C-130 at Sea

[bcam]

http://youtu.be/uM5AI3YSV3M

I thought some of the pilots here would enjoy this.

 

[ktdtx]

C-130 is one of my favorite, most useful military aircraft of all time but, it isn't the only one more with more than 50 years of production.

Milestone Monday: The CH-47 Chinook At 54! | Fighter Sweep

 

[psneeld]

Wonder if she could have used JATO assist and if so how much more payload she could carry....

 

[Capt.Bill11]

Do they still use JATO?

 

[bluebyu]

Don't think so.

 

[timjet]

I had always heard that the Navy had tested a C-130 on an aircraft carrier but had never seen a video, thanks for posting. I have about 2000 hrs of USAF C-130 time.

The C-130 is truly a multi-role aircraft. From HALO, to low altitide parachute extraction (LAPES), too reeling a person from the ground without landing, to a heavily armed gun platform, it seemingly can do anything.

LAPES required special aircrew qualifications and generally only a few crews per squadron were qualified. On one LAPES mission I was an observer on the ground while a crew from our squadron was demo-ing a LAPES maneuver. The pilot and main chute deployed normally but as the deuce and a half started to roll down the ramp it jammed putting the aircraft center of gravity far aft - so far aft the aircraft pitched up almost 45 deg. All this happened within 100 ft of the ground. A very sharp loan master quickly realized the situation and performed an emergency release. The aircraft was climbing at nearly a 45 deg angle with full power when the deuce and a half exited the aircraft from about 150 ft. From a quarter mile away I could feel the deuce and a half hit the ground. The crew recovered with airspeed right at stall.

Rumor had it that Lockheed had modified a J model with leading edge slats, possibly to be used to extract the Iranian hostages.

 

[Capt Kangeroo]

I was surprised to see they were still signalling in morse with the Aldis lamp, then I noticed this is footage from 1963. Even watching the video, it seems incredible they could do this. It brings to mind the Doolittle raid 20yrs earlier

 

[ABfish]

Incredible footage. I can't believe that big bird can stop that quickly.

What's the flashing seen on the bottom on the C130?

 

[Wxx3]

c-130's were the reason the US were able to maintain the camps set up on the polar ice caps. Antarctica while further and colder, was easier on the planes the the Arctic Ocean.

In the arctic, the camps were constantly moving, not fast, but enough that they needed to know that the radio beacon was operational before leaving Thule or Alaska.

Then the runways were incredible rough, having been carved out of snow.

 

[psneeld]

This one was airborne and ready to drop a helicopter part to me on the ice near the North Pole. Can't remember if it was same day or next morning...anyway she was up from Elizabeth City, NC.


These guys live for that stuff....their chance to be heroes.


Mid 1980s.

 

[Rebel112r]

There is a book called "Herk Hero of the Sky". Author Dabney. A great read for those interested in this great airplane. Worked around them for many years, also its big brother the C-133, which was never civilian certified, but an outfit in Anchorage had a couple of 133's that they could use for govt or govt related hauls. Unloaded a hydralic crane that weighed about 40 ton from a C-133. At a remote site called Lonely, in the arctic back in the seventies.

 

[Gypsy Spirit]

The plane shown in the video is an A model C-130 which had better short field performance than the B and later models. They only had four fuel tanks, no under floor heating and a lower basic weight. They also had three blade propellers which were better at low altitude and slow speeds. I flew these planes out of Saigon for two years. Because of the better short field performance, we did all of the dirt runways with active combat around them.

The plane is not painted because it was a MATS plane. When the C-130's were transferred to TAC in 1965,66,67, they had their magnesium wheels replace with aluminum and they got a camo paint job.

Assuming the carrier was doing 25 knots +. The sea in the background looks pretty rough, so lets assume another 20 knots for head wind. This means that the plane would only need to accelerate to a deck speed of 40 knots to rotate and lift off.

The C-130 uses an inverted rear horizontal stabilizer to help with rotation at slow speeds.

Dan Girvan
Gypsy Spirit
Albin 36