RAF C-130 History

[warranyofficerboy]

All of the 12 Hercules aircraft delivered to 48 Squadron at RAF Changi had consecutive serial numbers. Not sure but I think they ran XV-199 to XV-210.

The Lyneham/Fairford to Changi freighter flights initially trialled changing/slipping the flight deck crews at RAF Muharraq in Bahrain; but not the poor old Air Loadmasters, who had to soldier on for the entire flight between UK and Singapore. This crass decision was quickly rescinded as it was patently a flight safety accident in waiting.

The Hercules was a leap forward in air transport capability for the RAF after the payload restrictive Argosy and Hastings. At RAF Changi 48 Squadron initially had a standing order for flying an empty Hercules with two 45 gallon drums of water loaded at the front of the freight bay for so-called weight and balance purposes. This was an error of judgement on the part of those running matters in the squadron and was stopped after they were ridiculed by our RNZAF and RAAF brethren who had been flying C-130's for some years before the RAF..

At the same time as the Hercules were bought, Condec 25K transfer loading vehicles were bought to enable the loading/offloading of three pallets at a time. The RAF MT budget at the time either had no money to purchase said vehicles, or the MT senior officers would not cough up the readies. The Supply/Logistics branch at the time controlled the budget for acquisition of ground support machinery and cunningly used this budget to buy the wonderful Condec 25K vehicles. To add insult to injury, the Supply/Logistics branch then arranged for courses to be run for non-MT personnel to become qualified in 'operating' (driving) the Condec.. This may seem strange, but the MT trade was famous for its strict adherence to 'Trade Union Procedures' and viewed by some as a very "Challenging" organisation to deal with at all times. Some years later common sense prevailed and the Condec 25K vehicles eventually received number plates and 'became' vehicles once again.

The C-130 Hercules and 25K Condecs were purchased by a Labour Government led by Harold Wilson and are, in my opinion, one of the best military acquisitions programmes in UK Military history. Regrettably, the same Government cut the pay of military personnel at the same time. 

[PLC1966]

Interesting stories fella but a bit out of the blue, what initiated this ?

 

No shocks about the Door Slammers though....

[oldmodeler]

Ah, yes, worked the C130H  on the pan at Brize/Lyneham and Akrotiri etc. Part of 4624 Movements, (weekend wonders). the Hercs were bought without the US-type rolling floor, that was bodged from  the Beverly; winch etc. all to save money, so the flat-flor was a a pain. 4624 'liberated' souvenirs  wherever they went, back to the SWAMP (Sancturary for Worn-out Air-Movements Personel) . Herc was very robust, but I would sidle away when they were looking for qualified Condec or Fork-lift drivers in case I put a couple of holes in the side with the tines.  Insides got very tatty , with the dust, diesel, hydrolic-fluid and dirt.  Even managed to put a Tracked Raper on one, -after we remembered to drain the water ballast.   MT were a strange lot that didn't like us much.

[Aeronut]

The roller floor for the K Hercs was called Skydel and had more in common with the roller floor for the Britannia, Argosy, VC10 and Andover than it did with the Beverley; although I'll give you the Beverley winch was used. I can appreciate that you as a mover would prefer the American Dash 4a Roller floor but as a system for airdrop it has been the cause for a number of fatal crashes, something that cannot be laid at Skydel's door.

[tonyot]

I`ve flown quite a bit in the old Herk,........ end even landed in a few too,........... I`ve been wondering why the IWM at Duxford never received one of the Herk Mk.I`s or 3`s after they were withdrawn from service,.......... after all they have been involved in every war fought by the UK since they were bought.  It is such a shame that only one has been preserved in the UK,...at Cosford and there isn`t even a gate guard. As Lyneham has been retained for non flying purposes by the MoD one could have been put on the gate there to replace the sadly departed Comet.

 

Cheers

             Tony 

[fatalbert]

1 hour ago, tonyot said:

I`ve flown quite a bit in the old Herk,........ end even landed in a few too,........... I`ve been wondering why the IWM at Duxford never received one of the Herk Mk.I`s or 3`s after they were withdrawn from service,.......... after all they have been involved in every war fought by the UK since they were bought.  It is such a shame that only one has been preserved in the UK,...at Cosford and there isn`t even a gate guard. As Lyneham has been retained for non flying purposes by the MoD one could have been put on the gate there to replace the sadly departed Comet.

 

Cheers

             Tony 

I was told that they were offered one but declined it,they are hoping for an American gun ship apparantly.

[Bell209]

15 hours ago, tonyot said:

I`ve been wondering why the IWM at Duxford never received one of the Herk Mk.I`s or 3`s after they were withdrawn from service,.......... after all they have been involved in every war fought by the UK since they were bought.

Very short-sighted. The AWM hasn't got a Herc, either - despite the C-130H visiting every theatre of operations Australia (and some of our Allies) have been involved in during its service and seeing action in more theatres than any other RAAF aircraft in history. Apparently, they now want one but the only two left are a very long way from being able to fly to Canberra from Richmond - an air distance of about 250 km. I don't hold out much hope...

[tonyot]

Thanks for the replies,.......I just cannot see why Duxford want a USAF gunship,.......... they were not even based in the UK and it wouldn`t fit into the American hangar anyway,......... the `Imperial' in the title would seem to suggest a British bias when it came to collecting exhibits over American,..... maybe Duxford should be reminded of this!

Cheers

            Tony 

[rholland]

12 hours ago, Bell209 said:

Very short-sighted. The AWM hasn't got a Herc, either - despite the C-130H visiting every theatre of operations Australia (and some of our Allies) have been involved in during its service and seeing action in more theatres than any other RAAF aircraft in history. Apparently, they now want one but the only two left are a very long way from being able to fly to Canberra from Richmond - an air distance of about 250 km. I don't hold out much hope...

The RNZAF is still operating the C-130H, we could send you one when finally they are out of service. After all, you were so generous in letting us have your Skyhawks...

 

Richard in NZ

[AMB]

I think it's also short-sighted that the RAF Museum at Cosford have preserved a Mk.3 Herk instead of an original Mk.1, which means they can never repaint it in the two-tone brown/black delivery camo.

Regarding the 48 Sqn. deliveries, by pure chance I photographed XV208 at RAF Colerne before delivery to 48 Sqn. in its original brown camo in October 1967. It later became the weather research W.2 'Snoopy'. 

[stevehnz]

On 3/03/2017 at 1:44 PM, rholland said:

The RNZAF is still operating the C-130H, we could send you one when finally they are out of service. After all, you were so generous in letting us have your Skyhawks...

 

Richard in NZ

Richard is onto it, I can see that when we replace our C-130Hs & Boeing 757s with Embraer KC-390s in a few years we'll do museums a good rate on our Hercs, keeping one for ourselves of course.

Steve.

[Bell209]

We've done well with ours - one of each C-130A/E/H to the RAAF Museum where they're stored outside next to the ocean to ensure the best corrosive environment but no-one else got one! That said, the C-130's that were too old for further service are now flying with Pakistan (six refurbished and upgraded C-130Es) and Indonesia (eight refurbished C-130Hs)! I reckon the Kiwis had the right idea refurbishing theirs for further service in the RNZAF.