Tag Archives: lockheed

Technology

Atlantic hurricane season begins early, again,1st WC-130J Hurricane Hunter launched!

Video

“Mother Nature doesn’t operate on a calendar, so this is a reminder to always be prepared.”-Colonel Jeffrey A. Van Dootingh, 403rd Wing USAF Reserve

U.S. Air Force photo by Technical Sergeant Christopher Carranza, 16MAY2020.

Despite the Atlantic Hurricane Season not officially starting until June, on 16MAY2020 the U.S. Air Force Reserve launched its hurricane tracking WC-130J aircraft based at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi.

USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Christopher Carranza, 16MAY2020.

The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron is concerned about a possible developing tropical depression or storm near the Bahamas (on 16MAY2020 it was called Invest 90L).

USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Christopher Carranza, 16MAY2020.

Short video of first WC-130J launch of 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season:

On 17MAY2020, Invest 90L became Tropical Storm Arthur.  This is the sixth year in a row that a Tropical Storm developed in May.

USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Christopher Carranza, 16MAY2020.

During ‘invest’ flights the WC-130Js fly at low altitudes (500 to 1,500 feet, 152 to 457 meters) to determine if there is a closed circulation.  Once a system becomes a storm the WC-130Js fly at higher altitudes (5,000 to 10,000 feet, 1524 to 3048 meters), and fly through the eye of the storm several times during a mission. Dropsondes are launched from the aircraft into the storm, which then communicate with the National Hurricane Center via satellite link.  (What’s a storm tracking Dropsonde?)

WC-130J & WP-3D: HUNTING DORIAN

WC-130J SUPER HERCULES TRACKS HURRICANE HARVEY

AIRBORNE HURRICANE HUNTERS, WHEN DID IT ALL START?

Influenza, Technology

Does the ‘C’ in C-130 stand for CoViD?

Video

“FEMA notified the Coast Guard of the need March 27, and we worked collectively for a whole of government response to expedite the timely delivery.”-Captain Craig O’Brien, U.S. Coast Guard 14th District

Video, HC-130 load-up at Air Station Barbers Point, Hawaii, 31MAR2020:

Under Federal Emergency Management Agency direction, a U.S. Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules flew CoViD-19 medical supplies to the U.S. territory of American Somoa.

Time lapse video of C-130 landing on Pago Pago International Airport, American Samoa, 01APR2020:

American Samoa is a collection of five islands in the South Pacific, approximately 2-thousand-6-hundred miles southwest of Hawaii.  Many of the 64-thousand residents work for the U.S. military.

“Military aircraft are a workhorse throughout the world, and in the Coast Guard, we frequently use our HC-130 Hercules planes to deliver necessary supplies and equipment. This is especially true in the Pacific, where we seek to overcome vast distances and challenging timelines.”-Commander James Morrow

Video of cargo followed by HC-130 take-off:

HC-130J: FLORIDA GETS A NEW COMBAT KING IN TIME FOR HURRICANE SEASON

Operation CoViD-19: FEMA’S EMERGENCY AIRLIFT REVEALED!

Technology

Indian Hercules appears in North Dakota

Video

U.S. Air Force photo by Airman First Class Elora J. Martinez, 13JAN2018.

In January 2018 an Indian Air Force C-130J Super Hercules landed at Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota.

USAF photo by Airman First Class Elora J. Martinez, 13JAN2018.

USAF photo by Airman First Class Elora J. Martinez, 13JAN2018.

USAF photo by Airman First Class Elora J. Martinez, 13JAN2018.

USAF photo by Airman First Class Elora J. Martinez, 13JAN2018.

Video by Airman First Class Oriana Beard (for some reason sent with no audio):

 

The Indian Hercules’ next stop was McChord AFB, Washington, for exercise Vajra Prahar.

SINGAPORE’S INVASION OF IDAHO’S MOUNTAIN HOME AFB!

SKI-BIRD AND THE HIMARS

Technology

Ski Bird and the HIMARS

Video

“We need to make sure we have the training and capability to deal with conflict or competition in the Arctic. With more and more shipping and cruise ships happening in the Arctic, we can supplement search and rescue capabilities if needed. We also have the ability to sustain forward operating locations, refueling points and extend the military range into the Arctic Circle.”-Captain Eric Chan, New York Air National Guard, totally referencing the fact that climate change has greatly increased Russia’s activity in the Arctic

In October 2019 an upgraded  LC-130H Ski Bird was loaded with a HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) for the first time.  This was in preparation for Arctic Edge-20, held from 24FEB2020 to 06MAR2020 in Alaska.

Allen Army Airfield, Alaska.

New York Air National Guard’s 109th Airlift Wing flew their LC-130H, with upgraded Rolls-Royce T56 series 3.5 turbines and NP2000 props, to Alaska to link up with U.S. Marine Corps’ 5th Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment.

There they up-loaded a M142 HIMARS and transported it to an Arctic firing range.

A few fun videos for your entertainment:

Vehicle I-D: LC-130 À LA SKIS

Kit Bashing, Technology

Vehicle I-D: LC-130H à La skis, can I get skis for my model C-130 kit?

Video

A New York Air National Guard Crew Chief inspects the landing gear on a ‘Skibird’ LC-130H Hercules on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, 06MAR2020. U.S. Air Force photo by Technical Sergeant Scott Fremming.

Video report from October 2019, first time LC-130H-upgrade is loaded with HIMARS:

A New York Air National Guard LC-130H arrives at the Paris Air Show, 16JUN2019.

This LC-130H has been updated with the NP2000 propellers, Paris Air Show, 19JUN2019.

Not all Skibird’s operate in snowy conditions. This upgraded LC-130H is ferrying New York Army National Guard Soldiers to Puerto Rico. New York Army National Guard photo by Sergeant Alexander Rector, 11APR2019.

New York Air Guard’s SkiBird helping Canadians build ‘SkiWay’ landing strip in the Arctic, 11APR2019.

New York Air National Guard’s 109th Airlift Wing offloads cargo in Greenland, on 26APR2019.

Video, Senior Master Sergeant explains the craziness of airfield ops in Antarctica:

Video from March 2019, explaining what a LC-130 Crew Chief does:

New York Air National Guard’s 109th Airlift Wing’s LC-130, McMurdo Station, Antarctica 15JAN2019.

New York Air National Guard’s 109th Airlift Wing LC-130 (upgraded with evil British empire Rolls-Royce T56 series 3.5/NP2000 props), McMurdo Station, Antarctica, 17DEC2018.

Grass field take-off?  No, it’s the camera angle.  NY National Guard’s LC-130 takes off for Antarctica, 06SEP2018.

LC-130(F-H?) in Antarctica, 23JUL2017.

The Common Science Support Pod, or IcePod, houses a variety of instruments to meausure changes in the Antarctic ice sheet.

Some ‘scientist’ from Colombia University explaining how the IcePod works.  To find out more go here:  https://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/res/pi/icepod/

New York Air National Guard LC-130H Hercules-Skibird takes-off near the Canadian Task Force base camp on Little Cornwallis Island, Nunavut, during Operation NUNALIVUT, 10APR2016.
Canadian Armed Forces photo by Corporal Parks.

New York Air National Guard LC-130H Hercules-Skibird arrives on Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. Canadian Armed Forces photo by Petty Officer Second Class Belinda Jeromchuk, 10APR2016.

2016 video report on Canadian Forces Operation Nunalivut, note the wing flex on the older LC-130H as it lands:

Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, 27JUN2016.

January 2014, Pegasus Field, Antarctica, problems with landing gear being rectified.

Leaving Antarctica, 02FEB2011.

McMurdo Station, Antarctica, 2007.

Rocket assisted take-off from Greenland, 2003.  For some reason it’s officially called Jet Assisted Take Off (JATO) even though it’s actually rockets.  With the new Rolls-Royce T56 series 3.5 turbine/NP2000 props JATO is no longer needed.

Several of the New York Air National Guard’s LC-130Hs were former U.S. Navy LC-130Rs from VXE-6.

Airmodel makes a 1:72 scale conversion set that includes skis for LC-130.

Max Decals #7211

Out-of-print MicroScale #72-195

SNOWBLIND: C-130 OHIO C-17 PENNSYLVANIA

KODIAK MACE 2019: USMC KC-130J VID FEST!

MODEL KIT EC-130J GETS SPECIAL HANDLING BY NATIONAL GUARD!

VEHICLE I-D: NORMANDY PAINTED C-130 HERCULES

THAT’S NOT A C-130J, IT’S STILL THE OLD C-130H!

Technology

NASA ‘climate spy plane’ proves California’s strict anti-pollution laws are a joke!

Video

08 November 2019 (03:37 UTC-07 Tango 06) 17 Aban 1398/10 Rabi ‘al-Awwal 1441/12 Yi-Hai 4717

NASA pilot suits-up for an ER-2 AVIRIS-NG mission high over Hawaii, February 2018. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Corporal Luke Kuennen.

Six decades after California set the first global standards for industrial anti-air-pollution laws the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) has proven those (and subsequent) laws to be laughable.

NASA ER-2 preps for a mission from Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, February 2018. USMC photo by Lance Corporal Luke Kuennen.

NASA used it’s modified U-2R/TR-1A, called the ER-2 (Earth Resources-2), to inspect industrial air pollution, scanning the ground from near-space (65-thousand feet/19-thousand-812 meters): “Before the pilots even take off, we put them on 100% oxygen for an hour to get all of the nitrogen out of their systems. It’s similar to what scuba divers can face. If they have nitrogen in their system, they can end up getting what they call the bends, and it’ll be a really bad day for that pilot.”-Wason Miles, ER-2 life support crew, from 2018 interview concerning the HyspIRI preparatory airborne mission over Hawaii

Liquid nitrogen is used to cool the ER-2’s hyperspectral thermal emission spectrometer. USMC photo by Lance Corporal Luke Kuennen.

The two years long NASA-California methane mission resulted in the AVIRIS-NG ( Airborne Visible InfraRed Imaging Spectrometer-Next Generation) system, onboard the ER-2, discovering dozens of what NASA calls methane “super-emitters”(published 06NOV2019) across the Los Angeles area.  This why I say California’s progressively ‘tougher’ anti-pollution laws failed.  I lived in California when those anti-pollution laws began driving out many industries causing the loss of thousands of jobs just in the Los Angeles area, in the 1970s-80s.  The exalted lawmakers of The Golden State then started playing games with their own anti-pollution laws, trying to woo back major employers.  NASA’s California methane mission revealed that the industrial sector of the Los Angeles area is still pumping out clouds of pollution, even with stricter air quality laws and fewer industrial operations.

NASA photo by Jim Ross, 13JUL2006.

Boring 2018 lecture type NASA explainer video about how AVIRIS detects and maps methane emissions:

NASA photo by Lori Losey, August 2001.

2017 NASA video explainer of their climate-spy-plane AVIRIS system:

ER-2 tail#706, over Edwards AFB, California, 04NOV1997. NASA photo by Carla Thomas.

In the 1990s, NASA had three ER-2s, but now has two.  The other ER-2 was returned to the U.S. Air Force.

ER-2 tail#709. NASA photo by Tony Landis, 18FEB1998.

Lockheed ER-2 tail#809 cockpit. NASA photo by Tony Landis, 11DEC1999.

ER-2 #809 receives fuel outside Arena Artica hangar in Kiruna, Sweden. SAGE-3 Ozone Loss & Validation Experiment (SOLVE), January 2000. NASA photo by Jim Ross.

ER-2 #809 in Kiruna, Sweden for SAGE-3 Ozone Loss & Validation Experiment (SOLVE), January 2000. NASA photo by Jim Ross.

The ER-2, which has been in use for decades, can be equipped with a variety of sensors.

Large Area Collector sensor for a cosmic dust collection. NASA photo by Tom Tschida, 24APR2009.

ER-2 under-wing mounted cosmic dust collector pod. NASA photo by Tom Tschida, 24APR2009.

ER-2 Tropical Cloud Systems and Processes (TCSP) mission over Costa Rica, 06JUL2005. NASA photo by Bill Ingalls.

May 2010 pic of NASA’s ER-2 overflying the British Petroleum’s Deepwater Horizon Gulf of Mexico oil spill. NASA photo by Regan Geeseman.

VEHICLE ID: 61 YEARS LATER U-2 & TR-1 STILL FLYING HIGH, COOL VIDEO!

NASA’S DC-8 CLIMATE WARRIOR

IDAHO, KANSAS, UTAH HOME BASES FOR NASA’S FIREX-AQ!

UNMANNED MILITARY SPACE SHUTTLE BREAKS RECORD IN SPACE

SUPER GUPPY BE OLD, BUT NASA STILL USES IT!

Technology

Vehicle I-D: Last ‘Spooky’ days of the AC-130U Gunship?

Video

On 08JUL2019, some of the last AC-130U ‘Spooky’ with the 4th Special Operations Squadron returned from a recent deployment.

AC-130Us have been on constant deployment since 2001, but are supposed to soon be replaced by the new AC-130J Ghostrider.

U.S. Air Force video report by Staff Sergeant Marleah Cabano:

A Spooky sight at Hurlburt Field, Florida, 08JUL2019.

Here’s a cool video of the homecoming:

Welcome home!

Big Daddy AC-130U:

Black Letter Last Flight

Technology, U.S.

Kentucky dog trains to rescue Alaskans from a HC-130J!

Video

Tennessee Air National Guard photo by Staff Sergeant Darby Arnold, 25JUN2019.

K9 Callie and her handler, Technical Sergeant Rudy Parsons, a para-rescueman (aka Para-Jumper, PJ) with the 123rd Special Tactics Squadron, Kentucky Air National Guard, wait to jump into the icy water off Alaska, 25JUN2019.

Tennessee Air National Guard photo by Staff Sergeant Darby Arnold, 25JUN2019.

Video (by SSgt Darby Arnold) of people jumping out of a perfectly good Alaskan National Guard HC-130J Combat King-2 (I think the dog was just along for the ride on this one):

Tennessee Air National Guard photo by Staff Sergeant Darby Arnold, 25JUN2019.

K9 Callie, a Dutch Shepherd, trained for search and rescue, sits on the ramp of an HC-130J aircraft awaiting training at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, 25JUN2019.

VEHICLE I-D: ALASKA MILITIA GETS NEW HC-130J

THAT’S NOT A C-130J, IT’S STILL THE OLD C-130H!

Technology

Vehicle ID: That’s not a C-130J, it’s still the old C-130H!

Image

“When we add these modifications to all of our aircraft, we will greatly increase the reliability and performance of the C-130H, and the overall lethality of the United States Air Force.”-Colonel Justin Walrath, Wyoming Air National Guard’s 153rd Airlift Wing

You can’t count on those six bladed props to tell you that you’re looking at a C-130J Super Hercules anymore.  The following pics are an old school C-130H upgraded with new engines and props that might make it look like a C-130J to the casual observer, along with a few other things.

The Wyoming Air National Guard is proud to be the first operator of the first C-130H upgraded with ‘J-like’ components.  Wyoming was chosen in 2008 to get and try out upgraded C-130Hs.

The C-130J has six bladed props.

C-130J Super Hercules. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Harry Brexel, 03FEB2017.

Most obvious change for upgraded C-130H are the turbines and eight bladed air-screws (evil British empire Rolls-Royce T56 series 3.5 with NP2000 props).  The modifications took place over 18 months at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas.

Upgraded C-130H Hercules. U.S. Air Force photo by Samuel King Junior, 11JAN2018.

Initial testing took place at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.  Supposedly the C-130H modifications mean various state National Guard units will save taxpayer money versus buying the C-130J.

HARVEY: GEORGIA MILITIA DEPLOYS C-130H!

WC-130J SUPER HERCULES TRACKS HURRICANE HARVEY

VEHICLE I-D: ALASKA MILITIA GETS NEW HC-130J

STOP YOUR BITCHIN’! FEMALE PILOT TELLS YOU WHY SHE FLIES MAFFS

MAFFS BOMBS IDAHO!

Technology

Vehicle I-D: Alaska Militia gets new HC-130J

Video

The happy new operators of a brand new HC-130J, picking up their ride from the Lockheed Martin facility in Greenville, South Carolina, 01JUN2017. Alaska Air National Guard photo by Staff Sergeant Edward Eagerton.

On 03JUN2017, Alaska Air National Guard’s 211th Rescue Squadron, on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, got its first HC-130J.  It was such a big deal that it looks like all the base personnel turned out to witness the arrival of Super Hercules:

The HC-130J Combat King-2 arrives on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, 03JUN2017. Alaska Air National Guard photo by Technical Sergeant Nancy Goldberger.

The HC-130J, aka Combat King-2, is designed as a long range Search & Rescue (SaR) aircraft, specializing in rescues during combat, as well as being a long range surveillance aircraft.

U.S. Coast Guard HC-130J in Waco, Texas, awaiting electronics upgrades, 11MAY2017. U.S. Coast Guard photo.

VEHICLE I-D: NTC AND THE BRADLEY

Drugs, the American Way: ALASKA MILITIA PREPS FOR HEROIN EPIDEMIC!