JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq: After 47 years of service, a C-130E Hercules completed its last combat mission March 6 here.Another thing about the C-130; in the course of a career, depending on what you do, you can fly a lot of different types and owners.
Upon reaching its total aircraft hours of more than 33,220, the Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark. aircraft was retired.
"It's a very sad day when an aircraft retires," said Capt. Bradley Allen, the 777th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Unit officer in charge. "A lot of people over many years have put in hard work and countless hours to maintain the aircraft. To see this one go, especially since it is a good flyer, it is a sad day."
Tail number9813 remained vital to the mission as its last few hours of flight were spent over Iraq on an air drop mission. As the C-130 soared over Iraq, cargo pallets of supplies were pushed out the aircraft to aid servicemembers across the area of responsibility.
The aircraft has served in many different roles such as humanitarian missions, airlift transport of troops and equipment, and operations during Desert Storm.
"Some aircraft are old, and they have done their job and have done it well," said Capt. Bradley Buinicky, a 777th Expeditionary Aircraft Squadron C-130 co-pilot. "Most of them are from 1962 to 1972 and flew in the Vietnam War. There is a lot of heritage involved in each airframe and each tail specifically."
Despite the aircraft's age and even though it was heavily flown, tail number 9813 was able to achieve a milestone in the maintenance arena by earning a "black letter initial" in 2007. The aircraft went with no open maintenance issues that entire year and was rated a perfect aircraft; ready for flight.
Me? Off the top of my head; USN, USAF, USMC, USAFR, USANG, POR, GBR, SWE, NZL - I think I am missing a couple.
And of course - nothing about the C-130 is complete without this.
UPDATE In comments, reader Flugelman recommended this book; The Long Arm of America: The Story of the Amazing Hercules Air Assault Transport and Our Revolutionary Global Strike Forces
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This deserved a FULL BORE! Awesome. The Herky Bird is the best all around aircraft ever built, exceeding (IMHO) the venerable DC-3 and all of it's permutations.
ReplyDeleteJust like almost everything else in the USAF inventory, there is a dark cloud around this milestone. We may have gotten our money's worth out of this one, but we got more than our money's worth out of several of the -E models:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/keeping-the-c130s-flying-center-wing-box-replacements-03185/
We literally flew the wings off of them. I'd be interested to know how many hangar queens there were supporting maintaining 9813's "black letter initial." Not trying to take anything away from the maintainers that made this happen, as they are some of the most overworked people in the Air Force, dealing with the oldest equipment in the Air Force, and they still make it happen on a daily basis. Simply pointing out the reality of the situation behind this accomplishment.
Hmm - not quite 47 years old, but the RNZAF's first 3 x C-130Hs were ordered in 1963, deliver APR 1965. Getting close, the last two were ordered in 1967 and delivered in 1969.
ReplyDeleteStill going strong - under going a SLEP now. (Center Wing Box plus avionics)
Actually the RNZAF's P3-Ks ain't that far behind either - 1967 I think.
Interesting tidbit about the landing, they removed the WOW lockout so they could go into Beta airborne and plop it down on the deck. It's too bad that they stopped the Fat Albert JATO takeoff. It was quite a ride.
ReplyDeleteIt amazes me how we can get some defense programs so right, and overs so wrong.
ReplyDeleteBig fly-off's help, but they're expensive.
ReplyDeleteA good read is Martin Caidin's "The Long Arm of America" about the genesis of the C-130. I read it back in the mid 60s, don't know if it's still in print anywhere.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget the USCG HC-130s.
ReplyDeleteFWIW, the pilot of that aircraft was Lt. James H. Flatley III, the son of James Flately Jr, WWII Navy Ace and post-war admiral.
ReplyDeleteMore on the whole story may be found here:
http://www.theaviationzone.com/factsheets/c130_forrestal.asp
And what did the Herk fly off against?
ReplyDeletewas that take off/landing at a usable gross or was the aircraft stripped down to the absolute minimums?
ReplyDeleteC
Very true. Now, if taxpayers could only expect 10 years or more active duty from all of our medically fit USNA grads!
ReplyDeleteMany copies are availble at reasonable prices at http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&tn=The+Long+Arm+of+America&x=0&y=0, if'n interested.
ReplyDeleteThe Herky was first ordered at a time when the country knew how to develop an AC that worked. WW2 procurement habits were still strong at the time. At about that time we also saw the B-52 come out and the Af was well into the century series of fighters, most of which worked well (the F-104 was a strange bird).
ReplyDeleteInteresting to note the 130 that landed on the Zippo was a 130-F, and the bird being retired is a 130-E. USAF Mike is right, though. There's probably a hanger queen or two supporting that one bird.
I was just at an Egyptian C-130 base. Jordan has them as well... Flew home to Jax from Ecuador in a NALO C-130. Along with 5 new screw blades for an FFG...
ReplyDeleteNot sure, I'd have to dig into it. I think most likely some Admiral just got drunk and said "Wouldn't it be cool if we landed a C-130 on an Aircraft Carrier?", and then did it.
ReplyDeletexbrad, was there a fly-off for the C-130? All I could find was that the C-130 won the competition.
ReplyDeleteThe fleet would be a much better place if we managed to retain USNA grads through 20 years.
ReplyDeleteanother you tube described 22,000lbs usable payload off the angle deck and 30,000 down the slot
ReplyDeleteNo, no fly off. My point being that if you ask an airplane designer to meet a realistic set of goals, they almost always will.
ReplyDeleteBut if you ask them to build one plane to do the job of three, while being faster, stealthier, and cheaper, the designer will fail.
AW1 Tim is spot on about Lt. Flatley. Then Captain Flatley shook my hand among many others when promoted to PO3 aboard CV-60. Quite a man, a great Captain, and later VADM. As a youngster, one of my 1st Classes was sharing this story - of the C-130 - and I was a skeptic. Before Youtube. Awesome...
ReplyDeleteInteresting that Flatley landed along the axial, not the angle.
ReplyDeleteThe landing was no stunt; it was to determine the feasibility of nuclear weapon resupply to CVA's. I have no reference, but I think Flatley had a weight equivalent to a nuc at the time, maybe a shape.