C-130 - 60 years in service.

Nice article in Stars & Stripes about the longest in production, longest use airplane ever used by the military.
I always liked the sound of these things going overhead when I lived near Elmendorf AFB.
Something about a big, heavy prop job I guess.

"C-130 rolling down the strip. Airborne daddy gonna take a little trip."
(No I wasn't Airborne - wasn't even Army. But I remember the song well enough.)
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Thanks for posting, I always wanted to fly one, have had a couple of rides great airplane.
GB in MN

I thought we were still using some B-52's?

Spent a lot of hours cruising southeast Asia aboard hurkybirds, c-123, c-47 during the war. C-130 is a great platform for getting the job done. Hats off to the engineering folks and the usaf for keeping the old work horse flying. Great bird to go out the door of. "Stand up, hook up" oh yea!

The link below is information on the 109th Airlift Wing, nearby, they constantly train and fly these over my house, and over the other farm, 30 miles north, which seems to be closer, but within the same radius.

I know one, thing, one of those darned things just about buzzed the tree tops, yes I am exaggerating just a little, but I have never in all my years seen one fly that low, and I never saw it coming, I was on the 3600 spreading manure, just about jumped out of the seat, scared the h$ll out of me, had no idea, they are loud at close quarters!

Ironically when the Liberty Belle, the B17 that was lost a few years back, was at this air base, it strafed the trees and I was out in the back of the barn near a pile of manure and that was quite loud, I knew what it was before it got here, wish I had video of that one, very loud as well, but I heard it coming.

I've seen them fly over here since I was a kid, I've seen the ones with the ski's on, they are a regular fixture here, mostly afternoons, and repeated short flights out and back.
Wikpedia Article

109th Airlift Wing

Airforce C130 60th

How many letter versions are there of that plane? Have they started reusing the first letters of the alphabet yet or do they use two letters now?

Quote from the air force article:

"The C-130J, which is the latest version of the venerable platform, was introduced February of 1999."

Montana Air Guard just started flying them around here.

flew in a trip from Kelly afb to Nellis one time. The pilot had the wheel cocked 45 degrees to the left. I asked if we were taking on side winds that bad... "nope" he said.. "This is c130"d" was in Nam and a mortor attack took off the right wing, and the crew used a wing off another c130 that was hit. That wing was off a c130b and its 6 inches shorter." Dont know if it was true but we made there for our tour and made it back home.

I just googled it, the B 52 did not go into active service till 55.

tough call on who"s the most senior in production, do upgrades to the original plane count as production? here"s some b-52 facts. Bill

:The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is a long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) since the 1950s. The bomber is capable of carrying up to 70,000 pounds (32,000 kg) of weapons.[4]

Beginning with the successful contract bid in June 1946, the B-52 design evolved from a straight-wing aircraft powered by six turboprop engines to the final prototype YB-52 with eight turbojet engines and swept wings. The B-52 took its maiden flight in April 1952. Built to carry nuclear weapons for Cold War-era deterrence missions, the B-52 Stratofortress replaced the Convair B-36. A veteran of several wars, the B-52 has dropped only conventional munitions in combat. The B-52"s official name Stratofortress is rarely used in informal circumstances, and it has become common to refer to the aircraft as the BUFF (Big Ugly Fat Fu##er).[5][N 1]

The B-52 has been in active service with the USAF since 1955. As of 2012, 85 were in active service with nine in reserve. The bombers flew under the Strategic Air Command (SAC) until it was inactivated in 1992 and its aircraft absorbed into the Air Combat Command (ACC); in 2010 all B-52 Stratofortresses were transferred from the ACC to the new Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). Superior performance at high subsonic speeds and relatively low operating costs have kept the B-52 in service despite the advent of later, more advanced aircraft, including the canceled Mach 3 B-70 Valkyrie, the variable-geometry B-1 Lancer, and the stealth B-2 Spirit. The B-52 completed fifty years of continuous service with its original operator in 2005; after being upgraded between 2013 and 2015, it is expected to serve into the 2040s.[N 2]

OK, the age old question & not to stir the pot (much, LOL), why did Lockheed install the Allison T-56's upside down on the Herc's rather than the "correct" way as we had on the P-3 Orion's?

by the way, don't get me wrong I still respect the c-130 , I just saw one yesterday afternoon flying north, high enough I couldn't tell the color. (thought it might have been a piston engine era till I heard the turbo's. Bill

I think so but production was stopped long ago. My father joined the Air Force in 48 and retired in 69 and worked on B-52'S. Greg

Jerry- Definitely a workhorse over the years. All five of my jump school jumps were out of a C130....quite a wild introduction to the paratroopers.....jump speed 140 knots (160 mph). Quite a few of the later jumps also out of one, along with C119, C46, C47, Huey chopper. But nothing matches the butt-kick and noise of the Herk. Except maybe the 4 row aircraft my SSgt Dau jumps out of, and I can"t remember the nomenclature.

If I had a dollar for every mile I'd flown sitting sideways in a 130 with some guys knees in my crotch I could pay off the farm. Any other poor schlub that flew sideways in 130 knows exactly what I'm talking about. A knee in your crotch and a puke bag in your hand. Fun. Great airplane though.

Heh Heh . . .couldn't help myself. Figured I'd get a rise out of someone else familiar with this age old debate that appears to still be alive. ;-)

Lockheed would love to sell you an LM-100J Super Hercules for $65,000,000 with a 2017 delivery date.

Last B-52's were the H models from 1960 and 1961. They were supposed to be gone 30 years ago but they don't appear to be going anywhere soon. My first Assignment in the Air Force was with the 410BMW at K.I. Sawyer AFB in upper Michigan. The week I in-processed someone explained a few things- the B-52 was designed for a 2,000 hour service life, the lowest time bird we had on the field was north of 4,100 hours. While at Sawyer I saw many firsts for the wing the first all girl crew on a KC-135 first launches where the aircraft was older than all the crew members (KC-135 & B-52) This was in 1985, those birds now have to be at 6,000 plus hours. In the 80's we had "holes" in the birds, 100 flying B-52s but we were short on some parts so all 100 couldn't be flown at once. The Air Force has a PDM (Programmed Depot Maintenance) system where all aircraft were rotated through an Air Logistics Center for major maintenance. When a bird arrived for maintenance some parts where removed and installed on the next bird to leave. One part I was familiar with was control yokes, over the years we broke a few. Eventually we used up all the spares purchased with the aircraft, so they would pull control yokes from the newly arrived PDM birds to install in the completed PDM birds. When I was in we thought it was funny some guys were flying the same aircraft their fathers did, now I can imagine we could find 3rd generation crew members, young crew members flying the very same tail numbers their grandfathers and fathers did. The B-52, KC 135 and C-130 all represent a time when the best stuff in the world came from the USA

How does the C-133 fit into the line-up.
In the early/mid 60's they frequently flew freight to Thule.

During the Iraq War, I was privy to an email from a Marine Captain who was flying supplies into Baghdad International before the airport was entirely secured and it was possible to pick up ground fire on the way in and out.

The Captain had perfected a maneuver where he went in at night with all lights off on the airplane and using night vision goggles, crossed the end of the runway at 90 degrees with the runway to his right, and at 6,000 feet altitude. He then threw the airplane into a 270 degree left turn, lost 5,600 feet altitude in the process, rolled out of the turn lined up with the runway, dropped it in on the first brick, stood on the brakes, reversed the props, and stopped in less then a quarter of a mile.

Everyday stuff with a fighter, but try it with a loaded C-130. The Captain did it once with a brand new Lieutenant for a co-pilot. Somewhere on the way down, the Lieutenant peed his pants.

google C17....pic won"t load