60th year of the C-130

A Royal Air Force Hercules

2014 marks the 60th year since the first flight of the C-130 aircraft which is one of the most successful aircraft since the second world war. The C-130 or 'Hercules' as it is affectionately called, makes up 21% of the active military transport fleet in the world. That puts it top with a distant second place being the King Air making up 6%. The result is 900 Hercules in active military service around the world at this time, but it is no surprise as it is an effective tried and tested design.

The Hercules has many features that makes it so desirable amongst the world's market.  The aircraft is versatile as it does not require a fully prepared runway to land on and it has an extremely flexible cargo bay for transporting various loads.  The cargo bay also means that air drops are easy to achieve due to the ramp being possible to lower and allow cargo or paratroopers to easily drop out of the back.

The Hercules has been developed into many roles over its 60 year period however it is still most commonly used as a transport aircraft.  Other roles have included the gunship variant (AC-130) which is used for ground attack; air to air refuelling tanker variant (KC-130) and there are as well numerous other variants.

It is important to realise the grand scale of the use of the aircraft with over 2,300 having been built with operators in 71 different countries. One could easily claim it to be Lockheed's finest aircraft and those that fly it do seem to love flying it.

The Hercules has seen off its competition over the years and its latest competitor, the Airbus A400M, has also been struggling to compete with lengthy delays and significant cost overruns. The A400M does however have the backing of numerous European nations and will come into service starting this year with a greater payload and range to offer. The Americans are however looking to the next generation of strategic airlifters with a greater payload and range desired.