Plane & Pilot – September 2019

64 SEPTEMBER 2019 ÇPlane&Pilot

OVERVIEW:

Back in the early 1950s, when the Lockheed C-130

Hercules (now the Lockheed Martin C-130J Super

Hercules) was created, it was unlikely that anyone

knew what a huge impact on aviation history this

transport/jack-of-all-trades would have on aviation.

Surely no one would have suspected that the new plane,

a replacement for 10-year-old designs from World War

II, would last more than 60 years throughout the jet

age and still be going strong. But it is.

BACKGROUND

The impetus for the development of a new cargo/

troop transport plane was the need for one that wasn’t

as limited as the existing models at the time. Those

included the Curtiss C-46 Commando, the Fairchild

C-119 Flying Boxcar and the Douglas C-47 (DC-3)

Dakota/Skytrain. The Air Force’s new transport was to

have more of everything: longer range, greater speed,

increased lifting power and expanded troop capacity.

In order to do that, piston engines would need to

be abandoned for a recent invention, the turboprop,

which had been toyed with during World War II (and

even before), but it wasn’t until after the war that it

became clear that propellers still had a future and

piston engines were a technology of the past.

There were 10 designs submitted for the competi-

tion, and Lockheed won with a design that was des-

ignated at the time for the Model 82 and, after it had

entered the test flight phase, YC-130.

Its new-design powerplants were what made the

C-130 possible. That first Hercules, universally known

as the Herk, was powered by four Allison T56-A-9 turbo-

prop engines, which were developed specifically for the

C-130. This was no surprise. The design criteria wouldn’t

have been possible with existing piston powerplants,

and turbojet engines were still too fuel inefficient to hit

the new transport’s range goal. With turboprop power,

the Herk could carry around 70 troops, be able to fly

with one of the four engines shut down, would have a

rear hatch for accommodating large loads, including

armored vehicles, and would be able to operate from

rough strips.

LEGACY

The first Herk was handed over to the Air Force in

December 1956. Since then, Lockheed (now Lockheed

Martin) has built more than 2,500 C-130s in 40 different

flavors, including an early one on skis.

In addition to transporting troops and gear, Herks

have served as military gunships, search-and-rescue

platforms, Hurricane Hunters, aerial firefighters, aerial

refuelers and environmental response tankers. There’s

very little the Herk can’t be called upon to do.

Today, the C-130 stands as the oldest continuously

produced military plane, with more than 60 years of fac-

tory-new Herks rolling out the doors. Everything on the

plane has been updated, from engines to avionics. But

it’s still the Herk. Will it ever be replaced? They’ve tried

for years to do that, including with the C-17 Globemaster

III, which instead replaced the C-141 Starlifter. There

are plans for a new plane to start flying around 2030 in

place of the C-130. The smart money is, by then, for the

Herk to be just as hard to replace as ever. PP

Lockheed C-130 Hercules

The longest continuously produced plane in history shows no sign of fading away.

THIS INCREDIBLE PLANE

By Plane & Pilot