USAF LC-130 Hercules take off in snow

Liberator · **Joined:** Mon Feb 28, 2011 3:11 am **Posts:** 837

Anyone interested in C-130 Hercules operations may like this film of a NY ANG LC-130H Hercules doing a departure from Mcmurdo in Antartica where the crew use oxygen on flying duties and JATO bottles.

Impressive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSKE2Ecb ... creen&NR=1

Ken · **Posted:** Fri Nov 16, 2012 11:14 am

I'm a bit prejudiced, but the Herk is one of the finest airplanes ever built. It can't carry everything nor is it the fastest, but it fills its niche so well and is a joy to fly.

Incidentally, I'm halfway through "The Guts to Try" regarding the 1980 Iranian hostage rescue mission. The peacetime max gross is 155K, with a wartime emergency max placed at 175K. Some of the bladder EC-130s were reportedly at 190K; groaning some, but hauling the mail. I never knew they were successfully flown so heavy. What a wonderful machine.

Ken

12XU2A3X3 · **Posted:** Fri Nov 16, 2012 12:45 pm

my good buddy is a crew dog in that unit, very cool! :drinkers:

The Inspector · **Posted:** Fri Nov 16, 2012 1:41 pm

Must be why it's still in production 60+ years later-

Warbird Kid · **Posted:** Fri Nov 16, 2012 3:05 pm

The Inspector wrote:

Must be why it's still in production 60+ years later-

The plane or the JATO bottles? I heard they've stopped production of them. No?

The Inspector · **Posted:** Fri Nov 16, 2012 4:12 pm

Warbird Kid wrote:

The Inspector wrote:

Must be why it's still in production 60+ years later-

The plane or JATO?

Sure-

Tanker 336 · **Posted:** Fri Nov 16, 2012 4:44 pm

I agree with the previous posts.....the Herc was and still is one of the best types built. My father logged 5500 hours as a Flight Engineer on the C-130 and it delivered him safely from many incidents that would have destroyed other aircraft. He flew the airshow circuit back in the early 1970's performing the LAPE & JATO maneuver and never suffered any problems.

CoastieJohn · **Joined:** Fri Feb 11, 2011 5:37 pm **Posts:** 1380

I believe it's the New York 109th C-130's that still do ice cap landings in Greenland.

That pic above reminds of this C-130 mishap from 1987.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgIqv6vKJks

APG85 · **Posted:** Sat Nov 17, 2012 7:42 am

Ken wrote:

Some of the bladder EC-130s were reportedly at 190K; groaning some, but hauling the mail. I never knew they were successfully flown so heavy.
Ken

Actually, they were heavier. Probably in excess of 200K. The take-offs from Masirah Island were harrowing and actually used the runway over-run. This is addressed more thoroughly in "The Praetorian Starship, The Untold Story of The Combat Talon". Downloadable from Air University Press (free) as a PDF (I'm not sure if the hard copies are available anymore). Link below...

http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/au/thigpen.pdf

Warbird Information Exchange

USAF LC-130 Hercules take off in snow

Who is online