Lockheed C-130 and variants

Kinda surprised the new AC-130J only had one 30mm cannon (and the 105mm howitzer). Maybe they should have kept the 25mm too for area suppression? Or two 30mms.
 
Re the C-130 excessive loading story, it shows how far some well designed and constructed aircraft can go beyond their advertised tolerance limits. There are some crazy stories about SAAF C-130's and C-160's operating off dirt tracks deep in Angola and at night.
 
Another example of going in excess of the the tolerance limits is the El Al Boeing 747 evacuation Ethiopian Jews during operation Solomon. They eventually worked out that there were 1,122 people on the aircraft. 1,120 were on board at Take off but two babies were born during the flight.
 
During those mivtza Shlomo flights, the seats were removed and replaced by cables crisscrossing the fuselage above the floor, as creative "safety belts".

The IDF/AF had previous experience, with mivtza al Kanfei Nesharim (on Eagles' wings) evacuating 49,000 Yemeni Jews in 1949-50 after Israel purchased their freedom from the sultan. Of course it was piston planes then, DC-3s and such.
The major learning from that experience was that the hardest part is not so much flying them in, as one would think. It's what you do with them AFTER they're here. Lesson taken, it went much more smoothly in 1991.
 
www.buzzsprout.com

Workhorse - RAAF C-130s

"Workhorse" is a podcast about Royal Australian Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft from their earliest history through to modern times. The series is based on the soon to be released book “Air Mobility Workhorse”, which will be available from Big S...
www.buzzsprout.com www.buzzsprout.com
 
More jets will be difficult to sustain with only financial aid from allies. The EU candidacy should be used to leverage loans.
 
MadRat said:
Cannot fathom that a twin turbofan version is still not in the works. Turboprops are great and all, but they are maintained by iPads and contractors these days. Would rather have more options for maintenance than the current sole source arrangement.
Click to expand...
You actually lose a bunch of STOL capabilities that way. Compare C-130 and KC390.



TsrJoe said:
Fire training with high pressure water jets might be a solution on a cold day
Click to expand...
It is my favorite way to deal with idiots.
 
Correct. C-130 next generation should focus on popularizing improvised runway/STOL operations while still mixing conventional capabilities. It will stand as his own niche in term of cost and performances for a long time.
 
TomcatViP said:
Correct. C-130 next generation should focus on popularizing improvised runway/STOL operations while still mixing conventional capabilities. It will stand as his own niche in term of cost and performances for a long time.
Click to expand...
I kinda suspect that the next C-130/replacement will be an ESTOL design. Won't be a VTOL, but 1000ft/330m takeoffs fully loaded.
 
nationalinterest.org

C-130 Keeps Getting Better: The Block 8.1 Super Hercules Has Arrived

The United States Air Force's combat aircraft like the B-52 and F-35 often get all the glory, but a fact remains that the U.S. military relies on aircraft like the Lockheed C-130 Hercules more than most people probably realize. Since it first entered service nearly 70 years ago, the turboprop...
nationalinterest.org nationalinterest.org
 
GTX said:
nationalinterest.org

C-130 Keeps Getting Better: The Block 8.1 Super Hercules Has Arrived

The United States Air Force's combat aircraft like the B-52 and F-35 often get all the glory, but a fact remains that the U.S. military relies on aircraft like the Lockheed C-130 Hercules more than most people probably realize. Since it first entered service nearly 70 years ago, the turboprop...
nationalinterest.org nationalinterest.org
Click to expand...

"it is capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landing"

Not sure why this myth won't die, the Herk really is nothing special in terms of runway capability. Aircraft Classification Numbers for flexible subgrades, lower is better. Data from Transport Canada.

TypeACN @ MTOWACN @ min weight
C-175428
C-1415215
C-1302912
Il-76TD2711
C-52710
Transall84
DC-374
DHC-563
Skyvan33
DHC-432
 
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