kg +. [4] G.222 design work began before the first T64 was flown (in Sept 1961 on a converted DeHavilland Canada Caribou). The R-R Dart had reached the limits of  its development (take-off power required water methanol injection).  FiatAvio licenced  the T64-P4D  from GE in 1975. [5] Almost all AMI aircraft were trasporto variants (G.222TCM). There were also radio calibration, ELINT, and firefighting versions of  the standard airframe. A stretched, Tyne-powered G.222TS was proposed. The USAF  C-27A was essentially a G.222TCM with US equipment.