Extremely popular and highly versatile cargo bird's first
flight was August 23, 1954
There is one hero that may not be the biggest or fastest, but
for 50 years, has borne the U.S. standard as a welcome projection
of both American will and American compassion throughout the world.
In battle, this hero can pound the enemy from on high with
munitions, electronic jamming or information warfare broadcasts. It
can deliver forces to the fight, bring them a vast array of
supplies and carry them home, wounded or well, when their duty is
done. During the fight, it provides command and control, weather
reconnaissance and even air refueling. But this warrior hero is
also a key presence in humanitarian and disaster relief operations
at home and abroad.
This hero is the legendary C-130 Hercules which has reached a
50-year milestone since its first flight Aug. 23, 1954, from
Burbank to Edwards Air Force Base in California.
Gen. John W. Handy, commander of U.S. Transportation Command and
Air Mobility Command, said the familiar aircraft is as important
today as ever.
“As a career mobility pilot, I am convinced that the C-130
is one of the greatest aircraft ever built,” General Handy
said. “The ‘Herc’ has earned its place in history
through its enormous contributions to crisis response for 50 years.
With our C-130 fleet and the dedicated active duty, Air National
Guard and Air Force Reserve aircrews that fly them, we are a
tremendous force multiplier in the global war on
terrorism.”
With its first flight, a YC-130A prototype, tail No. 53-3397,
inaugurated a half-century of continuous C-130 service to the
Department of Defense. Test pilot Stanley Beltz and copilot Roy
Wimmer used only 855 feet to make that first takeoff. Normally, an
airplane with a gross weight of 100,000 pounds requires thousands
of feet of runway. Mr. Beltz is said to have quipped:
“She’s a real flying machine. I could land it crossways
on the runway if I had to.”
Since that historic day, more than 2,200 C-130s in 70 variants
to five basic models have been produced, and 676 are in service
with the Air Force today. The Navy and Marine Corps fly C-130s, as
do the armed forces of 66 other nations.
Testing and development of the new airlifter was rapid.
Production introduced new technology including high-strength
aluminum alloy for the wings and cargo floor and metal bonding and
titanium alloys for the body of the aircraft and flap skins.
Another new feature was the “all-round” vision flight
deck.
The first C-130A became
operational in December 1956, reporting for duty with Tactical Air
Command to replace the far less capable Fairchild C-119 Flying
boxcar. The C-130’s four Allison turboprop engines
revolutionized aircraft performance, providing greater speed, range
and takeoff. With a 33,810-pound payload at the time, the Herc
could carry twice as much as the C-119. The C-130 could perform
heavy equipment airdrops as well as airland operations. It was well
suited as a tactical transport. Cargo loading was easier with the
new aircraft’s rear-opening ramp instead of the side-door,
steep ramp loading required by the World War II-vintage fleet.
In 1959, the Air Force completed its planned force of 12 C-130A
squadrons -- six in TAC, three in Europe and three for the Far
East. Continuous improvement was the norm for the C-130 system. New
external fuel tanks allowed the aircraft to fight heavy winds in
flights across the ocean. The C-130B introduced more powerful
engines and new propellers, added fuel capacity and beefed up
landing gear. A lone C-130C, a modified “B,”
demonstrated short takeoffs and landings. Twelve C-130Ds, modified
from the original “A,” became “Ski-130s,”
outfitted with ski landing gear to resupply Arctic expeditions. In
early 1960, an “E” model entered the operational fleet;
an updated “H” model followed in the 1970s. The
“E” through “H” models are still in service
today, and work will begin in 2007 on converting those models to
meet the demands of modern aviation and streamline support through
an avionics modernization program. With avionics upgrades and some
changes to the engines, the number of basic C-130 models will be
reduced to two, the C-130AMP and the C-130J.
The newest C-130 in the inventory, the “J” model,
entered the Air Force inventory in February 1999, and since then,
the Air Force received 34 more “Js.” The basic design
remains true to the original, but adds 40-percent more range, flies
24-percent faster than previous models, can take off on shorter
runways and has greater cargo and passenger capacity. Its new
avionics will also allow for better data capability and control,
and requires a crew of three rather than five.
Lt. Col. Mike Cassidy, chief of AMC’s Operational
Programming Division, has 2,000 flying hours in the Herc, and
almost 2,300 hours in other airlifters. He said the C-130 is
without a doubt a special aircraft.
“Part of the
attractiveness of the aircraft is you have to work the airplane
hard sometimes, and you have to know how to work with it,” he
said. “The other unique part is the close relationship with
the ‘users,’ such as the Southern European Task Force
Lion Brigade (at Vicenza, Italy), since we did a preponderance of
their airdrop missions. The C-130 is all about the mission and the
people who get that done together.”
One of the people who helped get C-130 missions off the ground
is Master Sgt. Albert Mikolajczyk, a 23-year veteran maintainer who
has worked with the several variations to the C-130 fleet. He is
now assigned to the 22nd Air Refueling Wing at McConnell AFB, Kan.,
maintaining KC-135 Stratotanker refuelers.
“No other aircraft can do what the C-130 can. Name the
location; it’s been there,” Sergeant Mikolajczyk said.
“The C-130 will be flying long after other aircraft are in
the ‘boneyard’ at Davis-Monthan (AFB, Ariz.), and the
C-130 will be there to pick up their aircrews and bring them back
home.”
Sergeant Mikolajczyk recalled an experience which speaks
volumes. Recently deployed to the United Arab Emirates, he needed
to be aeromedically evacuated. “It was an awesome feeling to
be carried aboard a 1963 ‘E’ model I had worked on
during my early days assigned to Little Rock AFB (Ark.),” he
said.
The C-130’s combat record is an integral part of its
distinguished history. The aircraft quickly earned its reputation
as a tough aircraft for rough places. In the late 1950s, with
Southeast Asia facing a communist take over, the Herc quickly
became the armed services’ premier tactical airlifter. By
late summer 1959, C-130 crews trained for Marine parachute assault
operations in case Laos was invaded.
C-130s increasingly provided logistical support to the
Army’s remote special operations camps, and the Herc proved
itself with its ability to land and takeoff on short, unpaved
runways. The heroics of C-130 crews flying Khe Sanh and An Loc
missions are legendary. After the fall of Saigon, and the end of
the war, C-130s were part of the American airlift armada, helping
bring home 591 prisoners of war. A few C-130s also served as AC-130
gunships, and the Air Weather Service flew WC-130s as rainmakers
over Laos, attempting to influence the seasonal monsoon rains to
allied advantage. The Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Service first
used HC-130s for command and control during search and rescue
operations. And the Marine Corps flew the KC-130F, initially
borrowing two C-130As from the Air Force and modifying them for air
refueling. Those widely varying models remain in service.
And what a service the C-130 provides. From the 1991 Gulf War
through the crisis in Kosovo to peacekeeping operations in Africa,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as humanitarian
relief operations at home and around the world, the resilient C-130
answers the nation’s call.
Recently, C-130s have airlifted several Afghan battalions,
national police, U.S. advisers and supplies into Shidand to help
Afghanistan’s national government restore order to an area
rife with factional fighting.
And in the United States, C-130s equipped with Modular Airborne
Firefighting Systems are deployed to help combat wildfires in
Western states, and WC-130s provided vital data as hurricane
hunters over the Caribbean and Florida, collecting information for
the National Hurricane Center.
These special duties, along with the daily tasks of deploying,
supplying and redeploying joint service and allied forces
throughout the world will build upon the C-130’s legacy of
heroism as one of the premier, multirole aircraft in American
history. (Courtesy of AMC News Service)
(A special thank you to Betty R. Kennedy of the Air Mobility
Command History Office)