23, 1954, at Lockheed’s Burbank, California, plant. The first flight of YC-130 took place on Aug. The then-Lockheed Aircraft Corporation won the competition and was contracted to produce two prototype YC-130 aircraft on July 2, 1951. Air Force Tactical Air Command issued a specification in early 1951 for a new medium cargo transport. Air Force realized it did not have a true military transport capable of airlifting combat troops over medium distances and delivering them to short, austere airfields. The Hercules is known for its ability to tackle any mission, anywhere, at any time.Īs the U.S. Seventy countries operate C-130s, which have been produced in more than 70 different variants.įrom the highest of air strips in the Himalayas to landing on aircraft carrier runways in the middle of the ocean, the C-130 regularly-and proudly-defies expectations. To date, more than 2,500 C-130s have been ordered and/or delivered to 63 nations around the world. Those who design, build, fly, support and maintain a Hercules often say the plane is without a doubt the world’s most proven workhorse- and for good reason. The C-130 has the longest, continuous military aircraft production run in history and one of the top three longest, continuous aircraft production lines of any type. Some models are flown as commercial transports. The Hercules has been used to drop bombs, retrieve satellites in midair, conduct reconnaissance and attack ground targets with cannons. Aircrews have flown it to both poles, landed or airdropped military supplies to hot spots from Vietnam to Afghanistan and performed countless relief operations around the globe. Since its first flight in 1954, the Hercules has been everywhere and done just about anything. It can be said without fear of contradiction that the C-130 Hercules is one of the most important aircraft in aviation history.
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