C-130J & Sea Stallion demo at
RIAT 2004.
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop aircraft that serves as the main tactical airlifter for military forces worldwide. Capable of landing and taking off from short or unprepared runways, it was designed as a troop transport and cargo aircraft, but is now also used for a wide variety of other roles, including airborne assault, weather reconnaissance, aerial refuelling, aerial firefighting and MEDEVAC. More than 40 different models of the Hercules — including several gunships — are used by more than 50 nations.
The C-130 family has the longest continuous production run of any military aircraft in history. During more than 50 years of service, the family has established a solid record of reliability and durability, participating in military, civilian and humanitarian aid operations.
Development
Origin of the Design
The two YC-130 prototypes in formation. Note the blunt nose, a feature present on only the first version.
The Korean War, which began in June, 1950, showed that World War II-era transports — C-119 Flying Boxcars, C-47 Skytrains and C-46 Commandos — were inadequate for modern warfare. Thus, on February 2, 1951, the United States Air Force issued a General Operating Requirement (GOR) for a new transport to Boeing, Douglas, Fairchild, and Lockheed. The new transport, among other things, would have a capacity for 92 passengers or 64 paratroopers, a range of 1,100 nautical miles, takeoff capability from short and unprepared strips, and the ability to fly with one engine stopped.
Lockheed tackled the design with a team led by Willis Hawkins. The proposal for the Lockheed 82 was about 130 pages and came with a design model with a wingspan of 15 inches.[1] Hall Hibbard, Lockheed vice president and chief engineer, saw the proposal and directed it to Kelly Johnson, who remarked when he saw the proposal, "If you sign that letter, you will destroy the Lockheed Company." These words proved unportentous: both Hibbard and Johnson signed off on the proposal and the company got the contract on July 2, 1951.[2]
First flight
The first flight of the YC-130 prototype was made on August 23, 1954 from the Lockheed plant in Burbank, California. The aircraft, serial number 53-3397, was the second prototype but the first of the two to fly. The YC-130 was piloted by Stanley Beltz and Roy Wimmer on its 61-minute flight to Edwards Air Force Base; Jack Real and Dick Stanton served as flight engineers. Kelly Johnson, apparently repenting from his dislike of the design, flew chase in a P2V Neptune.[3]
Production
After the two prototypes were completed, production moved to Marietta, Georgia, where more than 2,000 C-130s have been built.[4]
The initial production model, the C-130A, was powered by Allison T56 turboprops with 3-blade propellers. Deliveries began in December of 1956, continuing until the introduction of the C-130B model in 1959. Some A models were redesignated C-130D after being equipped with skis and for jet-assisted takeoff. The newer C-130B had ailerons with more boost — 3,000 versus 2,050 lbf/in² (21 versus 14 MPa) — as well as uprated engines and four-bladed propellers that were standard until the late 1990s. The performance gains over the C-130A gave the C-130B the reputation of being the design's 'sports car' model.
The extended range C-130E model entered service in 1962. The increased range was achieved by underwing fuel 5,150 litre (1,360 US gallon) tanks and more powerful Allison T-56-A-7A turboprops. The E model also featured structural improvements, avionics upgrades and a higher gross weight.
The KC-130 tankers, originally C-130Fs procured for the US Marine Corps (USMC) in 1958 (under the designation GV-1), are equipped with a removable 13,626 litre (3600 US gallon) stainless steel fuel tank carried inside the cargo compartment. The two wing-mounted hose and drogue aerial refueling pods each transfer up to 19 litres per second (equivalent to 300 US gallons per minute) to two aircraft simultaneously, allowing for rapid cycle times of multiple-receiver aircraft formations, (a typical tanker formation of four aircraft in less than 30 minutes). The US Navy's C-130G has increased structural strength allowing higher gross weight operation.
The C-130H model has updated Allison T56-A-15 turboprops, a redesigned outer wing, updated avionics and other minor improvements. The H model remains in widespread use with the US Air Force (USAF) and many foreign air forces. Initial deliveries began in 1964, remaining in production until 1996. An improved C-130H was introduced in 1974. The equivalent model for export to the UK is the C-130K, known by the Royal Air Force (RAF) as the Hercules C.1. The C-130H-30 (Hercules C.3 in RAF service) is a stretched version of the original Hercules, achieved by inserting a 2.54m plug aft of the cockpit and a 2.03m plug at the rear of the fuselage.
The C-130R and C-130T are US Navy and USMC models, both equipped with underwing external fuel tanks. The C-130T is similar, but has numerous avionics improvements over the R model and is fully night-vision system compatible. In both models, USMC aircraft are equipped with Allison T-56-A-16 engines.
Civilian use
The Lockheed L-100 is a civilian variant, equivalent to a C-130E model without pylon tanks or military equipment. The L-100 also has 2 stretched versions: the L-100-20 has an 8.3 ft (2.5 m) fuselage stretch and the L-100-30 is stretched by 15 ft (4.6 m). The L-100 has not seen widespread use in the civilian market.
Next generation
The propellers of RAF Hercules C.4 (C-130J-30)
In the 1970s Lockheed constructed one C-130 with turbofan engines rather than turboprops, but the US Air Force preferred the takeoff performance of the existing aircraft. In the 1980s the C-130 was intended to be replaced by the Advanced Medium STOL Transport project. However, the project was cancelled and the C-130 has remained in production.
The C-130J is the newest version of the Hercules and the only model still produced. Externally similar to the classic Hercules, the J model is a radically different aircraft under the exterior. These differences include new Rolls-Royce Allison AE2100 turboprops with six-bladed composite scimitar propellers, digital avionics (including head-up displays for each pilot), reduced manpower requirements (2 pilots—no navigator or flight engineer), increased reliability and up to 27% lower operating costs. The C-130J is also available in a standard-length or stretched C-130J-30 version. Lockheed received the launch order for J model from the RAF, who ordered 25 aircraft, with first deliveries beginning in 1999. The RAF calls the C-130J the Hercules C.5 and the stretched C-130J-30 the Hercules C.4.
The largest operator of the new model will be the USAF, who are ordering the aircraft in increasing numbers, although as of 2005 the US Congress announced that C-130J acquisition would be dramatically cut back. Current operators of the C-130J are the USAF, USMC (KC-130J tanker), US Air National Guard, US Coast Guard, RAF, Royal Australian Air Force, Danish Air Force and the Italian Air Force.
Lockheed also offered leasing of four C-130J to the German Luftwaffe, who is in need for a Transall-Replacement until the Airbus A400M is available in 2010.
Significant operational use
While the C-130 is involved in cargo and resupply operations daily, it has been a part of some notable operations. One of the most famous events involving the Hercules was the 1976 Entebbe raid in which Israeli commando forces carried a surprise assault to rescue 103 passengers of an airliner Hijacked by Palestinian and German terrorists at Entebbe Airport, Uganda. The rescue force — 200 soldiers, jeeps, and a black Mercedes-Benz (intended to resemble Ugandan Dictator Idi Amin's vehicle of state) — was flown 4,000km from Israel to Entebbe by five Israeli Air Force (IAF) Hercules aircraft without mid-air refueling (on the way back, the planes refueled in Nairobi, Kenya).
The Hercules also holds the record of the largest and heaviest airplane to land on an aircraft carrier. In November 1963, a C-130 landed without using the ship's arresting gear on the USS Forrestal (CVA-59). The pilot, Lt. James Flatley III, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his participation. The tests were highly successful, but the idea was considered too risky for routine "Carrier On-board Delivery") (COD) operations. Instead, the C-2 Greyhound was developed as a dedicated COD aircraft.
The MC-130 variant carries and deploys what are currently the world's largest conventional bombs, the BLU-82 "daisy cutter" and GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb. Daisy cutters were used during the Vietnam War to clear landing zones for helicopters and to eliminate minefields and have recently even been proposed for anti-personnel use. The weight and size of the weapons make existing bomber aircraft impossible or impractical for operational use.
A prominent C-130T aircraft is Fat Albert, the support aircraft for the US Navy Blue Angels flight demonstration team. Although Fat Albert supports a Navy squadron, its crew consists solely of USMC personnel. At some air shows featuring the flight team, Fat Albert takes part, performing flyovers and sometimes demonstrating its jet-assisted take off capabilities.
Notable crashes
Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, the president of Pakistan from 1978, was killed on August 17, 1988, when the C-130 he was in wobbled shortly after take off from Bahawalpur and then crashed. The then-US ambassador to Pakistan and a US general were also killed, alongside everyone else on-board.
On February 6, 1992, a C-130 operated by the Kentucky Air National Guard, with five crew aboard, crashed at 9:48 A.M. one mile south of Evansville Regional Airport (Evansville, Indiana, US} in the parking lot of JoJo's restaurant in connection with the Drury Inn on U.S. Highway 41. Sixteen people were killed in the crash and fifteen others were injured.
In 2004, while fighting a fire, the wings of a Hercules came off explosively. This caused it to crash into the forest below, killing its occupants.
On January 30, 2005, an RAF Hercules with 10 crew on board was hit by insurgent fire while taking off from Baghdad airport for Balad. Less than 24 minutes later, it crashed, as fire triggered by the hit induced an explosion in the right hand wing fuel tank, leaving the plane uncontrollable.
On December 6, 2005, an Iranian Air Force C-130 military transport aircraft crashed into a ten-floor apartment building, home to a number of air force personnel, in a residential area of Tehran, the capital city of Iran. Bound for Bandar Abbas on the Persian Gulf, the aeroplane was carrying 84 passengers (68 of whom were journalists due to watch military exercises off the country's south coast) and 10 crew members. In total 116 people were confirmed dead, (as of December 8 2005).
Variants
US Coast Guard C-130 Hercules
Significant variants of the C-130 include:
- AC-130 gunship
- DC-130 and GC-130 drone control
- EC-130 Commando Solo command and control, and electronic warfare
- EC-130 Compass Call, electronic warfare and electronic spoofing
- EC-130E ABCCC
- HC-130P/N special operations refueling, long-range surveillance, search and rescue
- JC-130 and NC-130 space and missile operations
- KC-130 tactical refueling tanker
- LC-130 Arctic & Antarctic support
- MC-130E/H Combat Talon I/II (special operations)
- MC-130P Combat Shadow (special operations)
- YMC-130H three modified for planned Iran hostage crisis rescue attempt under project Credible Sport
- PC-130 maritime patrol
- RC-130 reconnaissance
- SC-130 search and rescue
- VC-130 VIP transport
- WC-130 weather reconnaissance
Units using the Hercules
- Main article: List of units using the C-130 Hercules
Major operators of the C-130 include the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Romania, South Africa, Pakistan, Portugal, Australia, Italy, Israel, Japan, Taiwan, New Zealand and France.
Specifications (C-130H)
General characteristics
- Crew: 4-6[5]
- Capacity: 45,000 lb (20,000 kg) of cargo
-
- 92 passengers or 64 airborne troops
- 74 litter patients
- Length: 97 ft 9 in (29.8 m)
- Wingspan: 132 ft 7 in (40.4 m)
- Height: 38 ft 3 in (11.6 m)
- Wing area: 1,745 ft² (162.1 m²)
- Empty weight: 83,000 lb (37,650 kg)
- Useful load: 72,000 lb (32,650 kg)
- Maximum gross takeoff weight: 155,000 lb (70,300 kg)
- Powerplant: 4× Allison T56-A-15 turboprops, 4,300 shp (3,210 kW) each
Performance
References
- ^ Rhodes, Jeff, "Willis Hawkins and the Genesis of the Hercules", Code One Magazine, http://www.codeonemagazine.com/archives/2004/articles/aug_04/hawkins/
- ^ Boyne, Walter J., Beyond the Horizons: The Lockheed Story. St. Martin's Press: New York, 1998.
- ^ Dabney, Joseph E., "A Mating of the Jeep, the Truck, and the Airplane," excerpted from HERK: Hero of the Skies in Lockheed Martin Service News, vol. 29, no. 2. http://www.lockheedmartin.com/data/assets/7317.pdf
- ^ "The Immortal Hercules" article from the Air Force Magazine
- ^ C-130 article on The Aviation Zone
External links
Related content
Related development
Comparable aircraft
Designation sequence
Related lists
