- 2 months ago
For educational purposes
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport is one of the most successful aircraft ever built.
A true Workhorse of the Skies', it first flew in April 1954 and looks set to continue in frontline service well into the 21st Century.
Over sixty different countries have flown the 'Here', and it has been adapted to serve in many different capacities,
This detailed profile looks at the A-II Variants, and many of the different roles the Hercules has been adapted to meet.
Included is coverage of RC-130s on drone-launching operations, MC-130s with their airborne recovery systems, WC-130 Hurricane Hunters', US Coastguard HC-130s and the odd-looking British C2 Weather Plane.
There's also astounding footage of the Hercules making a landing on an aircraft carrier, at the South pole on Skis and using dramatic jet-assisted take-offs.
The C-130's finest hour probably came during the Vietnam War and there is extensive coverage of the aircraft in its varying roles in-country, from troop transport to Khe Sanh re-supplies to medivac ops.
In perhaps its most dramatic role, there is also detailed coverage of the AC-130 Spectre Gunship version, with air-to-air combat film, interior film and even gun camera footage of a Spectre taking out NVA cargo bases and tank formations.
Packed with rare colour film and interviews with Hercules pilots and crew.
C-130 HERCULES captures this legendary aircraft in all its glory.
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport is one of the most successful aircraft ever built.
A true Workhorse of the Skies', it first flew in April 1954 and looks set to continue in frontline service well into the 21st Century.
Over sixty different countries have flown the 'Here', and it has been adapted to serve in many different capacities,
This detailed profile looks at the A-II Variants, and many of the different roles the Hercules has been adapted to meet.
Included is coverage of RC-130s on drone-launching operations, MC-130s with their airborne recovery systems, WC-130 Hurricane Hunters', US Coastguard HC-130s and the odd-looking British C2 Weather Plane.
There's also astounding footage of the Hercules making a landing on an aircraft carrier, at the South pole on Skis and using dramatic jet-assisted take-offs.
The C-130's finest hour probably came during the Vietnam War and there is extensive coverage of the aircraft in its varying roles in-country, from troop transport to Khe Sanh re-supplies to medivac ops.
In perhaps its most dramatic role, there is also detailed coverage of the AC-130 Spectre Gunship version, with air-to-air combat film, interior film and even gun camera footage of a Spectre taking out NVA cargo bases and tank formations.
Packed with rare colour film and interviews with Hercules pilots and crew.
C-130 HERCULES captures this legendary aircraft in all its glory.
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00Transcription by CastingWords
00:30When it was introduced more than 30 years ago, the C-130 revolutionized military airlift.
00:37In the Vietnam conflict, its service was invaluable.
00:40In both resupply and airlift roles, the C-130 saved the lives of thousands of troops in the field.
00:47Although replacements have been designed, none have been able to outperform this legend in military aviation.
00:54Tonight, soar high with the Lockheed C-130 on wings.
01:00The C-130 Hercules is one of the most remarkable aircraft in the world.
01:14Still in production after 35 years, the 1900th C-130 recently rolled off the line at Lockheed's plant in Marietta, Georgia.
01:23Although it looks much the same, there is nothing in the aircraft that hasn't changed.
01:31The Hercules that came off the assembly line in the 1950s have evolved into the sophisticated planes of today.
01:38From the beginning, Lockheed leaders believed in the C-130.
01:46Robert Gross, head of the corporation at the time, predicted that the Hercules would not only meet the demands of the present day,
01:53but would be capable of flying well into the future.
01:56Looking to replace its older, more cumbersome transports, the Air Force and Army were ready to enter the jet age.
02:06In fact, what the services wanted and got was a mix of truck, jeep, and airplane.
02:19Mr. Bob Roach, vice president of the Hercules program for Lockheed.
02:23They came up with a requirement for a tactical transport that had some very unique demands,
02:30such as a drive-on, drive-off capability on the airplane,
02:34which required the whole aft end of an airplane to open up,
02:38and numerous other unique requirements.
02:41And many people who saw the design, including the renowned Kelly Johnson,
02:48commented that it was the ugliest airplane he had ever seen.
02:51The C-130A made its first flight on April 7th, 1955.
02:59Mr. Leo Sullivan was one of its pilots.
03:03Well, it's been a long time since the first flight,
03:06but I've got to tell you that from the day we first flew the airplane,
03:10it was probably the finest transport anyone could have.
03:14Today, in the C-130, we produce three aircraft a month.
03:17In days past, we've produced as high as 18 aircraft per month.
03:22And Lockheed engineers are busy designing new versions
03:26to carry production towards the 21st century.
03:29Over the years, Hercules has grown in size, range, and performance.
03:34The B model had many improvements.
03:40It was equipped with more powerful engines.
03:42Four Allison T-56A47s and the three-bladed propellers were replaced by four-bladed models.
03:50Maximum range was extended to 4,000 miles.
03:53Moves were also made to shorten the takeoff distance.
03:58Lockheed developed a boundary layer control for the Hercules,
04:02adding two jet engines to the four existing prop jet engines.
04:06The jets forced air over the control surfaces, increasing lift,
04:10allowing the aircraft to take off after a ground roll of approximately 400 feet.
04:15The E model, produced for the military airlift command,
04:19increased the cargo-carrying ability of the aircraft to 155,000 pounds.
04:25Range was the major improvement for the C-130E.
04:28It could cross the Atlantic nonstop.
04:35On short, rough fields, Hercules often uses jet-assisted takeoff, or JATO.
04:40It cuts takeoff distance from a 1,500-foot minimum to about 800 feet.
04:54The latest model of the Hercules is the C-130H.
04:59Many improvements have brought the aircraft completely up-to-date.
05:05When the armed services needed an aircraft to deliver troops and supplies,
05:09the C-130 was there.
05:12Lockheed's Hercules introduced prop jet power to transports.
05:25The Navy made an exception to the natural inter-service rivalry with the Air Force
05:30by adopting the C-130.
05:32It was initiated by the Marines,
05:34who wanted an assault transport that could double as a tanker.
05:37The most dramatic feat performed by the Hercules was a carrier landing.
05:42The pilot flew his way to a distinguished flying cross
05:45by landing the plane solidly on deck.
05:49Despite success, the Navy decided that landing on carriers was too risky.
05:53Today, the Navy uses the Hercules for refueling, para-drops, and resupply missions.
06:00The U.S. Coast Guard flies regular patrols with its HC-130s.
06:14They track and mark the huge Atlantic icebergs, which threaten northern shipping lanes.
06:20An increasingly important role for the HC-130 is detecting and monitoring oil slicks.
06:26Once the oil has been sited, floating barriers can be dropped to help contain it.
06:32Because of the world demand for offshore natural resources,
06:35coastal surveillance has become more important.
06:38Many nations have extended their territorial waters to 200 nautical miles.
06:43Coast surveillance teams worldwide have found the Hercules to be an ideal aircraft for maritime patrol.
06:54Currently, over 60 countries are finding uses for more than 40 commercial and military versions of the Hercules.
07:00Whatever its colors or configurations, Hercules has always been there in time of need.
07:21It has brought food to the hungry.
07:24Relief to victims of natural disasters.
07:39And hope to remote corners of the Earth.
07:41The world for chaos.
07:43mythical roads of safety.
07:43Despite the
08:09It's little wonder that this flying truck is known to many as the Samaritan of the skies.
08:25The C-130 is a crew airplane, and it really is a crew airplane in all the best sense of the word.
08:32Everybody is working together.
08:34Of course, at different times, people have different workloads.
08:39But the people flying the airplane flew it as a crew, and many times on the ground you stayed as a crew, too.
08:50We call it pig and hog and other little terms that you've probably heard today.
08:57Especially when we're trying to make it do something, like land, talking it down.
09:04It's the same thing when you're fishing. You've got to talk to the pig.
09:06You know, you won't catch it.
09:08Just like the airplane, the same thing.
09:11Down there, you've got to talk it down.
09:13It's part of it.
09:15Perhaps Hercules' finest hour came in Vietnam.
09:42The aircraft's true potential was put to the test.
09:46The men who flew the C-130s were as much a part of the war as any front-line soldier.
09:51The story of the Hercules in Southeast Asia is also their story.
10:01The first day of the mission, quite an interesting factor.
10:12One day you're doing one thing.
10:13Actually, one part of the day you're doing one thing, and the next day you're doing something different.
10:17We've had a lot of diversions, combat essential missions, hauling ammunition, emergency air vacs, taking people out, mass casualties, and so on.
10:26Keep you on your toes.
10:27I had a real good diversion last time.
10:29I was flying a mission almost through with it, and they'd averted me in for emergency blood resupply into the province up north.
10:39And it was real interesting.
10:41I mean, we weren't expecting it.
10:42I thought we were through for the day.
10:44Went in there and had to bust the ceiling.
10:45It was right down at minimums and land on a short field.
10:48It was real slippery.
10:50Still, they just hit nervous knees.
10:53Touchdown markers.
10:55200 and 500 feet down the runway with red color.
10:59Roger, conscious.
11:00We're in the airlift control center of the 834th Air Division in Saigon,
11:07where the daily flight operations of the airlift in Vietnam is monitored, scheduled,
11:18and controlled.
11:20The boards that you see in the command center are used to display all the mission information
11:27for the some 800 to 1,000 sorties that are flown each day by C-7s, C-123s, and C-130s of the 834th Air Division.
11:36The 130 will operate in 2,500 feet, so it does have the capability to go into the forward areas,
11:42into the unimproved strips.
11:44And where the activity levels are high, the C-130 has proven to be the real workhorse of the fleet.
11:50Came under a rocket attack while we were there, so we got a delay out of there.
11:54Took off, I think, at about quarter of eight.
11:56Went up to Quang Tree.
11:59Get a combat essential load in the Quang Tree, some tank tracks for some tanks going west of Quezon.
12:04And we landed at Quang Tree at about 9.30 this morning.
12:08When we landed there, we had some problems with our airplane, with the nose gear, and some engine problems.
12:15We had to stay there for about four hours and work on the airplane.
12:19At about one o'clock, our command post sent another airplane in to pick us up.
12:23That picked us up and took us down to Chulai, where we had some rockets to pick up to take back into Quezon.
12:29That crew flew into Quezon, we landed there at about 4.30 tonight, and took off again about 5 o'clock.
12:37Came down to Da Nang for fuel, and returned to Tonsunut.
12:40That, for us, is just about 18 hours.
12:43It's, uh, 29 now.
12:45It's late.
12:46No longer.
12:47I am a flight nurse with the 903rd Air Medical Evacuation Squadron.
13:11We have approximately 20 litters and 53 ambulatory patients.
13:22They're the best pilots in the world.
13:24They'll land on a dirt strip, or they'll land on a piece of steel stuck in the middle of some godforsaken place, and do a tremendous job.
13:32Uh, I think the most difficult landing I've ever been on is at, uh, uh, Antoy, which is a western part of, uh, an island off the western part of Vietnam, Phu Quoc Island.
13:46And it has a minimum runway, uh, no lighting, and we went in there one night, and it was just pitch black, raining like cats and dogs, and they had smudge pods and jeeps lighting the runway.
14:01And those fellas stuck it down there, just beautiful.
14:03Well, you hear pros and cons, you know, from all the troops around, you hear these saying, we're doing everything over here, and the Vietnamese are not holding up their end.
14:16It's their war.
14:17They should be fighting more of it.
14:19And you get a mission like we had today, and you go up there, and you pick up these troops.
14:23You saw some that had their legs blown up, some of them burned half to death, and I tell you, you don't get that walking around out on the street.
14:32You get kind of mixed feelings, I think, uh, of course, you're happy to get them out of there, because they're hurt.
14:38You want to get them back where they can get some treatments, some good treatment.
14:42And it's also kind of depressing.
14:44You can't get away from that.
14:46Of course, that's part of the war.
14:48People are going to get hurt.
14:49They were fighting a war.
14:51There's no doubt about it.
15:02The first KIA I ever hauled, I don't remember the exact place that I picked it up, but I knew before we landed that that's what we were picking up.
15:23I didn't know how many, and as it happened, we were empty.
15:27We had no other cargo on board.
15:29We came in, and they brought an ambulance out.
15:33It was an unmarked ambulance, and, of course, I knew they were, you know, G.I.K.I.A.'s.
15:37And it really makes you stop and think about, you know, like Alan has said before, that it may be somebody you know, or it could be you at one time or another.
15:50And it's really a bad scene as far as, especially if you've got an empty cargo compartment.
15:55There's just you and them, and it seems awful crowded at times.
16:07There's just you and them, and there's just you and them, and there's just you and them.
16:37There's just you and them, and there's just you and them.
17:07There's just you and them, and there's just you and them.
17:37I was here about three years ago, about this time, the time we were running 130s in support of the Marines.
17:56And each and every day for, I guess, more over 80 days, the C-130 lift was a lifeline to Kaysan.
18:05They said it was a victory through air power, but for us clunts on the ground, it was really a victory for the 130 capability to deliver here.
18:14We had tack here in support, and these ridgelines in here, we had fighter jocks supporting.
18:23I guess B-52 strikes were running right up to the perimeter.
18:35But there were days when there was no tack, close air support, and the 130s continued air land.
18:42They'd land up in this area, and they'd take fire from the hills surrounding it coming in.
18:47They'd be under fire almost constantly, and then when they landed, the NVA and the hills would start flipping a few in on them.
18:55So we got the name of them called a mortar bait all the time.
18:58Their ground times then used to extend sometimes up to about one minute, and you'd have 60 GIs run on to get out.
19:06And sometimes we'd keep a little longer from medevac.
19:09They decided the method of delivery they'd use was a container delivery system.
19:28Just off this horizon here, we set up a drop zone of about 300 by 300 yards.
19:33Very tight, small drop zone.
19:36They used a CDS drop for about 600 feet and successfully put in about 150 to 200 tons a day.
19:58We used an operation, and we did see the capacity for a slot.
20:03Oxygen sent somebody.
20:04We saw the servers and 하나.
20:05tuned eco-owned geo-owned.
20:10And they picked a few in on them.
20:11So both theativism have been fired and for perverse.
20:14Anyway, what does this install?
20:18Can you get 35 impact?
20:23Well, it's gonna be done.
20:25會不會, if there areemente of the해야 Biowen.
20:27We had some equipment we couldn't deliver in containers, these one-ton containers, heavy
20:37bunker and barrier material, some of which you see around Kaysom today.
20:42We asked the Air Force what they could do.
20:45It started with a leaps, low altitude parachute extraction, and they successfully delivered
20:49for a number of days just tons and tons of barrier material and supplies.
20:57This time they were continually taking water fire, so we went again into another system
21:15called the Ground Proximity Extraction System, which is an arrested barrier and a hook.
21:22Our requirements for beans and bullets were well over 200 to 300 tons a day.
21:25We got a hell of a lot of in with choppers, but the heavy tonnage requirement was moved
21:32by no 130s attacks.
21:35It's been my experience with working with the airlifters during the last stint here, that
21:43they supported us in the Delta, back into the Ashaw Valley with the first team, and Al-Louis.
21:50They've lost airplanes every trip, but I'll say this much for them.
21:56You call them, tell them where it has to be, and they'll put it in.
21:59There's a job for airlift all the way.
22:06I tell you, man, those damn F4 jocks, those 100 jocks, those buck jocks, they're going to be gone.
22:11We're still going to be over here hauling trash.
22:13Who's important?
22:14Come here.
22:15Who's important?
22:16Who's important?
22:17Who's important?
22:18Hercules also carried weapons.
22:25We're still going to be over here hauling trash.
22:27Who's important to come here?
22:28Who's important?
22:44Hercules also carried weapons.
22:47When South Vietnam invaded Laos, the C-130 dropped 15,000-pound bombs,
22:53instantly clearing landing zones for helicopters.
23:235, 4, 3, 2, 1...
23:305, 4, 3, 2, 1.
24:00Wings will return on the Discovery Channel.
24:24Now we return to Wings on the Discovery Channel.
24:30When darkness fell, AC-130 gunships, armed with many guns and cannons, searched out and destroyed North Vietnamese targets.
24:383, 2, 1.
24:40There's a hit.
24:41Lower.
24:42Lower.
24:43Oh, let's hit.
24:44Nice hit.
24:45Oh, what do you know, Molly?
24:47Okay.
24:48Got any more?
24:49Wow.
24:50That's a boat?
24:51You betcha.
24:53Direct hit on tank 1 of Target 4.
24:57I'm going to move it.
24:58Hit him, right?
24:59Oh!
25:00Oh!
25:01Oh!
25:02Oh!
25:03Oh!
25:04Oh!
25:05Oh!
25:05Oh!
25:06Oh!
25:07Oh!
25:08Oh!
25:08Oh!
25:09Nope!
25:10Even thanks for joining the gunship mission today, HERCULES is still armed and ready.
25:15First production Hercules delivered to the U.S. Air Force, tail number 533129.
25:21It carries more concentrated firepower than any fighter or bomber.
25:25Its mission, close air support.
25:45This Hercules Spectre is a member of the only Reserve Special Forces group in the Air Force, the 919th at Duke Field in Florida.
25:54Fourteen crew members fly in this aircraft.
25:57Five are gunners.
25:59They're responsible for Spectre's guns, two 7.6mm miniguns, 40mm Balfour cannons, and 20mm Vulcans.
26:08If all six guns were brought online at once, their combined rate of fire would be over 17,000 rounds of fire per minute.
26:15Spectre is a C-130 that sees in the dark.
26:21Using television, electronic sensors, and infrared systems, it locates and destroys enemy targets by night.
26:34The booth is where everything comes together.
26:37Here, the systems operators and fire control officers work along with the electronic warfare officer.
26:42His job is to detect and defeat enemy radar.
26:48He works with the illuminator operator to protect Spectre against enemy ground fire.
26:52He can launch infrared flares to decoy the guidance systems of enemy heat-seeking missiles.
26:57And now, Steve, to the RSO hotspots.
27:16I see a lot of fire.
27:18I'm going to go to the RSO hotspots.
27:19Over 2L, over 2L, over 2L.
27:224SOS feelin' the clear.
27:243L, over 2L, over 2L, over 3L.
27:262L, over 3L.
27:28U, over 3L.
27:28universe, partner.
27:29Got a copy of the 5 vehicles.
27:30Part 2 of the lead vehicle.
27:322L, over 2L.
27:32Consider zone.
27:332L, over 3L.
27:352L, over 3L, over 3L.
27:363L, over 2L, over 3L, over 3L.
27:372L, over 3L.
27:38We got a copy of the 5 vehicles.
27:39Listen, sir.
28:09Listen, sir.
28:39The kind of war the U.S. fought in Southeast Asia
29:01called for heavy reliance on close air support.
29:05Aircraft were called in to aid forces on the ground.
29:09Hercules acted as an airborne battlefield command post, or ABCCC.
29:20The C-130 directed joint air and ground operations,
29:23controlled direct air support and airborne communications during special strikes,
29:28and served as a command post for air rescue activities.
29:31The ABCCC featured a boxcar-sized package of communications and observations gear.
29:43It was loaded into the C-130 for airborne operations
29:46and could also be flown into the forward area and set up on the ground.
29:51Hercules continues to serve as a platform for the ABCCC today.
29:55The C-130 performed many other functions.
30:02The RC-130 version of the Hercules carried a huge camera lens in its belly
30:07and was equipped with cameras and special avionics in the cargo area.
30:11The RC-130 photographed the landscapes and updated the maps of many countries.
30:16Remotely piloted vehicles, RPBs, or drones as they are commonly called,
30:25are launched from the DC-130 version of Hercules.
30:29Drones have been around a long time.
30:31In the Vietnam War, they were accepted as an alternative to manned aircraft.
30:36Drones flew over 3,000 missions in Southeast Asia.
30:39Of those 3,200 were lost in combat, 200 that could have been manned aircraft.
30:50Today, the drone aircraft has two missions,
30:54photo reconnaissance and electronic warfare support.
30:57On a photo reconnaissance, the DC-130 launches the drone.
31:02It descends to 500 feet and takes pictures of the target.
31:06On an electronic warfare mission, the drone flies into a high-threat area
31:12and jams the enemy's radar by dispensing chaff or by using its electronic jammers.
31:18The drone is monitored by a remote-control officer aboard the DC-130.
31:23When the drone returns, it is caught mid-air by the CH-3 helicopters.
31:27The crews often say that when they're trying to catch the 3,000-pound bird,
31:34they're not always sure who's got who.
31:36But this rescue helicopter has a firm hold on the situation,
31:40thanks to the HC-130.
31:42This Hercules model coordinates rescue and recovery efforts.
31:47Distress signals picked up by the HC-130
31:49are passed on to helicopters for both land and sea rescue.
31:53The HC-130 Hercules rescued astronauts returning from outer space.
32:04It was also used to retrieve instruments returning from orbit.
32:08The aircraft was fitted with hooks and wrench lines.
32:15As the space capsule descended by parachute,
32:18the JC-130 caught it in mid-air.
32:20Other Hercules were used in creating recovery systems
32:27using airborne winches to lift loads into a plane.
32:31This led to a new way to catch a ride on the Hercules.
32:34The JC Hercules paved the way for the MC-130 Combat Talon.
32:39Special Operation Forces used the Talon
32:47with the Fulton recovery system for live pickups.
32:50The Talon can pick up downed pilots,
32:52rescue special agents,
32:53or retrieve classified material from enemy areas.
32:57The MC-130 and its highly trained crews
33:00can fly into places where more conventional planes can't go,
33:03thanks to terrain-following radar
33:05and all-weather capability.
33:07The Fulton gear is para-dropped to the man on the ground.
33:17It takes about 20 minutes to put on the special recovery suit
33:21and prepare for the pickup.
33:23The Combat Talon crew takes this time
33:25to complete all final checks of the Fulton system.
33:27The man on the ground releases a helium-filled balloon
33:34which carries its pickup line into position
33:37and signals the crew that he's ready.
33:39Ready, that is, for the ride of his life.
33:42Seen a C-130 that hit a bulldozer on takeoff
33:53and it tore out the ramp, the aft part of the airplane
33:57and it flew about an hour and a half back to Cam'ron Bay
34:01from the forward location
34:02with the ramp half hanging out the back of the airplane
34:05and made it okay.
34:07I don't think they ever flew the airplane again
34:09but at least it made it back that far.
34:11This strange-looking Hercules
34:20is Britain's C Mark II weather plane.
34:23Located behind its long candy-stripe nose
34:26is a package of sophisticated weather gear.
34:29The U.S. Air Force, WC-130,
34:32isn't as unique on the outside
34:33but the mission it performs is equally as important.
34:36The WC-130 is known as the Hurricane Hunter.
34:50When most pilots try to avoid severe weather,
34:53our pilots and our air crews
34:55go looking for the worst weather known to mankind.
35:04I'm Lieutenant Colonel Dennis Wick.
35:06Commander of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron,
35:09or as we're better known, the Hurricane Hunters.
35:11We are one of only two such units
35:13in the Accu-2 Air Force
35:14and one in the Air Force Reserves.
35:16Our primary mission is to fly
35:18into the eye of hurricanes
35:20in order to gather weather data
35:21for the National Hurricane Center
35:23which they use in the forecasting
35:25of movement, strength,
35:27and development of tropical storms.
35:30Weather officers and drops on systems operators
35:33are part of their weather service
35:35while the remainder of the personnel
35:37are assigned to the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron.
35:40Let's go, five storms.
35:43You fly into the weather environment
35:45to look at it, study it,
35:46whereas in a normal assignment,
35:48you usually stay on the ground to do that.
35:50A lot of times we'll go out and fly the same hurricane
35:54three, four, five days in a row.
35:57A lot of those times you end up flying about 12 hours.
36:01You come back and land
36:03and you have 12 hours crew rest
36:04and you're out again in the same storm the next day.
36:06From this particular mission,
36:09a navigator is really important
36:10because a computer can be used from point to point,
36:13but we don't fly point to point in a storm.
36:15We're trying to draw a line to the center of the storm
36:18and it isn't always straight.
36:20Every storm is different.
36:21Nothing can be decided ahead of time.
36:24Once you go through the wall,
36:25that's probably the busiest time for us.
36:28Not too much thought about the hurricane goes on.
36:30If it's real bumpy,
36:34you just try and work the best you can.
36:38We release the sign into the atmosphere
36:40and it free falls with a parachute,
36:43sends back pressure, temperature and humidity.
36:45From that, we take the data, analyze it
36:47and then send it back to the hurricane center.
36:51Everything's done in a real safe manner.
36:53In over 100,000 flying hours,
36:55we've never had a major aircraft accident.
37:00The experience that I've had
37:18that I really think is worth mentioning
37:19is the first storm
37:20because it's beautiful to look at.
37:24It's just struck me that I was very fortunate
37:26to be able to see a hurricane from that direction.
37:28Not many people have.
37:31I think that we're doing a valuable service
37:33for the people of the United States,
37:35but the mission we do
37:35will save some lives
37:37and help people prepare.
37:38It gives us great satisfaction
37:40to be doing that type of humanitarian mission.
37:42Well, there we are.
38:03The sound of jet engines
38:16and the thump of the world's largest skis
38:19helped bring Antarctica closer
38:21to the rest of the world
38:22when the Hercules landed at the South Pole.
38:26It was the first aircraft of its size to do so,
38:28and it would revolutionize efforts in the Antarctic.
38:32Antarctica.
38:44The great white continent,
38:56stretching over five million square miles
38:59across the bottom half of the world.
39:09For centuries,
39:11freezing temperatures
39:12and long polar nights
39:14kept the South Pole locked in glacial isolation.
39:18Bridging the territory of cold and distance
39:20has been the dream of every polar explorer.
39:32In 1928,
39:34Richard E. Byrd
39:35led the first large American expedition
39:37into the Antarctic.
39:38Included in the expedition
39:40was Byrd's airplane,
39:42a Ford trimotor
39:43named the Floyd Bennett,
39:45chosen for its size,
39:47strength,
39:47and power.
39:59The expedition party struggled with the aircraft,
40:03trying to protect it
40:04against the merciless elements.
40:08From the beginning,
40:12the land seemed to resist the preparations
40:14for its aerial invasion.
40:19Finally, in November 1928,
40:22the Floyd Bennett was ready
40:23for its historic flight.
40:31Months of struggle
40:32had led up to
40:33the most significant test
40:35of the airplane in the Antarctic.
40:37Byrd planned to fly
40:38the Floyd Bennett
40:39directly over the South Pole
40:40and photographed the route
40:42as he flew.
40:54Byrd and the Floyd Bennett
40:56took off on November 29th
40:58from the base camp
40:59at Little America.
41:00Those left behind
41:06followed his progress
41:07by radio.
41:20They cheered
41:21and wished him
41:22Godspeed as he took off.
41:24Having come this far,
41:25Byrd did not fail in the air.
41:28He was jubilant.
41:28Freezing temperatures
41:36and icy wind
41:38could not keep
41:38the man in his plane
41:40from their goal,
41:41the polar center
41:4290 degrees south.
41:47Byrd dropped the U.S. flag
41:49as he flew over
41:50the exact spot.
41:51It was an historic moment.
41:53His dream had been realized
42:00and his flight
42:01was a success.
42:03It marked the beginning
42:04of the future
42:05of the airplane
42:05in Antarctica,
42:07paving the way
42:08for a more thorough exploration
42:10of the vast
42:10and forbidding continent.
42:12In the 1930s,
42:20Byrd made other trips
42:21to Antarctica,
42:22but not always
42:23with the same success.
42:25Several airplanes
42:25were battered
42:26or destroyed
42:27in the wind and cold.
42:29In later years,
42:30skis and prop jet engines
42:32would help realize
42:33the dream
42:33of polar flight
42:34and open other areas
42:36of the continent
42:36for exploration.
42:37Hercules arrived
42:57well equipped
42:57for the job,
42:58landing on the world's
42:59largest skis,
43:0020 feet long,
43:02weighing one ton apiece.
43:04The LC-130
43:05can land
43:05on a remote ice shelf
43:07as gracefully as possible.
43:07as on a dry runway.
43:19From the beginning,
43:20LC-130
43:21supported the Navy's
43:23operation deep freeze
43:24along with other
43:25scientific projects
43:26at the pole.
43:30They revolutionized
43:32exploration
43:32of the great white continent,
43:34taking scientists
43:35to formerly
43:36unreachable spots.
43:38Hercules provided
43:39a lifeline
43:40of food,
43:41fuel,
43:41and supplies
43:42to these remote outposts.
43:43At the other end
44:04of the world,
44:05the L-100,
44:06stretched commercial
44:07Hercules,
44:08hauled 100 million
44:09average pounds
44:10of supplies,
44:11food and equipment
44:12to Alaska's oil fields.
44:14Hercules also assisted
44:16in the transportation
44:16of construction materials
44:18for the Alaska oil pipeline.
44:24The Hercules worldwide fleet
44:26has logged almost 19 million flight hours
44:30with a history of safety
44:31and reliability.
44:32The C-130 Hercules,
44:41the workhorse
44:42of the jet age.
44:55A one airplane air force.
44:58THEME SONG
45:02The CERMS
45:04The C testimonies
45:04The C-130 Hercules
45:06The C-130 Hercules
45:06The C-130 Hercules
45:07The C-130 Hercules
Be the first to comment