yes engine/avionic commonality w/ the jherc are big selling points, however a 70-80 kias search speed is needed for the new canadian sar effort the c27 only beats it wrt pressurization and top speed.
Agreed, completely, a new-build Buf with PW-150's would be a great airplane for the CAF mountain search job - and it would probably cost half of the C-27J!. The other candidate would be the Bombardier 415MP - if they wanted amphib capability more than cargo volume.
Apparently DHC landed a buff in a ball stadium thru a curving approach during efforts to sell to the USAF during
In 1966 a Buffalo was landed on two baseball diamonds on Governor's Island, now a park in the East River off Manhattan, as part of a civil defence exercise put on by the FAA. The purpose of the exercise, "Metro '66", was to demonstrate how Manhattan might be evacuated or supported during a Cold War nuclear strike. In addition a Twin Otter, Turbo Beaver and a Helio Courier landed on an abandoned pier (Pier #??).
The driver was Oscar Bakke, the very far sighted FAA administrator of the day.