I found out the other day that the C-130H aircraft that I used to maintain at Dyess AFB, Texas have either been retired, turned into ground trainers or transferred to other bases. The last C-130H left Dyess on 26 September 2012.
For 37 years Dyess’ C-130 Hercules and its Airmen have built a legacy in the Air Force. That legacy came to end Sept. 26 as the last two C-130H models, tail numbers 1667 and 2063, departed for Little Rock AFB, Ark. On March 31, 1975, the H model era began when Dyess received the very first C-130H to roll off the Lockheed Martin assembly line. Over the next two years Dyess would eventually attain 52 more H models.
Dyess AFB is now home to the largest C-130J-30 Super Hercules inventories in the USAF.
I arrived at Dyess AFB as an A1C in February 1991. When I was assigned the C-130H were assigned to the 463d Tactical Airlift Wing (TAW), 463d Aircraft Generation Squadron (AGS) as a flightline Guidance and Control Troop. Around the end of 1991, the AGS concept went away and we were all assigned to Operations. We were all absorbed into the 773d Airlift Squadron. When the Air Force decided to do away with SAC, MAC and TAC to the now familiar, ACC and AMC. All tactical airlift assets, i.e., C-130s were assign to ACC. The 463d Airlift Wing and the 96th Bomb Wing stood down and we all fell under the new “One Base, One Wing” concept. Carswell AFB was closed and the 7 Wing stood up at Dyess AFB. The 772nd and 773d Airlift Squadrons stood down and the 39th and 40th Airlift Squadrons stood up, after standing down at Pope AFB.
The C-130H aircraft during the ACC years carried the familiar Tail Codes found on all ACC aircraft. In this case, “DY”. The 40th AS carried a blue strip at the top of the vertical. This will be the basis for my model as they were the last C-130Hs I worked prior to be reassigned to Robins AFB, Georgia.
C-130H 74-1673
C-130H 74-2072
(Photo posted under “Fair Use”)
With that said, a goal of mine has always been to model all the aircraft I was associated with during my aviation career. Why not start with the first one?
I want to do all of the aircraft in flight. Here is the beginning of my project:
The kit, out of the box, really doesn’t represent the C-130E/H moniker on the box. Now that I think about it, it doesn’t represent any flying C-130 version. At best, it may represent a C-130C, possibly a C-130D. This is due to the fact the kit still retains the original Allison T56-A-9 engine nacelles. These were used on early C-130 models. Later versions were upgraded to the T56-A-7 and -A-15 versions, which have a longer nacelle. I have seen C-130As with the Hamilton Standard four bladed prop fitted to the early engines.
Another area on the kit that is incorrect is the left and right sponsons. They are correct of early Herks, but later versions, the sponson was lengthened. This is very apparent when looking at photos of A and B versions versus E and H versions. The give away is looking at the prop arc line on the side of the fuselage. THIS IS NOT EASILY CORRECTED! I am leaving the kit as is for this build.
For years Testors and Italeri have marketed this kit as an E/H. While it is half right for an E model, it is about 1/4 right for an H1-H3 Herk model. The kit is missing some key components to make it a semi accurate H1-H3. Namely the two intake scoops on the right side of the fuselage. The E model NACA intake are molded into the fuselage. The lower Station Keeping Equipment (SKE) radome is missing.
Later C-130H3 Herks have additional and relocated pitot tubes and the paratroop doors have square port hole windows versus round windows for in previous versions and early H models. H3 have a different porthole arrangement on the forward fuselage.
Interestingly, Italeri’s C-130J Super Hercules kit includes all the parts to make the H more accurate. Why they don’t include Parts Tree F from the C-130J kit and amend the instructions to build the H model is beyond me.
