Last C-2 Greyhound makes final flight, lands in Pensacola museum

PENSACOLA, Fla. (WALA) - The last C-2 Greyhound completed its final flight Tuesday, landing at Naval Air Station Pensacola, where it will become a permanent exhibit at the National Naval Aviation Museum.

The aircraft ended its carrier operations in June, officially concluding its role as the Navy’s Carrier Onboard Delivery aircraft after nearly six decades of service.

A career defined by the Greyhound

Cmdr. Paul Ingram, commanding officer of VRC-40, piloted the aircraft on its final flight. Ingram began flight training at nearby Whiting Field in 2009 and spent his entire Navy career flying the Greyhound.

“So I spent my entire career basically in the C-2 Greyhound,” Ingram said. “So it’s been a large portion of my adult life flying the C-2 Greyhound and working with these people. Probably 20 or 30 different countries I’ve got the privilege of working out of, and so many different missions. So it’s very sad to me, but I feel a lot of satisfaction that we did it safely. We did it right, and it’s come to a close like this.”

Ingram noted the age and demands of the aircraft contributed to the retirement decision.

“This is a 60-year-old airframe. This plane was designed in the ’60s. That aircraft was built in 1987. It is very old with a saltwater naval environment. It was time, but it is a manually flown airplane. So the training that it takes to get there is pretty intensive,” Ingram said.

Six decades of carrier operations

The C-2 Greyhound first entered service in 1966. Over its operational life, it hauled supplies, mail, service members, civilians and world leaders to aircraft carriers around the world. The aircraft also gave passengers the experience of an arrested landing and catapult launch aboard a carrier.

“The C-2 Greyhound lands via an arrested landing. The carrier uses an arresting cable, cross deck pennant, big wire across the deck, and there’s hooks that trap on it. But that is the last COD tail hook aircraft,” Ingram said.

The aircraft logged landings in more countries than any other aircraft currently in the Navy’s active inventory, according to Ingram.

Transition to the CMV-22B Osprey

The retirement also ends a tradition of enlisted aircrew flying aboard tailhook-equipped carrier aircraft, a practice dating back to before World War II. The Navy is replacing the Greyhound with the CMV-22B Osprey.