Pakistan Air Force: C-130 Hercules Tactical Transport Wing 1992 – Part 3
The Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules was developed against a 1951 requirement for a new Tactical Transport to equip the Military Air Transport Service. The USAF ordered two YC-130 prototypes from Lockheed in July 1951 and it flew for the first time on August 23, 1954. The first production C-130 flew in April 1955. The Hercules established the basic military transport configuration, with a high wing with minimal obstruction of the fuselage and a rear folding loading freight ramp. Other features included Allison T56 turboprops, pressurisation and limited VSOTL performance. Apart from the blunt radarless nose of the early production C-130As, the external configuration has still remained unchanged. The improved C-130B entered service in mid 1959 and introduced a more powerful engine driving four balde propellors, strengthened undercarriage and greater fuel capacity. In 1961 production switched to the C-130E with more powerful engines with greater Hot and High performance, increased max takeoff weight, some structural strengthening and larger external fuel tanks. C-130H introduced in 1965 featured more powerful engines and updated avionics. The C-130H-30 is stretched by 4.57m (15ft) but is otherwise similar to the C-130H. The C-130H production ceased in 1996, with 690 built. Civil C-130 are designated L-100 and have been built in three versions. L-100 with regular length, L-100-20 are further stretched and L-100-30 are the size of the C-130H-30. C-130 has now come out with the <b>…</b>
