talonlm

He's referring to the MC-130J Combat Talon III that will replace MC-130H Talon IIs.

More likely than not, the the CT3 will replace the MC-130Es, all of which are 47+ years old. We're good, airframe-wise, for another few years (2015-ish) but we can't go much more than that without big money from AFSOC to extend the life of the Combat Talon. AFSOC has the opportunity to acquire new iron--they'd be foolish to dump that much money into an airplane that will be more than fifty in a few years. T-2s have a lot more 'life' left in them without major rework, so I expect they will be around for quite a while yet.

Are they planning on replacing 10 AFRC MC-130E's wit the J's?

Bob

No one is putting out much public information on the possibility of a CT-3, but I imagine that's a good bet.

They have a set of yokes to install (out of our aircrew lounge!) . . . and rumor has it they've even scared up some fending lines from somewhere, so it may yet have the old Fulton config.

That last bit hasn't changed at all--the SF bubbas still don't know how to use a scale!

Great pics thanks, anyone know when the last 10 MC-130E's are going to the Boneyard?

Thanks

Bob

Nothing new. Last I heard was we'll be flying them for a while yet, at least the next four or five years. That, of course, depends on the bean counters . . .

Pitch lock?

AFSOC is buying short J's:)

Thanks!

I was under the impression Lockheed was not building any more 'short' 130s; am I mistaken, or is the HC-J based on a short herk?

I see 567 every day this week as I drive past her for sim refresher! Glad she will be preserved, sad they're going away, and hopefull the Obama administration will pull funding for MC-J and keep the MC-E alive beyond 2015!!!

I would love to see the Talon flying beyond 2015--but I am truly looking forward to the Combat Talon III. As capable as the Combat Talon is, it will be interesting to see what forty years of combat experience mixed with innovation can come up with.

Politics drives everything. The AC-27 was cut, so AFSOC came up with cloning and improving the Marines and their palletized gunship mod.

friendly fire incident waiting to happen, poor training plan and in a rush to get it done

x2.

Lots of new hardware, lots of 'hurryitup-itis', lots of new aircrews and all relying on a computer to get it right. Not knocking the crewdogs, but caution should be the word of the day here . . .

I though the idea of JPADS was supposed to keep the C130 out of small arms fire harm.

Why fly em in low, unless they are Talons?

'Cause JPADS ain't cheap.

It's not the buffer boards that allow this, they were a carry over from the Talon I and we can fly at 250 without them. The longerons on the tail are beefed up, a 19" switch (ramp opens 19" before the doors opens), a second uplock, and a second door actuator were added. I'm speaking MC-130H specific, whether or not the J's have the same thing well, I don't know.

All true, and you don't need the buffer boards to utlize the 250 kt ramp. The buffer boards are a holdover from the Fulton system. We'll fly the Talon without them now and again, but I like having them there for pretty much anytime the ramp and door are opened in flight at any airspeed, especially during high speed drops and refueling the whirling cuisinart of death.

Just curious about the V-22, has anybody tanked them?

We refuel them now and again; it's similar to standard helo refueling procedures, only a good bit faster. Tip lights they have are kind of cool.

So long as it works.

I'd really like to see 7785 and 0565 go on display somewhere. Nothing is slated for the Air Force Museum?

We're still flying 0565. I think she's one of the latest to come out of PDM, though I am not sure about that. 7785, I understand, is going to DM right now. Rumors--and only rumors, nothing definative--have it this tail may end up at Eglin.

This will be a said day for us old SOF Talon I crewmembers

We're not quite done with the rest of them yet, so there's still some history to be made yet.

The writing, however, is on the wall. Rumors carry the rest of them at least through 2012, some through 2015.

Heard rumors, nothing more, of either one or two 30mm or 40mm. Take it for what it's worth.

:woohoo:

Pictures to follow . . .

Yes, saw that in the AF Times day before yesterday. They\'ve all backed down on this issue.

We\'ve been told by the intel gurus to stay away from that site; from what we are told, it\'s not even based in the US.

About 400 miles different, Crash. I don\'t think illegals would be very concerned about that. Grumman will get workers from the same place they always do--locals. The workforce will be trained by qualified folks coming from everywhere else in the country.

Boeing did this to themselves, plain and simple. They got greedier and it bit them. Now, Airbus will reap the reward for Boeing\'s corrupt dealings.

Talon1LM wrote:

I remember those keys. The 8th SOS commander had a plaque with all the T1 tail numbers on it. As a plane came out of Mod the key went on the plaque.

The plaque--with several 8th SOS patches and all the keys--is hanging up on the wall in at the 711th SOS.

It\'s a FLIR turrent. Can\'t think of the name of the mod right now.

Dan Wilson wrote:

It makes so much sense when you look back on it that we GAVE four MC-P\'s to the Guard for rescue and are mothballing the MC-E\'s

Just who is the idiot in charge of AFSOC these days

Dan

The MC-Es aren\'t all headed to the boneyard just yet. Someone down at AFSOC got a clue light (or a swift kick) and the ten AFRC-funded Es got extended a little more, to at least 2011. The four MC-Es that were AFSOC funded are still in limbo at the moment.

That, of course, only treats a symptom, not the problem.