C-130 Hercules: Landing Anywhere Anytime

The mighty C-130 Hercules! Join Chris as he talks to Bernd, Tim and Mark from the Binational Transport Squadron Rhine about what it is like to operate the C-130.

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- Timecodes -
00:00 - Intro
00:21 - C-130 Hercules
02:33 - Crew Roles
03:05 - Tactical Airlift
04:22 - Cargo Air Drop
05:54 - Combat Offload
07:35 - Air Tanker
09:35 - Reconnaissance
10:31 - Leave your Feedback

- Audio -
Music and Sfx from Epidemic Sound

[bonnerapplegate]

Is this the GOAT of Transportation? Such a legendary plane

[earlyriser]

I am a civilian but flew on a number of these boxcar aircraft in Alaska and Africa. I flew in a C-119 Boxcar in Alaska delivering supplies in the arctic. Years later I flew for 12 hours with a large group of people being evacuated in Africa to Europe. Metal seats, portapotties, and no food for 12 hours. The noise was terrific and there were no windows. We gave our earplugs to the children in the plane so they could hear as adults.
My love affair with the C-130 started in Alaska where they delivered supplies to remote work sites in the oil field. I have loved that plane for 50 years.

[marcogerner]

Von seinen Fähigkeiten her schon ein sehr beeindruckendes Flugzeug. Fast schon das Schweizer Taschenmesser unter den Flugzeugen.

[turtledovechen]

really interesting how C-130 design as a more local used transport become many country's only large transport, and it still work quite well
in Taiwan we call it the old hen, which is a nickname inherit from C-119 and C-47, because when it was dropping troops or cargo it looks like it is laying eggs

[charlesfaure]

This is getting a design right. The Herc is a masterpiece.

[billbarton]

When I was a kid back in the 70's, I had a walkthrough a RAF Hercules, that was fitted with stretchers.I remember being amazed at its interior size.I then decided that this was going to be my next model kit .

[nco_gets_it]

I've logged thousands of miles as a passenger on the herk. Uncomfortable, loud, cold, hot, but goes anywhere, can carry half of Rhode Island, and has that greatest of abilities--availability. Whenever I saw that we were going to ride a herk, I knew we were in good hands.

[hlynnkeith]

In 1981, at an airshow at our base, my flight were standing together to watch the C-130 depart Eastside, a 5, 000 foot runway. The Herk taxied to the runway at midpoint, ran up engines, and released brakes. The Herk was airborne before the next taxiway.
Our flight lead turned to his wingman and asked, "How far is it from the midpoint to that taxiway?"
"Five hundred feet."
We all nodded slowly and silently.

[goetzliedtke]

I did a three-week tour at Little Rock AFB in 1975 working with enlisted airmen. I got to ride on a C-130 doing LAPES (Low Altitude Parachute Extraction System) and they really meant low - if the landing gear were extended it would have been a landing. I also got a flight that did a Fulton surface-to-air recovery. About eight years later, I worked with a senior NCO who had been a gunner on AC-130s. He said that North Vietnamese AA guns would not shoot if they thought the Spectre had found them which was indicated by tracer fire from the aircraft to the AA guns. For that reason, he would wear a safety strap while on the lowered ramp holding a pistol. When an AA gun fired at the Spectre, he fired tracer back out of the pistol. The Surprise Package cannons would spit out the fired brass into wood bins. The primary job of the gunners was to use snow shovels to move the brass out of the immediate bins into other bins. They thought of the brass as an annoyance, but when they landed at Da Nang the Marines would barter for the 20 and 40 mm brass. My friend traded the brass he hated for grenades, which he put in the 24 bottle slots of a Coca-Cola wooden carrier. He supplemented his tracer pistol by pulling the pins on the grenades and kicking the crate out the ramp.

[mattblom]

Up here in Canada, we love the Herc. Arctic, small airfields, cold, summer heat, it handled it all for decades.

[NesconProductions]

An amazing evolution of a 70 y/o air frame! The J version show here (with combat drops indicated under the cockpit) shares little with the original A-models but with modifications remains among the best in class today. Note: the weaponized versions of the C-130's (as illustrated by outboard Hellfire missiles at the 00:57 mark) are terrifying 😬. Still interesting that the Germans adopted this aircraft with the A-400 in service with the German Air Force that serve very similar role.

[steveschnetzler]

Wow, that cockpit sure looks different then the version I worked on back in the 80s. Thanks.

[johnmarley]

Thrilled to be a part of the initial C130J-30 course at Marietta, Georgia for the Royal Australian Air Force 25 years ago. Wonderful memories.

[AyKBSBt]

The C160 Transall and the A400M also land everywhere ;-)
By the way like every time with this channel very nice video! Thank you !

[flanerpete]

I was the crew chief on C-130 A/B/E models for 9 years (1964-73) in the USAF.

[TokioExpress]

Though I love older aircraft and even jet fighters from this era a little more, I will always have a soft spot for the C-130. My late grandfather always pointed them out to me as a kid, and whenever I saw one I would call them out for him, "just like the ones you worked on in Vietnam!".

[ilovetomcats]

Transports rarely get the fame and love that fighters do, but they’re still epic in their own right! I’d love to see you do a video on the C-17, a big sucker that has a foot in both the strategic and tactical airlift missions. Maybe the HAW could let you visit!

[danielquick]

One of my all time favorite planes of all time.

[frogfichtrlustr]

Would you also do a video like that about the a400M ? I’m sure it can’t be to hard to find one at an European air show

[neilwilson]

Super interesting. You have superb access to these great aircraft and crews as a result of your hard work an professionalism over the years. Credit is due.

Edit: spelling