a barrel roll off the back ramp is not used as much as going out the side door (s). A really neat thing is to watch the guys go out both doors of a C130 at the sametime. Timing is important with that kind of a jump. Going out both sides of the aircraft would be interesting if you could pull it off, but a jump from the ramp would be easier. Personally I like the idea of a multi pallet drop from about three or four feet off the ground using a drag chute. Too bad nobody makes a 1/48th scale Sheridan or Humvee!
I was the crew chief on a C-130 E or H model in 1975 or 1976 that successfully test loaded a UH-60 in a C-130 at the Sikorsky plant in Conn. As I remember we took the vertical and horizonal stabs off as well as the main rotor blades and it fit tight.
Lockheed was worried that the C-130 was going to put them out of business. The President of the company wanted everything to work as promised. Well I suspect at the extra attention worked[:P]
How about a Westinghouse TPS43E mobile radar (strictly speaking ours was a W430, the civilianised version). Haven’t a clue where you’d find a kit for one, but it sure filled a Herc nicely!
Caveman, yes Tamiya did make a 1/48 HMMWV. A couple different versions I do recall. I believe that it is currrently out of production due to licensing issues.
The Cessna 172 and Beech Bonanza both have longer continuous production histories. The Bonanza first flew on December 22, 1945. I took a photo of the 10,000th Bonanza way back in 1978 at the Beech dealership I was a salesman for and I’m sure I flew it some.
The Cessna 172 first flew in June 1955, but it was an outgrowth of the Cessna 170 which first flew in June of 1948. The tail and the landing gear are the major differences between the 170B and the 172 that replaced it, although the first 170 had a fabric covered wing. They were all powered by the Continental C-145/O-300 until many years later when the 172 got a Lycoming O-320. Over 43,000 172’s have been built, take that you Bf-109 and Shturmovik fans!
The C-130 first flew in August 1954. 2500 had been built in 2015. Pretty weak by numbers, but by financial measures it is certainly the largest enterprise of the three.
Here is the cover of the January 1958 Flying magazine which had an article on the 130. It said that the in-service date for the 130 was mid 1957. I’ve always liked this photo, it has the aura of Hans Groenhoff about it but there is no photo credit.
As a systems expert. Yes, a UH-60 will fit into a C-130 and a C-141. The head is lowered downed onto the swashplate and the head is removed and strapped into the cabin. There is a special kneeling cart (now gone as it is pulled from the manual) to lower and raise the struts (main and tail) to bounce the aircraft around to fit. I have seen it done as I had to do it during training at Campbell in the 80’s. Tail and Tail paddles folded, and main gear fairings removed. 12 -14 hour process that is why is it removed from the manual. C-17s are here for convenience.
