- 2 days 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.
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LearningTranscript
00:00The End
00:30The C-130 Hercules is one of the most remarkable aircraft in the world.
00:44Still in production after 35 years, the 1900th C-130 recently rolled off the line at Lockheed's plant in Marietta, Georgia.
00:54Although it looks much the same, there is nothing in the aircraft that hasn't changed.
01:01The Hercules that came off the assembly line in the 1950s have evolved into the sophisticated planes of today.
01:12From the beginning, Lockheed leaders believed in the C-130.
01:16Robert Gross, head of the corporation at the time, predicted that the Hercules would not only meet the demands of the present day,
01:23but would be capable of flying well into the future.
01:29Looking to replace its older, more cumbersome transports, the Air Force and Army were ready to enter the jet age.
01:40In fact, what the services wanted and got was a mix of truck, jeep and airplane.
01:45Mr. Bob Roach, vice president of the Hercules program for Lockheed.
01:53They came up with a requirement for a tactical transport that had some very unique demands,
02:00such as a drive-on, drive-off capability on the airplane,
02:04which required the hold at the end of an airplane to open up,
02:08and numerous other unique requirements.
02:11And many people who saw the design, including the renowned Kelly Johnson,
02:18commented that it was the ugliest airplane he had ever seen.
02:21The C-130A made its first flight on April 7th, 1955.
02:30Mr. Leo Sullivan was one of its pilots.
02:34Well, it's been a long time since the first flight,
02:36but I've got to tell you that from the day we first flew the airplane,
02:40it was probably the finest transport anyone could have.
02:44Today, in the C-130, we produce three aircraft a month.
02:47In days past, we've produced as high as 18 aircraft per month.
02:53And Lockheed engineers are busy designing new versions to carry production towards the 21st century.
02:59Over the years, Hercules has grown in size, range, and performance.
03:04The B model had many improvements.
03:10It was equipped with more powerful engines.
03:13Four Allison T-56A-47s and the three-bladed propellers were replaced by four-bladed models.
03:21Maximum range was extended to 4,000 miles.
03:25Moves were also made to shorten the takeoff distance.
03:28Lockheed developed a boundary layer control for the Hercules,
03:32adding two jet engines to the four existing prop jet engines.
03:36The jets forced air over the control surfaces, increasing lift,
03:40allowing the aircraft to take off after a ground roll of approximately 400 feet.
03:46The E model produced for the military airlift command
03:49increased the cargo-carrying ability of the aircraft to 155,000 pounds.
03:55Range was the major improvement for the C-130E.
03:59It could cross the Atlantic nonstop.
04:05On short, rough fields, Hercules often uses jet-assisted takeoff, or JATO.
04:11It cuts takeoff distance from a 1,500-foot minimum to about 800 feet.
04:15The latest model of the Hercules is the C-130H.
04:29Many improvements have brought the aircraft completely up-to-date.
04:35When the armed services needed an aircraft to deliver troops and supplies,
04:40the C-130 was there.
04:41Lockheed's Hercules introduced prop jet power to transports.
04:55The Navy made an exception to the natural inter-service rivalry with the Air Force
05:00by adopting the C-130.
05:02It was initiated by the Marines,
05:04who wanted an assault transport that could double as a tanker.
05:07The most dramatic feat performed by the Hercules was a carrier landing.
05:13The pilot flew his way to a distinguished flying cross
05:16by landing the plane solidly on deck.
05:19Despite success,
05:20the Navy decided that landing on carriers was too risky.
05:25Today, the Navy uses the Hercules for refueling,
05:28paradrops, and resupply missions.
05:30The U.S. Coast Guard flies regular patrols with its HC-130s.
05:45They track and mark the huge Atlantic icebergs,
05:48which threaten northern shipping lanes.
05:51An increasingly important role for the HC-130
05:53is detecting and monitoring oil slicks.
05:56Once the oil has been sighted,
05:58floating barriers can be dropped to help contain it.
06:02Because of the world demand for offshore natural resources,
06:06coastal surveillance has become more important.
06:08Many nations have extended their territorial waters to 200 nautical miles.
06:17Coast surveillance teams worldwide have found the Hercules
06:21to be an ideal aircraft for maritime patrol.
06:23Currently, over 60 countries are finding uses
06:26for more than 40 commercial and military versions of the Hercules.
06:34Whatever its colors or configurations,
06:36Hercules has always been there in time of need.
06:39It has brought food to the hungry.
07:00Relief to victims of natural disasters.
07:03And hope to remote corners of the Earth.
07:12And hope to remote corners of the Earth.
07:23It's little wonder that this flying truck is known to many
07:51as the Samaritan of the skies.
07:53The C-130 is a crew airplane, and it really is a crew airplane in all the best sense
08:01of the word.
08:02Everybody is working together.
08:04Of course, at different times, people have different workloads.
08:09But the people flying the airplane flew it as a crew, and many times on the ground you
08:17stayed as a crew, too.
08:18We call it pig and hog and, you know, other little terms that you've probably heard today.
08:27Especially when we're, you know, when we're trying to make it do something, like land,
08:32you know, talking it down.
08:34It's the same thing when you're fishing.
08:35You've got to talk to the pig.
08:37You know, you won't catch it.
08:38It's just like the airplane, the same thing.
08:41Down, you've got to talk it down.
08:43It's got, it's part of it.
09:08Perhaps Hercules' finest hour came in Vietnam.
09:13The aircraft's true potential was put to the test.
09:16The men who flew the C-130s were as much a part of the war as any front-line soldier.
09:21The story of the Hercules in Southeast Asia is also their story.
09:39First day of the mission, quite an interesting factor.
09:42One day you're doing one thing.
09:43Actually, one part of the day you're doing one thing,
09:46and the next day you're doing something different.
09:48Had a lot of diversions, combat essential missions, hauling ammunition,
09:52emergency air vacs, taking people out, mass casualties, and so on.
09:56Keep you on your toes.
09:57I had a real good diversion last time.
10:00I was flying a mission, almost through with it,
10:01and they'd averted me in for emergency blood resupply
10:06into the province up north.
10:09It was real interesting.
10:11I mean, we weren't expecting it.
10:12I thought we were through for the day.
10:14Went in there and had to bust the ceiling.
10:15It was right down at minimums in Lanoi.
10:18Short field, it was real slippery.
10:20It's getting nervous knees.
10:23Touchdown markers.
10:25200 and 500 feet down the runway with red color.
10:29Roger, conscious.
10:30We're in the airlift control center of the 834th Air Division in Saigon,
10:36where the daily flight operations of the airlift in Vietnam
10:44is monitored, scheduled, and controlled.
10:50The boards that you see in the command center
10:53are used to display all the mission information
10:57for the some 800 to 1,000 sorties that are flown each day
11:01by C-7s, C-123s, and C-130s of the 834th Air Division.
11:07The 130 will operate in 2,500 feet,
11:09so it does have the capability to go into the forward areas,
11:12into the unimproved strips,
11:13and where the activity levels are high,
11:16the C-130 has proven to be the real workhorse of the fleet.
11:20Came under a rocket attack while we were there,
11:22so we got a delay out of there.
11:24Took off, I think, at about quarter of eight.
11:26Went up to Quang Tree.
11:29Had a combat essential load in the Quang Tree,
11:31some tank tracks for some tanks going west of Quezon.
11:35And we landed at Quang Tree at about 9.30 this morning.
11:39When we landed there,
11:41we had some problems with our airplane,
11:43with the nose gear and some engine problems.
11:45We had to stay there for about four hours
11:47and work on the airplane.
11:49At about 1 o'clock,
11:50our command post sent another airplane in to pick us up.
11:53That picked us up and took us down to Chulai,
11:56where we had some rockets to pick up
11:58to take back into Quezon.
12:00That crew flew into Quezon.
12:02We landed there at about 4.30 tonight.
12:05And took off again about 5 o'clock.
12:07Came down to Da Nang for fuel and returned to Tonson.
12:10That for us is just about 18 hours.
12:13It's 29 now.
12:16It's late.
12:16No longer.
12:35I am a flight nurse with the 903rd Air Medical Evacuation Squadron.
12:41We have approximately 20 litters and 53 ambulatory patients.
12:48They're the best pilots in the world.
12:54They'll land on a dirt strip
12:55or they'll land on a piece of steel
12:59stuck in the middle of some, God for a second place,
13:01and do a tremendous job.
13:02I think the most difficult landing I've ever been on
13:06is at Antoy,
13:10which is an island off the western part of Vietnam,
13:15Phu Quoc Island.
13:16And it has a minimum runway.
13:20No lighting.
13:22And we went in there one night.
13:24It was just pitch black,
13:26raining like cats and dogs,
13:28and they had smudge pods and jeeps
13:30lighting the runway.
13:31And those fellows stuck it down there.
13:33Just beautiful.
13:33Well, you hear pros and cons, you know,
13:40from all the troops around.
13:42You hear these saying,
13:43we're doing everything over here,
13:45and the Vietnamese are not holding up their end.
13:46It's their war.
13:47They should be fighting more of it.
13:49And you get a mission like we had today,
13:51and you go up there and you pick up these troops.
13:53You saw some that had their legs blown up,
13:56some of them burned half to death.
13:59I tell you, you don't get that
14:00walking around out on the street.
14:02You get kind of mixed feelings, I think.
14:05Of course, you're happy to get them out of there
14:07because they're hurt.
14:08You want to get them back where they can
14:09get some treatments, some good treatment.
14:12And it's also kind of depressing.
14:14You can't get away from that.
14:17Of course, that's part of the war.
14:18People are going to get hurt.
14:20They were fighting a war.
14:21There's no doubt about it.
14:32The first KIA I ever hauled,
14:47I don't remember the exact place that I picked it up,
14:49but I knew before we landed
14:52that that's what we were picking up.
14:54I didn't know how many.
14:55And as it happened, we were empty.
14:57We had no other cargo on board.
14:59We came in and brought an ambulance out.
15:03It was an unmarked ambulance.
15:04And, of course, I knew they were, you know, GIKIs.
15:08And it really makes you stop and think about,
15:12you know, like Alan has said before,
15:14that it may be somebody you know.
15:16Or it could be you at one time or another.
15:20And it's really a bad scene as far as,
15:23especially if you've got an empty cargo compartment.
15:25There's just you and them.
15:27And it seems awful crowded at times.
16:37This is Colonel Mike Higgins.
17:02The C-130 will be right back on Wings.
17:04Well, we're back here in Kaysan.
17:08I was here about three years ago,
17:11about this time.
17:13The time we're running 130s in support of the Marines.
17:15And each and every day, for a period, I guess, for over 80 days,
17:30the C-130 lift was a lifeline to Kaysan.
17:35They said it was a victory through air power,
17:39but for us crunches on the ground,
17:41it was really a victory for the 130 capability to deliver here.
17:45We had tack here in support.
17:47And these ridgelines in here,
17:49we had fighter jocks supporting.
17:53And I guess B-52 strikes were running right up to the perimeter.
17:57But there were days when there was no tack post-air support,
18:09and the 130s continued air land.
18:11They'd land up in this area,
18:14and they'd take fire from the hills surrounding it coming in.
18:18They'd be under fire almost constantly.
18:21And then when they landed,
18:22the NVA and the hills would start flipping a few in on them.
18:25So we got the name called a mortar bait all the time.
18:29Their ground times then used to extend sometimes up to about one minute.
18:32You'd have 60 GIs run on to get out.
18:37Sometimes we keep a little longer from medevac.
18:39They decided the method of delivery they'd use was a container delivery system.
18:59Just off this horizon here,
19:00we set up a drop zone of about 300 by 300 yards.
19:04Very tight, small drop zone.
19:07They used a CDS drop
19:08for about 600 feet and successfully put in about
19:11150 to 200 tons a day.
19:38They had some equipment we couldn't deliver in containers.
19:40These one-ton containers, heavy bullets.
19:41They had some equipment we couldn't deliver in containers.
19:45We had some equipment we couldn't deliver in containers, these one-ton containers, heavy
20:08bunker and barrier material, some of which you see around Kaysan today.
20:11We asked the Air Force what they could do, started with a leap, low altitude parachute extraction,
20:18and they successfully delivered for a number of days just tons and tons of barrier material
20:23and supplies.
20:24This time they were continually taking mortar fire, so we went again into another system
20:31called the ground proximity extraction system, which is an arresting barrier and a hook.
20:37Our requirements for beans and bullets were well over 200 to 300 tons a day.
20:44We got a hell of a lot of in with choppers, but the heavy tonnage requirement was moved
20:50by no 130s attack.
20:52It's been my experience with working with the airlifters during the last stint here.
20:59that they supported us in the Delta, back into the Ashaw Valley with the first team, and
21:06Al-Louis.
21:07They've lost airplanes every trip, but I'll say this much for them.
21:12You call them, tell them where it has to be, and they'll put it in.
21:29There's a job for airlift all the way. I tell you, man, those damn F4 jocks, those 100 jocks,
21:52those buck jocks, they're going to be gone. We're still going to be over here hauling trash.
21:56Who's important? Come here. Who's important?
22:14Hercules also carried weapons.
22:17When South Vietnam invaded Laos, the C-130 dropped 15,000-pound bombs,
22:22instantly clearing landing zones for helicopters.
22:26...
22:29...
22:34...
22:39...
22:40...
22:43...
22:45Shoot him.
22:47All right.
22:49I'm not going to let the lights go.
22:51I'm heading 335 to the 1.
22:54335 to the 1.
22:56I'm heading 335 to the 1.
22:59I'm heading 335 to the 1.
23:015, 4, 3, 2, 1.
23:155, 4, 3, 2, 1.
23:455, 4, 3, 2, 1.
24:15Oh, what do you know, pal?
24:17Okay.
24:18Got any more?
24:20No.
24:20That's a boat?
24:21You betcha.
24:22Bet you.
24:23Direct hit on tank 1 of target 4.
24:30And he's moving.
24:33Hit him right now.
24:35Oh, oh!
24:35Continuing the gunship mission today, Hercules is still armed and ready.
24:43This C-130A is the first production Hercules delivered to the U.S. Air Force,
24:48tail number 533129.
24:51It carries more concentrated firepower than any fighter or bomber.
24:55Its mission, close air support.
24:57This Hercules Spectre is a member of the only Reserve Special Forces group in the Air Force,
25:21the 919th at Duke Field in Florida.
25:2514 crew members fly in this aircraft.
25:28Five are gunners.
25:29They're responsible for Spectre's guns.
25:31Two 7.6mm miniguns, 40mm Valfour cannons, and 20mm Vulcans.
25:37If all six guns were brought online at once,
25:41their combined rate of fire would be over 17,000 rounds of fire per minute.
25:48Spectre is a C-130 that sees in the dark.
25:52Using television, electronic sensors, and infrared systems,
25:55it locates and destroys enemy targets by night.
26:04The booth is where everything comes together.
26:07Here, the systems operators and fire control officers
26:10work along with the electronic warfare officer.
26:14His job is to detect and defeat enemy radar.
26:18He works with the illuminator operator to protect Spectre against enemy ground fire.
26:23He can launch infrared flares to decoy the guidance systems of enemy heat-seeking missiles.
26:28And now, Steve, too.
26:45Yeah, I saw a bunch of mines.
26:46I saw a bunch of mines.
26:48I can launch infrared .
26:52What are you able to do with the accelerator?
26:54Two load .
26:57Hey, T.D. is coming.
26:58All right, that's Parma.
26:58I'm gonna copy over five vehicles.
27:00T.D. is tracking the lead vehicle.
27:02Consider it on.
27:03All right, Nick.
27:04T.D. Parma.
27:05T.D. is covering.
27:07Car cower.
27:08Listen to the search.
27:38Let's go.
28:08The kind of war the U.S. fought in Southeast Asia called for heavy reliance on close air support.
28:35Aircraft were called in to aid forces on the ground.
28:44Hercules acted as an airborne battlefield command post, or ABCCC.
28:50The C-130 directed joint air and ground operations, controlled direct air support and airborne communications during special strikes,
28:58and served as a command post for air rescue activities.
29:01The ABCCC featured a boxcar-sized package of communications and observations gear.
29:13It was loaded into the C-130 for airborne operations and could also be flown into the forward area and set up on the ground.
29:21Hercules continues to serve as a platform for the ABCCC today.
29:25The C-130 performed many other functions.
29:32The RC-130 version of the Hercules carried a huge camera lens in its belly
29:37and was equipped with cameras and special avionics in the cargo area.
29:41The RC-130 photographed the landscapes and updated the maps of many countries.
29:50Remotely piloted vehicles, RPBs or drones as they are commonly called, are launched from the DC-130 version of Hercules.
29:58Drones have been around a long time.
30:01In the Vietnam War, they were accepted as an alternative to manned aircraft.
30:06Drones flew over 3,000 missions in Southeast Asia.
30:09Of those 3,200, were lost in combat.
30:13200 that could have been manned aircraft.
30:20Today, the drone aircraft has two missions, photo reconnaissance and electronic warfare support.
30:26On a photo reconnaissance, the DC-130 launches the drone.
30:32It descends to 500 feet and takes pictures of the target.
30:37On an electronic warfare mission, the drone flies into a high-threat area
30:42and jams the enemy's radar by dispensing chaff or by using its electronic jammers.
30:48The drone is monitored by a remote control officer aboard the DC-130.
30:52When the drone returns, it is caught mid-air by the CH-3 helicopters.
30:59The crews often say that when they're trying to catch the 3,000-pound bird,
31:04they're not always sure who's got who.
31:06But this rescue helicopter has a firm hold on the situation, thanks to the HC-130.
31:11This Hercules model coordinates rescue and recovery efforts.
31:17Distress signals picked up by the HC-130 are passed on to helicopters for both land and sea rescue.
31:23The HC-130 Hercules rescued astronauts returning from outer space.
31:34It was also used to retrieve instruments returning from orbit.
31:38The aircraft was fitted with hooks and wrench lines.
31:41As the space capsule descended by parachute, the JC-130 caught it in mid-air.
31:54Other Hercules were used in creating recovery systems using airborne winches to lift loads into a plane.
32:01This led to a new way to catch a ride on the Hercules.
32:04The JC Hercules paved the way for the MC-130 Combat Talon.
32:09Special Operation Forces used the Talon with the Fulton recovery system for live pickups.
32:20The Talon can pick up downed pilots, rescue special agents, or retrieve classified material from enemy areas.
32:27The MC-130 and its highly trained crews can fly into places where more conventional planes can't go,
32:34thanks to terrain-following radar and all-weather capability.
32:39The Fulton gear is para-dropped to the man on the ground.
32:48It takes about 20 minutes to put on the special recovery suit and prepare for the pickup.
32:53The Combat Talon crew takes this time to complete all final checks of the Fulton system.
32:58The man on the ground releases a helium-filled balloon, which carries its pickup line into position and signals the crew that he's ready.
33:09Ready, that is, for the ride of his life.
33:12I've seen a C-130 that hit a bulldozer on takeoff, and it tore out the ramp, the aft part of the airplane,
33:28and it flew about an hour and a half back to Cameron Bay from the forward location with the ramp half hanging out the back of the airplane and made it okay.
33:36I don't think they ever flew the airplane again, but at least it made it back that far.
33:48This strange-looking Hercules is Britain's C Mark II weather plane.
33:53Located behind its long, candy-striped nose is a package of sophisticated weather gear.
33:59The U.S. Air Force, WC-130, isn't as unique on the outside, but the mission it performs is equally as important.
34:08The WC-130 is known as the Hurricane Hunter.
34:12When most pilots try to avoid severe weather, our pilots and our air crews go looking for the worst weather known to mankind.
34:34I'm Lieutenant Colonel Dennis Wood, Commander of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron.
34:39As we're better known, the Hurricane Hunters, we are one of only two such units in the Accu-2 Air Force and one in the Air Force Reserves.
34:47Our primary mission is to fly into the eye of hurricanes in order to gather weather data for the National Hurricane Center,
34:54which they use in forecasting of movement, strength, and development of tropical storms.
35:00Weather officers and drops on systems operators are a part of their weather service,
35:05while the remainder of the personnel are assigned to the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron.
35:10Let's go, Plot Storm.
35:13You fly into the weather environment to look at it, to study it,
35:17whereas in a normal assignment, you usually stay on the ground to do that.
35:22A lot of times we'll go out and fly the same hurricane three, four, five days in a row.
35:26A lot of those times you end up flying about 12 hours.
35:31You come back and land and you have 12 hours of crew rest and you're out again in the same storm the next day.
35:38This particular mission of Navigator is really important because a computer can be used from point to point,
35:43but we don't fly point to point in a storm.
35:45We're trying to draw a line to the center of the storm and it isn't always straight.
35:50Every storm is different. Nothing can be decided ahead of time.
35:53Once you go through the wall, that's probably the busiest time for us.
35:58Not too much thought about the hurricane goes on.
36:03If it's real bumpy, you just try and work the best you can.
36:08We release the sign into the atmosphere and it free falls with a parachute,
36:13sends back pressure, temperature and humidity.
36:15From that we take the data, analyze it, and then send it back to the hurricane center.
36:19Everything's done in a real safe manner.
36:24In over 100,000 flying hours, we've never had a major aircraft accident.
36:28The first storm that I've had that I really think is worth mentioning is the first storm
36:50because it's beautiful to look at.
36:53It's just struck me that I was very fortunate to be able to see a hurricane from that direction.
36:59Not many people have.
37:01I think that we're doing a valuable service for the people of the United States,
37:05but the mission we do will save some lives and help people prepare.
37:09It gives us great satisfaction to be doing that type of humanitarian mission.
37:12Well, there we are.
37:34How about that?
37:36Willie Tower, 320 on the deck after DCA for a right turnoff.
37:40The sound of jet engines and the thump of the world's largest skis
37:49helped bring Antarctica closer to the rest of the world
37:52when the Hercules landed at the South Pole.
37:56It was the first aircraft of its size to do so,
37:59and it would revolutionize efforts in the Antarctic.
38:02Antarctica.
38:24The great white continent stretching over five million square miles
38:29across the bottom half of the world.
38:31For centuries, freezing temperatures and long polar nights
38:44kept the South Pole locked in glacial isolation.
38:48Bridging the territory of cold and distance
38:50has been the dream of every polar explorer.
38:53In 1928, Richard E. Byrd led the first large American expedition into the Antarctic.
39:09Included in the expedition was Byrd's airplane,
39:12a Ford trimotor named the Floyd Bennett,
39:16chosen for its size, strength, and power.
39:18The expedition party struggled with the aircraft,
39:33trying to protect it against the merciless elements.
39:36From the beginning, the land seemed to resist the preparations
39:44for its aerial invasion.
39:49Finally, in November 1928,
39:52the Floyd Bennett was ready for its historic flight.
40:01Months of struggle had led up to the most significant test
40:05of the airplane in the Antarctic.
40:07Byrd planned to fly the Floyd Bennett directly over the South Pole
40:10and photographed the route as he flew.
40:24Byrd and the Floyd Bennett took off on November 29th
40:28from the base camp at Little America.
40:30Those left behind followed his progress by radio.
40:50They cheered and wished him Godspeed as he took off.
40:54Having come this far, Byrd did not fail in the air.
40:58He was jubilant.
41:00Freezing temperatures and icy wind
41:08could not keep the man in his plane from their goal,
41:11the polar center, 90 degrees south.
41:17Byrd dropped the U.S. flag
41:19as he flew over the exact spot.
41:21It was an historic moment.
41:23His dream had been realized,
41:30and his flight was a success.
41:33It marked the beginning of the future of the airplane in Antarctica,
41:37paving the way for a more thorough exploration
41:40of the vast and forbidding continent.
41:42In the 1930s,
41:49Byrd made other trips to Antarctica,
41:52but not always with the same success.
41:55Several airplanes were battered or destroyed in the wind and cold.
41:58In later years,
42:00skis and prop jet engines would help realize the dream of polar flight
42:04and open other areas of the continent for exploration.
42:08Hercules arrived well equipped for the job,
42:28landing on the world's largest skis,
42:3120 feet long, weighing one ton apiece.
42:33The LC-130 can land on a remote ice shelf
42:37as gracefully as on a dry runway.
42:49From the beginning,
42:50LC-130 supported the Navy's operation Deep Freeze,
42:54along with other scientific projects at the pole.
42:57They revolutionized exploration of the Great White Continent,
43:04taking scientists to formerly unreachable spots.
43:08Hercules provided a lifeline of food, fuel, and supplies
43:12to these remote outposts.
43:27At the other end of the world,
43:35the L-100, stretched commercial Hercules,
43:38hauled 100 million average pounds of supplies,
43:41food, and equipment to Alaska's oil fields.
43:44Hercules also assisted in the transportation
43:47of construction materials for the Alaska oil pipeline.
43:50The Hercules worldwide fleet has logged
43:57almost 19 million flight hours
44:00with a history of safety and reliability.
44:09The C-130 Hercules, the workhorse of the jet age.
44:14A one-airplane air force.
44:44The Thejähr
45:03The C-130 Hercules
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