OT: C-130 Hercules turns 60

[wierdscience]

One of my favorites turns 60-

http://www.marietta.com/c-130-hercules-turns-60

[flylo]

My favorite is the DC-3 Still flying since 1935 & on my bucket list. I have an old air facts from the late '30s telling all the facts & how to fly it. I've read it enough I think I can do it first try. Just a big ole taildragger.

[Forrest Addy]

C 130! Whatta machine! Whatta machine! Whatta machine!

How many variations? Must be a zillion: gunship to water bomber to troop carrier to general cargo to skydivers disaster relief to....

[nctox]

I was privileged and happy to fly the C-130 in a couple of different capacities while I spent my time in Uncle Sam's Air Force.
From the AC-130H Gunship "Spectre" to the cargo C-130B "Trash Hauler" there haven't been many airframes around that have seen so much versatility. The role of dropping equipment, troops, and containerized delivery bundles (CDS, you may have seen recently being dropped to the starving refugees in Iraq) had taken untold number of combatants into conflict and then brought out wounded and killed from the same combat zone. As the article above states, the C-130 has been the go-to aircraft for supplying or re-supplying people in combat or disaster relief for 60 years.
I'll raise a cool one to the good ol' Herky Bird.
Tim,,,

[Forestgnome]

Flew in quite a few ski-equipped Hercs around the Antarctic continent. I'll always remember one trip to the field where the pilot asks me "Does that look flat to you?", then we proceeded to land. I also remember taking off in a really rough area, skis sticking and slipping, airframe visibly flexing, then finally getting into the air. They're tough birds alright! They were our lifeline and I grew quiet fond of them.

[Guido]

Hey there, Flo-----Is it correct to say that Donald Douglas designed his DC3 in a rented backroom at the local barbershop in Santa Monica??? Heck, doubt he even had a home machine shop.

--G

[wierdscience]

Gotta be the Swiss army knife of planes.

On and Off the USS Forrestal-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM5AI3YSV3M

Wow,just Wow what a beautiful bird!

[kf2qd]

The Herky-Bird, the Gooney Bird of a different era. Two incredible birds.

[topct]

The Herky-Bird, the Gooney Bird of a different era. Two incredible birds.

The Coast Guard Loran station I was on, Kure Island, was not only supplied but of course those two planes are what we would fly on to get out there and back from Midway Island. Beer, groceries, and mail on the little Albatross. Engine oil and heavy parts on the C-130.

We also had a huge number of the real thing, actual Gooney birds.

[jeremy13]

I had fun with her!!!

[justanengineer]

Hearing the designation brings back mixed emotions for me, somehow both terror and overwhelming joy at the same time. Ive jumped from them, pushed all manner of cargo and vehicles out the back, been stuck knee-to-knee and hip-to-hip for too dam many hours with others in their wheel wells, and nearly barfed many times due to touch-n-gos. Ive also taken fire on takeoff and given it immediately once the ramp drops on landing....crazy how many memories a former ground-pounder can have of an aircraft. They took a lickin and kept on delivering to us in Iraq and when the night finally came, they were sitting blacked out waiting to take us home. I gave the crews a lot of respect as well, they had good equipment but were ballsy fellas as well. Quite literally they often flew the big planes just like others flew the lil fighters and when everything was said, they were flying a giant tin can with little armor, few weapons, and parking it whereever we needed them, not a job I envied.

Happy birthday Hercy Bird!

[davidh]

thanks for sharing. the video of the carrier was just amazing. it looked like landing and take off speed were about 40 knots. .. . . .

[capperbar]

A friend was on the plank crew of pilots for the C-130. First flight to Hawaii they had one engine shut down to conserve fuel and landed with essentially no fuel.
He said it wasn't fun.
Dave

[topct]

A friend was on the plank crew of pilots for the C-130. First flight to Hawaii they had one engine shut down to conserve fuel and landed with essentially no fuel.
He said it wasn't fun.
Dave

It was my understanding that the plane could maintain cruise altitude with one or two engines shut down to conserve fuel. One flight I was on the crew went around and told everyone not to be alarmed if an engine was shut off in flight. The props were specially designed to be able to go to zero pitch so they could do such a thing. And were also able to be reversible for use as in braking for short field landings. But now I wonder if they might have been lying.

[nctox]

No, they weren't lying. We did that routinely.
A friend of mine was taking a C-130 to Hawaii and during cruise they had routinely shut down an engine to conserve fuel. A short while later another engine had a low oil pressure warning and so they shut that one down. Very soon after that, they flew through some weather which had icing conditions and the other two engines flamed out! He said it was so eerie with NO noise for a few seconds, other than the "Oh Shi#$s" from the other crewmembers. They quickly got three engines re-lit and landed uneventfully at Hickam.
It was a good ol' bird. And still is.
Tim,,,