CASA C-212 Aviocar C-212-300 (serie 300)

The 300 series first flew in September 1984 and became the standard production version from 1987. It kept the engines of the 200 series — now TPE331-10R-513C, with the same 670 kW continuous and 690 kW maximum — but changed almost everything else: four-bladed all-metal Dowty-Rotol propellers in place of the composite-bladed Hartzells, winglets, a larger vertical stabiliser area and a nose baggage compartment that gave the aircraft a sleeker profile. Inside, the instrument panel was renewed and an integrated autopilot was added.

The catalogue fanned out. There was a 300M military version, a 26-seat regional airliner, a 23-seat civil utility, a 300P with Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-65 turboprops and a 300MP for maritime patrol. Military buyers were many and bought in small numbers: Angola, Bolivia, Botswana, Chile, Colombia, France, Lesotho, Panama and the United States Coast Guard; the Argentine Naval Prefecture, Angola and Portugal took the patrol version.

The 300 series was not always used transparently. One aircraft was modified by the United States Air Force as the prototype of the Grizzlie Hunter drug interdiction programme, with unidentified sensors, and several more Aviocars have flown clandestine United States Army missions while officially assigned to the Air Force.