CDF VIP air transport

Air Service VIP transport squadrons, equipped with one of two of the smallest jets in the T-60s series, provide small scale airlift for Sober Thought's Land Service. The unarmed and unarmoured passenger transports, carrying either 20 or 50 passengers each, must fly in secure airspace or be escorted by jet fighters.

One must remember that although they are designated VIP transport, this is not their only function but merely the most common one. One could easily imagine the need to quickly move a not-very-important but very-well-armed platoon to an ST embassy under siege by student militants, or provide an honour guard at some military exercise which might not have politically important or Combined Staff level participation.

The Community Defence Forces raise only one VIP transport squadron (combining TP-60 and TP-61 types) per wave of one hundred million national population. Along with their larger jet siblings and roughly equal propellered cousins, they belong to one ordinal number sequence appearing in arbitrary order, e.g., 1st Strategic Transport Squadron (T-63s), 15th Strategic Transport Squadron (T-62s), 26th VIP Transport Squadron (T-60s and T-61s), 29th Strategic Transport Squadron (T-63s). Three letter squadron codes are assigned at random within the class. Nicknames based on the fourth letter indicating the specific aircraft in the squadron must be especially circumspect, since one doesn't want to PO VIPs on AMOs.

Command and flight crew

Although the VIP transport squadrons have an abnormally low number of troops, the command staff is still a Chief Lieutenant as Commanding Officer, a Lieutenant as Executive Officer and a Warrant Officer as Squadron Sergeant. The three composite Flights of one TP-60 and three TP-61 aircraft are led by Lieutenants.

For each of the three smaller TP-60, the regular cockpit crew consists of three: an aforementioned Flight CO Lieutenant as pilot, a Vice Lieutenant as co-pilot, a Leading Flier as navigator-flight engineer. In the rear, a Vice Warrant Officer cabin chief and three Flier cabin crewmembers keep the travelling marshals and their core staff happy, safe, and preferably sober if not in sober thought.

For the nine larger TP-61s in the squadron collectively, the regular cockpit crew consists of twenty-seven: nine Vice Lieutenant pilot-detachment commanders, nine Vice Lieutenant co-pilots and nine Master Flier navigator-flight engineers. The rear is proportionately larger, with Leading Flier cabin chief, a Master Flier cabin deputy chief and four Flier cabin crew keep the MIP (mildly important person) passengers happy, safe and sound (asleep).

As customary in CDF Air Service squadrons, the command crew is augmented with others to make enough for an entire T-61 aircraft crew. They sometimes exercise their right to replace a normal crew, especially if it is a Chief Marshal or a Grand Marshal on board. However, the command staff rarely get a chance to make the squadron merely a flying unit and not an administrative unit as well.

Using all twelve aircraft of both types, the entire squadron could take no more than a full light infantry battalion in one go. However, it's not really designed for such work; a more likely configuration would be one CDF Land Service corps headquarters company per flight.

Ground crew

All three composite Flights are served equally by the Air Maintenance Flight of 90 all ranks with a Lieutenant assisted by three Vice Lieutenants. Although the squadron has a conventional number of twelve aircraft, these are neither armed nor armoured, and much smaller than their strategic transport siblings. Therefore, it only takes nine mechanics on average to keep one plane in good working order.

The Administration Flight of a VIP squadron, headed fulltime by a Lieutenant who is not doing double duty as the squadron XO, is 74 all ranks. This figure is exclusive of the extra crew headed by the command staff. Somewhat disproportionately more troops are needed to meet the objective operational needs as well as the subjective creature comforts of the brass hats, accounting for a larger fraction than typical in this flight.

VIP transport jet aircraft

All Community Defence Forces' T-60s series jet transports are similar in concept and execution to the real world Airbus A series passenger jets. However, I had to imagine more actively for these two types because Airbus Industrie does not in fact market aircraft in this class. I will add silhouettes and more convincing technical details if I have time to do some research and write it up to my satisfaction.

The smaller T-60 transport aircraft is based on fairly conventional executive jets and carries about twenty passengers. Think Gulfstream, Challenger or a jet version of the Dash7 or Dash8, but looking more like an Airbus on the exterior. The larger TP-61 transport aircraft is based on fairly conventional regional jets and carries about fifty passengers. Think Bombardier, Embraer or a jet version of the Fokker, but again having an exterior more suggestive of an Airbus.

One benefit -- both in real life and in this simulation -- of conceiving such a family of aircraft carrying ~20, ~50, ~200 and ~500 passengers is that many principles, parts and concepts would be interchangeable among the planes. Furthermore, they are clearly well suited to civil aviation, so you could build air passenger and military airlift variants side by side in factories, saving a bundle on retooling and possibly creating a good export market. However, one must not put too rosy a pair of spectacles on one's nose; Canada's Bombardier and Brazil's Embraer have levied charges of unfair competition and undeclared subsidies against one another for years and will likely continue for several more.