Lockheed C-130

Aircraft Information
Aircraft Make: Lockheed
Aircraft Model: C130
Aircraft Nickname: Hercules
Aircraft Mil Civ Description: Airplane ME Turboprop
Category: Airplane
Class: Multi Engine Land
Engine Description: Twin Engine

First Flown Information
Sequence First Flown:
Date First Flown: 01/09/1991
Location First Flown: NAS Patuxent River, MD
Who and/or What Organization First Flown With: VMR-352, Andy L

Aircraft Experience
As of: 07/29/2020
Number of Hours Flown: 12
Number of Times Flown: 8
Other Aircraft Models Associated: KC-130, L-382, L-100

Recollections:

–The P-3 and the C-130 share the same engines (though one of them is “upside down” compared to the other…a source of debate between Orion and Hercules pilots) but that’s where the similarity stops. The C-130 is the “pickup truck” of large airplanes, tough and capable.
–I ended up flying a KC-130 with a Marine Corps refueling squadron, VMGR-352. This was right before Desert Storm and the Marines had been working on a project to include defensive counter-measures onto the KC-130. It was being tested at NAS Patuxent River and my skipper at TPS (“Big Bob” Price) suggested that a few of us accompany him on the airplane to finish the project and get it over into the theatre “in case it was needed”. I had familiarity with the defensive systems installed on the “one of a kind” KC-130 at Pax River, because they were very similar to a project I’d assisted with on the P-3 (both airplanes can use whatever defensive help they can get!).
–I flew the airplane 8 times (I believe first transiting to Bahrain, then doing some local training sorties out of Bahrain and, finally, on the first wave of Operation Desert Storm, when I the opportunity to watch the professionals of the VMGR-352 “Raiders” fly what I remember as a 4-ship, night-time refueling mission that was just flat-out amazing. The threat from the Iraqi’s was briefed as being extensive but, in the end, the might of the US Military dwarfed any response.