Editing Transall C-160 (section)

===Overview===
[[File:C-160 landing on strip 2007.JPEG|thumb|C-160 on a rough landing strip, 1985]]

The Transall C-160 is a twin-engine tactical transport featuring a cargo hold, a rear-access ramp beneath an upswept tail, a high-mounted wing and turboprop engines. The C-160 is designed to perform cargo and troop transport duties, aerial delivery of supplies and equipment and is designed to be compatible with international railway [[loading gauge]]s to simplify cargo logistics and loading.<ref name="wilson68 p615"/> In flight the cargo area is pressurised and kept at a constant temperature by integrated air conditioning systems.<ref name="Wache-100">Wache 2004, p. 100.</ref>
[[File:Landing gear&APU C-160 AirExpo 2008.jpg|thumb|The [[auxiliary power unit]] and port-side main [[landing gear]] of a ''Luftwaffe'' C-160, 2008]]
Additionally, the landing gear can be partially retracted while on the ground. This lowers the C-160, making it easier to move vehicles into the hold as they don't need to climb a ramp.

One aspect of the C-160 that made the type well suited to tactical operations is its short airfield performance, including the ability to perform steep descents of up to 20 degrees and perform landings on airstrips as short as 400 meters.<ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1979/1979%20-%200063.html "Transall – Strategy behind a tactical aircraft"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403182528/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1979/1979%20-%200063.html |date=2015-04-03 }} ''Flight International'', 1979.</ref> In the airlift role, a later production C-160 could carry up to 8.5 tons across a distance of 5,000 kilometers, and take off from airstrips as short as 700 meters.<ref name ="rcp 96-97"/> Dependent upon aircraft configuration, a single aircraft could airdrop as many as 88 [[paratrooper]]s or transport up to 93 equipped troops.<ref name ="rcp 96">Rouvez, Coco and Paddack 1994, p. 96.</ref>

The C-160 is powered by a pair of [[Rolls-Royce Tyne]] turboprop engines, which drive a pair of four-bladed [[Dowty Rotol]] propellers.<ref name="wilson68 p615"/> Advantages of the twin-engine configuration over four include reduced unit and production cost, lower weight and fuel consumption, simplified design and reliability. Each engine is equipped with an auxiliary generator system, providing the aircraft with both electricity and hydraulic pressure.<ref name="Wache-96">Wache 2004, p. 96.</ref> An [[auxiliary power unit]] ([[General Electric CJ610]]) is used to power the aircraft while on the ground, and for rare use in mid-air emergencies.<ref name="Wache-97">Wache 2004, p. 97.</ref>