*** This aircraft is currently in flyable storage and requires maintenance to be reactivated ***

The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s (GSFC) Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) Aircraft Office operates the NASA C-23 Sherpa (N430NA) research/cargo aircraft available to support airborne science research. The C-23 is used to perform scientific research, provide logistics support on an as-needed basis to other NASA missions, and can be used as a technology test bed for new airborne and satellite instrumentation. This aircraft is also available to support range surveillance and recovery operations as needed. The C-23 is a self-sufficient aircraft that can operate from short field civilian and military airports to remote areas of the world in support of scientific studies and other operations. The C-23 is a two-engine turboprop aircraft designed to operate efficiently, under the most arduous conditions, in a wide range of mission configurations. The large square-section cargo hold, with excellent access at both ends (4 side fuselage doors and aft cargo ramp), and a 7,000 pound payload, offers ready flexibility to perform a variety of missions. The aircraft also has 22 cabin windows as well as a nose cargo area available for installations. An internal auxillary fuel tank is also available which is capable of extending the aircraft range to 1,000nm and 7 hours endurance.

The GSFC/WFF Aircraft Office is committed to providing safe, reliable, and cost-effective platforms for airborne research.

Year of last major maintenance: 2017 (standard yearly maintenance)
Year of next major maintenance: 2020 (maintenance to reactivate the aircraft)