Jump to content

Book Review: "The Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules" by Peter C. Smith


Mark N
 Share

Recommended Posts

Book Review: “The Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules: A Complete Historyâ€, by Peter C. Smith (Crecy Publishing, latest printing 2010).

My first recommendation is DO NOT PURCHASE THIS BOOK—IT IS A WASTE OF MONEY (list price $49.95).

Being a C-130 fan, I am a sucker for C-130 books. I regret that a got suckered into buying this one. Even though I have not read the text to discover what inaccuracies exist there, I found that many of the photo captions in this book are inaccurate or totally incorrect. The captions appear as though the author simply fabricated them instead of performing research to ensure they are accurate. Here are a few examples of the fabricated captions:

1. Page 82: The caption reads: “Human Retrieval experiments underway with a volunteer seen leaving the after bay of 64-14859 (c/n 4082), equipped with the Surface-to-Air recovery system.†The real story: If the aircraft is experimenting with the “Human Retrieval Systemâ€, then the “volunteer†is being retrieved into the cargo hold of the aircraft—he is not leaving the after bay. The term the Air Force uses for the “Human Retrieval System†is the Fulton Recovery System.

2. Page 88: The caption reads: “Human Retrieval System testing being conducted by C-130E 64-0572 (c/n 64-4090).†The real story: This is a MC-130E conducting personnel airdrops; the aircraft is dropping paratroopers, not testing the “Human Retrieval Systemâ€.

3. Page 161: The caption reads: “A C-130 of the 50th Airlift Squadron lands at Little Rock AFB during Operation “Millennium Challenge†in 2002.†The real story: This aircraft is not landing at Little Rock AFB. I am currently at Little Rock AFB, and this photo was not taken at Little Rock AFB.

4. Page 202: The caption reads: “C-130E 64-0504 (c/n 3988) of 62 Marine Airlift Wing is seen at McChord MAS on 19 October 1978….†The real story: This aircraft is assigned to the 62nd Military Airlift Wing, which is located at McChord Air Force Base.

I am truly annoyed that an author would attempt to pass off writing of this quality as authoritative. That is in addition to my being insulted that the author and his publisher would expect consumers to pay for this quality of work.

The poor and inaccurate quality of this book follows a trend I have observed for at least the last fifteen years—the declining quality of published works. My observation is that authors make no effort to ensure the quality and technical accuracy of their writing. First is the quality of the writing itself. Yes, all the words are correctly spelled, as they should be with the aid of spell check, but the wrong words are routinely used (“then†instead of “thanâ€â€”the C-130 is faster then the C-119…). The second issue is the technical accuracy of the subject matter. Authors seem to fabricate material based on having half-knowledge of it and pass it off as authoritative. How many young minds are being fed bad information because some author thinks he/she knows what they are writing about and are too lazy to confirm the accuracy of their work? I have seen this poor quality in a variety of publications—from magazines and journals to “quality†published books by such publishers as Schiffer (who publishes many military and aviation titles, many which contain inaccurate information).

In terms of the C-130, I think I know what I’m talking about. I am a U.S. Air Force C-130 navigator with over 25 years and 6,000 flying hours of experience in C-130 operations. Maybe I should write a book….

Lt Col Mark Naumann

Little Rock AFB, Arkansas

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a large collection of Herc books. Nearly all of them have inaccuracies throughout. When you become an "expert" in the airframe as we like to think we are, it's hard to find a book that lives up to our standards. People dread watching aviation movies with me...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Book Review: “The Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules: A Complete History”, by Peter C. Smith (Crecy Publishing, latest printing 2010).

My first recommendation is DO NOT PURCHASE THIS BOOK—IT IS A WASTE OF MONEY (list price $49.95).

I'm with Mark on this. I have a copy of Smith's book published in 2001 and it, too, is full of inaccuracies. Somewhere, I have a 2-page list of pure BS from the book. It's an insult to anyone with even a limited knowledge of the Herc. When he gets into the lists of foreign militaries and commercial operators, he imagination really takes off!

If someone wants a definitive book on the Herc, go out and buy Joe Dabney's book, "Herk: Hero of the Skies." I have both the 1979 edition and the one published in 1986.

Don R.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This follows for several sources. I have ranted before and I will do so again, that such so-called documentary channels like Discovery, history, etc, are just full of crap. I have a more than working knowledge of 18th century surveying, early firearms, early American history, etc, etc. and I am at the point anymore that I don't watch half that crap. How can you lend any credence to an author or a production when you see things that you know are wrong. I constantly want to learn stuff, but if things i already know are shown incorrectly, how can I accept things I don't know as being correct??????????

Giz

There, that's better.....

Edited by gizzard
messed it up...........
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with Don. R on Joe Dabney's book "Herk Hero Of The Skies". I have a copy signed by Joe on 9-21-85 and Leo Sullivan about 3 years before he died. Don, he signed it on page 100 in the 1979 copy...check out the pic on that page. Both of these guys ARE Mr. C-130! Spoke with both at length and found them to be a bottomless well of C-130 knowledge. They are great men of Lockheed aviation! Bill

Edited by Spectre623
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm with Mark on this. I have a copy of Smith's book published in 2001 and it, too, is full of inaccuracies. Somewhere, I have a 2-page list of pure BS from the book. It's an insult to anyone with even a limited knowledge of the Herc. When he gets into the lists of foreign militaries and commercial operators, he imagination really takes off!

If someone wants a definitive book on the Herc, go out and buy Joe Dabney's book, "Herk: Hero of the Skies." I have both the 1979 edition and the one published in 1986.

Don R.

I've purchased and read a number of books about the C-130 over the years and most of them are junk, which is true of nearly all of the aviation books you see. In addition to Joe Dabney's book, I'd also recommend Martin Caidin's "The Long Arm of America." Ray Bowers' TACTICAL AIRLIFT is a good source for material on C-130s in Vietnam. Joe is supposed to be sitting up a web site. He spends most of his time writing local interest material centered around the Carolinas and Georgia.

The same goes for most of the stuff you see on The History Channel. I hardly ever watch it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Book Review: “The Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules: A Complete History”, by Peter C. Smith (Crecy Publishing, latest printing 2010).

My first recommendation is DO NOT PURCHASE THIS BOOK—IT IS A WASTE OF MONEY (list price $49.95).

Being a C-130 fan, I am a sucker for C-130 books. I regret that a got suckered into buying this one. Even though I have not read the text to discover what inaccuracies exist there, I found that many of the photo captions in this book are inaccurate or totally incorrect. The captions appear as though the author simply fabricated them instead of performing research to ensure they are accurate. Here are a few examples of the fabricated captions:

1. Page 82: The caption reads: “Human Retrieval experiments underway with a volunteer seen leaving the after bay of 64-14859 (c/n 4082), equipped with the Surface-to-Air recovery system.” The real story: If the aircraft is experimenting with the “Human Retrieval System”, then the “volunteer” is being retrieved into the cargo hold of the aircraft—he is not leaving the after bay. The term the Air Force uses for the “Human Retrieval System” is the Fulton Recovery System.

2. Page 88: The caption reads: “Human Retrieval System testing being conducted by C-130E 64-0572 (c/n 64-4090).” The real story: This is a MC-130E conducting personnel airdrops; the aircraft is dropping paratroopers, not testing the “Human Retrieval System”.

3. Page 161: The caption reads: “A C-130 of the 50th Airlift Squadron lands at Little Rock AFB during Operation “Millennium Challenge” in 2002.” The real story: This aircraft is not landing at Little Rock AFB. I am currently at Little Rock AFB, and this photo was not taken at Little Rock AFB.

4. Page 202: The caption reads: “C-130E 64-0504 (c/n 3988) of 62 Marine Airlift Wing is seen at McChord MAS on 19 October 1978….” The real story: This aircraft is assigned to the 62nd Military Airlift Wing, which is located at McChord Air Force Base.

I am truly annoyed that an author would attempt to pass off writing of this quality as authoritative. That is in addition to my being insulted that the author and his publisher would expect consumers to pay for this quality of work.

The poor and inaccurate quality of this book follows a trend I have observed for at least the last fifteen years—the declining quality of published works. My observation is that authors make no effort to ensure the quality and technical accuracy of their writing. First is the quality of the writing itself. Yes, all the words are correctly spelled, as they should be with the aid of spell check, but the wrong words are routinely used (“then” instead of “than”—the C-130 is faster then the C-119…). The second issue is the technical accuracy of the subject matter. Authors seem to fabricate material based on having half-knowledge of it and pass it off as authoritative. How many young minds are being fed bad information because some author thinks he/she knows what they are writing about and are too lazy to confirm the accuracy of their work? I have seen this poor quality in a variety of publications—from magazines and journals to “quality” published books by such publishers as Schiffer (who publishes many military and aviation titles, many which contain inaccurate information).

In terms of the C-130, I think I know what I’m talking about. I am a U.S. Air Force C-130 navigator with over 25 years and 6,000 flying hours of experience in C-130 operations. Maybe I should write a book….

Lt Col Mark Naumann

Little Rock AFB, Arkansas

Peter Smith is British if I'm not mistaken. "MAS" could be a typo. We writers do make mistakes!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Peter Smith is British if I'm not mistaken.

According to the book's dust jacket, Peter Smith lives in Bedforshire "He has published books and articles on a wide range of aviation and naval history that have been praised for their dedicated research."

Seriously?

Don R.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...