TRANSALL GABRIEL 1/72 Heller 80387

TRANSALL GABRIEL 
1/72

Manufacturer: Heller 
Heller HE80387
Scale: 1/72
Material: Plastic
Paint: Unpainted, Unassembled, Kit do not contain paints and glue.
Condition: New in Box
 

The Transall C-160 (often C.160 or simply Transall) is a military transport aircraft. It was designed and produced as a joint venture between France and Federal Germany, Transall being an abbreviation of the specially formed consortium Transporter Allianz, comprising the companies of MBB, Aerospatiale and VFW-Fokker.It was initially developed to meet the requirements for a modern cargo aircraft for the French and German Air Forces; export sales were also made to South Africa and to Turkey, as well as a small number to civilian operators.

The C-160 proved to be a long-lasting design, remaining in service more than 50 years after the type's first flight in 1963. It has provided logistical support to a number of overseas operations and deployments; and has also served in specialist roles such as an aerial refueling tanker, electronic intelligence and communications platform. The C-160 will be replaced in French and German service by the Airbus A400M Atlas.In the late 1950s, a requirement arose to replace the piston-engined Nord Noratlas transports operated by both the air forces of France (Armée de l'Air) and Germany (Luftwaffe). Keen to encourage industrial co-operation between the two countries, as had happened under a previous arrangement in which Noratlas's for German service had been built under license by Weser Flugzeugbau, France and Germany signed an agreement for the development of a Noratlas successor on 28 November 1957. The Italian government also became involved in the project early on to meet their own requirements, however Italy's participation in the fledging program was soon terminated in favour of a smaller and entirely domestically-built aircraft, the Fiat G.222.Production orders were delayed by attempts by Lockheed to sell its C-130 Hercules transport to Germany; these attempts were rebuffed, and a contract was signed for 160 C-160s (110 for Germany and 50 for France) on 24 September 1964. The manufacturing work-share was split between Germany and France in line with the number of orders placed; Nord built the wings and engine nacelles, VFW the centre fuselage and horizontal tail, and HFB the forward and rear fuselage. The aircraft's tailfin was to be built by Dornier. Three production lines were set up to assemble these components, one run by Nord, and the other two by VFW and HFB.The Transall C-160 is a twin-engine tactical transport; featuring a large-volume cargo hold, a rear-access ramp underneath an upswept tail, a high-mounted wing and turboprop engines. As designed, the C-160 can perform cargo and troop transport duties, aerial delivery of supplies and equipment, operate directly from frontline positions, and evacuate casualties.The fuselage cross-section had been designed to be compatible with international railway loading gauges to ease cargo logistics and the loading process;in flight the cargo area is pressurised and kept at a constant temperature by integrated air conditioning systems.