NEW ORLEANS -- Marine Transport Squadron Belle Chasse took a twin engine turboprop aircraft on its retirement lap over downtown New Orleans after a decades-long career March 18.
“The Huron's final flight or, ‘sundown,’ paid tribute to the many pilots, enlisted aircrew and maintainers who have flown and fixed the aircraft over its 31 years of service and is a long-standing tradition within Naval aviation,” said Lt. Col. Thomas Ringo, VMR Belle Chasse commanding officer and pilot during the final flight.
UC-12 B “Huron” 318 has logged nearly 25,000 flight hours ferrying high priority passengers and light cargo since it was first accepted by the Navy in 1980. In 1997, it found what would be its final home aboard Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans. It had just returned from a six-month stint aboard Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, S.C., when it faced its retirement.
The aircraft will remain aboard NAS JRB New Orleans “as a lasting tribute to a small footnote in Naval aviation history,” once it is converted into a static display, said Ringo.
The air station received the aircraft’s replacement, the UC-12W, last summer.
“The UC-12W provides significantly enhanced capabilities over the UC-12B in terms of range, payload, short field capability and aircraft survivability, thereby providing increased operational flexibility,” said Ringo. “The new aircraft also represents a generational leap in technology which will further enhance worldwide deployability and aircrew safety.”