Transall C-160

Updated: October 2026 – A bulky fuselage, two powerful propellers and a drone you can hear for miles: for generations of spotters in Germany the Transall C-160 was the epitome of the military transport. For more than half a century it flew for the German Air Force before the Airbus A400M replaced it at the end of 2021. On this page you learn where the Transall comes from, how to recognize it reliably and where you can still get it in front of your lens today.

What is the Transall C-160?

The Transall C-160 is a twin-engine military transport with turboprop power and a high-mounted wing. It was built for tactical airlift: bringing troops, vehicles, pallets and relief supplies even onto short runways, dropping paratroopers, airdropping loads and flying out casualties. Up to 16 tonnes of cargo or up to 93 soldiers fit in the fuselage. The cargo hold is about 13.5 meters long and about 3.15 meters wide, and loading is through a large ramp at the rear.

The name reveals its origin: Transall stands for Transporter Allianz (Transporter Alliance). In 1959 France’s Nord Aviation and the German companies Weser-Flugzeugbau and HFB (Hamburger Flugzeugbau) joined in a consortium. Weser-Flugzeugbau later merged into Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke (VFW). The goal was a joint successor to older transports of both countries – and an early symbol of Franco-German cooperation in the aviation industry, long before there was Airbus.

The prototype took off on February 25, 1963, at Melun-Villaroche near Paris for its first flight. Series production began in 1965, the French Air Force took its first aircraft in August 1967, the German Air Force from 1968. The Transall is powered by two Rolls-Royce Tynes, powerful propeller turbines that turn four-blade propellers of about 5.5 meters in diameter. You can find more about the engine manufacturer on the page for Rolls-Royce.

Two series, several versions

The Transall was built in two series. The first comprised 169 aircraft: 110 for the German Air Force (C-160D), 50 for France (C-160F) and nine for South Africa (C-160Z). After that, production rested. In the early 1980s the partners launched a second series, the C-160NG (“Nouvelle Génération”). It went mainly to France, with six aircraft going to Indonesia. The NG can be recognized externally by the aerial refueling probe above the cockpit, and part of the NG fleet could itself serve as a tanker for other aircraft. In total, including prototypes, around 214 Transalls were built.

From the NG, France derived several special versions, such as the signals and reconnaissance aircraft C-160G Gabriel and the communications relay version C-160H Astarté. The French transports were modernized in the 1990s with new avionics and self-protection and then served as the C-160R. In Germany the aircraft likewise received numerous retrofits over the decades, including new avionics and self-protection systems for missions in crisis regions.

A curious footnote: in the 1970s four converted French Transalls flew for Air France as mail aircraft. The Indonesian aircraft of the second series also served with civil operators. At heart, though, the C-160 remained a military aircraft.

Version	Operator	Special feature
C-160D	Germany	First series, 110 aircraft
C-160F / C-160R	France	First series, later modernized
C-160T	Turkey	Former German aircraft, from 1971
C-160Z	South Africa	Nine aircraft of the first series
C-160NG	France, Indonesia	Second series, refueling probe above the cockpit
C-160G Gabriel	France	Electronic reconnaissance on NG basis

The three features that are enough to identify it

The Transall is easy to recognize once you know what to look for. Three looks are enough.

In the end the serial confirms the type. German Transalls carried tactical codes in the format 50+xx and 51+xx, French aircraft their own serials and codes. How Bundeswehr codes are built in general is explained in the article Bundeswehr aircraft codes.

Transall, C-130, A400M or C-27J?

High-wing aircraft with a rear ramp all look similar at first glance. The finder helps you narrow it down.

Another candidate from Eastern Europe is the Antonov An-26: also a twin-engine high-wing aircraft with a rear ramp, but noticeably smaller and with an upswept rear of a different shape. The four-engine Antonov An-12 is ruled out by the engine count alone. The article Identifying military transports gives a broad overview of all common types.

Feature	Transall C-160	C-130 Hercules	A400M
Engines	2 turboprops	4 turboprops	4 turboprops
Blades per propeller	4	4 or 6	8
Tail	conventional	conventional	T-tail
Wingspan	40.0 m	around 40 m	42.4 m
Max. payload	up to 16 t	depending on version	up to 37 t

The Transall in the German Air Force

For the German Air Force the Transall was the most important transport aircraft for decades. The 110 aircraft of the first series were spread across three airlift wings: LTG 61 at Landsberg (Penzing), LTG 62 at Wunstorf and LTG 63 at Hohn. In addition there was Technical Service 61 (Wehrtechnische Dienststelle 61) at Manching as the test center. As early as 1971 Germany passed 20 aircraft on to Turkey.

The Transall took part in many missions that earned it the nickname “Angel of the Skies” (“Engel der Lüfte”): relief flights during famines and natural disasters, supply flights to crisis regions and numerous evacuations. Among soldiers it was simply called “Trall,” and spotters knew it by the unmistakable drone of the Tyne engines.

With the introduction of the A400M the farewell began. From 2015 only LTG 61 and LTG 63 still flew the type, and at the end of 2017 LTG 61 was disbanded. The last Transall unit was then LTG 63 at Hohn. In summer 2021 one aircraft went on a farewell tour across several air force sites, and on December 14, 2021, the last German C-160 landed at Hohn. That ended about 53 years of Transall history in the German Air Force.

The successor carries a nice reminder: the last three German A400Ms received the serials 54+61, 54+62 and 54+63 – a bow to the three former Transall wings. What the A400M scene at Wunstorf looks like today is shown in the article Plane spotting at Wunstorf Air Base.

France and the other operators

With the first and second series, France was the largest Transall user after Germany. The French aircraft were based mainly at Orléans and Évreux and for decades flew to Africa and other areas of operation. The official farewell ceremony of the French Air Force for its Transall took place on May 20, 2022, in Évreux.

• Turkey: The 20 formerly German aircraft flew as C-160Ts out of Kayseri for decades. The Turkish Air Force was thus the longest-serving Transall operator and kept the type in service for years after Germany and France.
• South Africa: The nine C-160Zs were retired from the mid-1990s.
• Indonesia: Six aircraft of the second series went there and flew with civil operators.
• Civil reuse: After the end of German Air Force service, individual aircraft passed into civil hands, including three aircraft that left Hohn for Australia at the end of 2022.

Where you can see the Transall today

Because the big operators have retired the type, the Transall hunt moves into the museum. A good thing, too, since there you get as close as never before. A selection of places where a C-160 is on display:

Place	Serial	What to expect
Military History Museum Berlin-Gatow	50+56	Large collection of Bundeswehr aircraft on a former military airfield
Technik Museum Speyer	50+99	Transall in one of Germany’s largest technology exhibitions
Luftfahrtmuseum Wernigerode	51+01	The Transall stands spectacularly on the museum roof
Wunstorf Air Base	51+07	On display at LTG 62, usually accessible only at events
Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace Le Bourget	French C-160	Part of the large French national collection
Aeroscopia Toulouse	French C-160	Museum right at the Airbus site of Toulouse-Blagnac

In addition, Transalls stand as monuments or training equipment at other sites, for example in front of Hohn Air Base, at the Airbus plant in Hamburg-Finkenwerder or at Hannover Airport, where one aircraft was used for fire service training. Not all of these places are open to the public – check beforehand whether you can see the aircraft from outside. The article Aviation museums in Germany gives an overview of other venues.

The second chance is German Air Force events. At open days, historic types are sometimes shown on static display. You can find out which dates there are in the article Bundeswehr Day and German Air Force open days.

Photo tips for the Transall

Whether in a museum or on one of the rare flyovers: with a few tricks you get more out of the subject.

How to expose propeller aircraft in flight correctly is explained in the article Photographing propellers: the right shutter speed. For outdoor exhibits the guide Planning the sun position for your photo spot helps, because the dark military gray needs good light.

Common mix-ups and how to rule them out

Conclusion

The Transall C-160 is a piece of Franco-German aviation history: developed jointly from 1959, first flown in 1963 and in service for more than 50 years. For the German Air Force the era ended in December 2021 at Hohn, and France followed in May 2022. It is easy to recognize – two turboprops, high wing, conventional tail. Anyone who wants to photograph it today plans a museum visit and otherwise hopes for one of the rare flyovers.