P3_Super_Bee

Technically it's Joint Base Andrews.  Naval Air Facility Washington & Andrews AFB was merged into one base in 2009...  

The aircraft belongs to the Capitol Express of Fleet Logistics Support Squadron Five-Three (VR-53) of the USNR

They haven't even finished the second aircraft...

I'll have to verify C/N/'s, but ACJ-02 went down the line as the MC-130J marked as either 77J01 or 77J02. Wanna say 02, but will check.

Wonder where they get their info???

There is currently only one AC-130J.

The second one is still going through the conversion mods, with "first flight" will happening sometime later this year.

Have to find a converter.   Haven't found any freebies, and most cost around 40 bucks.  iTunes has it locked up pretty good.   You can only watch in iTunes, on the account that purchased it

The current and CORRECT listing...

5774 HC-130J USCG
5775 HC/MC-130J USAF
5776 HC/MC-130J USAF
5777 HC/MC-130J USAF
5778 HC/MC-130J USAF
5779 KC-130J Saudi Arabia
5780 KC-130J Saudi Arabia < Herk number 2500
5781 C-130J-30 Israel (equipped with UARRSI)
5782 HC/MC-130J USAF
5783 HC/MC-130J USAF
5786 C-130J-30 USAF
5787 HC/MC-130J USAF
5788 HC/MC-130J USAF
5789 HC/MC-130J USAF

I don't know if HC or MC. They roll down the line under the same code.

As PerfManJ pointed out the Israeli Herks are -30's, but they are UARRSI equipped. (Universal Aerial Refueling Receptacle Slipway Installation).

OK.   The internet McGyver'ing is complete and works.

1.  You need to buy a CANADIAN iTunes gift card on eBay, the guy I bought from emailed me the code so I didn't have to wait for the card to come in the mail)

2.  Open iTunes and log out, go to the store, scroll all the way to the bottom,  you will see a circle with an American flag,  click that, and switch to Canada.  Then goto log in,  but you have to create another account with bogus Canadian info,  IE Address phone number I search google for address and phone number,  and used a bogus email address as well.  During the create account portion there was a spot to enter the gift card code.

3. Once account was created I was able to purchase and download the show.   

Pretty awesome show.

The covered the Coulson C-130 Fire Fighter,  They did some in-air refueling with the V-22.  The portion covering the building they played in the "Ice Storm" we had here during production,  You might remember the one that shut Metro Atlanta down for 3 or 4 days,  and people were stranded all over the freeways and such.  

Nope.  Doesn't look like it will be aired in the US either.   Smithsonian Channel aired the first two seasons in the US.  After 3 attempts to contact them I got a reply, contact Discovery.  So sent them an email.  Response was It is not on the schedule at this time please keep checking back.  Looking at Discovery.ca,  it looks like Season 3 for them(Canada) was this episode, the CP-140 (Lockheed P-3 to the rest of the world) then a bunch of Canadian aircraft, so it looks like from that, season 3 won't make it to the US. 

If you live in Canada you can buy a down load from Amazon or iTunes.  But to do so one needs a credit card from a Canadian Bank.   Neither website will allow you to buy it from the US.

There might be a little work around I'm working.  Apparently you can change iTunes to be in Canada(I have done this),  then go on eBay and buy a Canadian iTunes gift card, and using that will allow you to buy it.  I have bought bought the gift card, but have not received it(only bought it Monday night).  I will re-post if this works or not.  

Have heard for years a P-3 (one of the CIA/RoCAF black-ops P-3) shot down a Mig in Vietnam too....

They did do flight testing with sidewinders(on P-3's), but pretty sure that wasn't till after Vietnam, and they only carried shapes. Don't think they actually ever fired one.

Okay, here's something that comes to mind, it seems to me that, on the E's I flew, mostly 61 to 63, to close the cargo, first you raised if, using the switches, then pulled the up-lock release and then lowered it, right???? I know that you could raise the ramp a bit by putting the manual valve to raise ( the ramp) and then dropping the door, which allowed some pressure to, I guess, cross-feed to the ramp valve??? Or did I just imagine all this??? also, if the ramp and door was closed from the cockpit, how was the door up-lock overridden????

I know what you are talking about. Have seen it done(on "J" models), but can't remember the exact way to do it.

Don't come across the opportunity much at the factory. When doing pressure, we have a hyd cart hooked up to the ramp/door to open close them. When I do final decay I just hand pump up the ramp, or get the E&E Functional Test guys to do it with aux pump (For some reason only the E&E's can turn on power / operate doors/ramp on factory floor.

I went down to Eglin AFB at the beginning of the year to do some pressurization testing on the the first AC-130J aircraft. When heading out of the area to a buddy's house over in Pensacola, we passed by the USAF Armament Museum. It wasn't open, and we were heading to Pensacola for a behind the scenes tour of the National Naval Aviation Museum there(friend is a volunteer there in the restoration hangar). Any way we stopped at the Armament Museum, so I could take some photos of the aircraft they have on display outside.

One of the aircraft there was an AC-130. At the time, for whatever reason I didn't read the placard for the aircraft, nor made any connection to the name on the side of the aircraft. I found out today that this particular aircraft is 53-3129. She is known as the "First Lady" as she was the first production C-130A built. She was also the first AC-130A Spectre.

I'm sure most know this here. Just thought it was kind of wild I missed that fact while I was there standing next to some big C-130 history. Did get a few pictures though. :)

More commonly known as international orange.

Don R.

Magenta and International Orange are two totally different colors. Magenta is a violet-red.

As Casey stated. The acceptance date is pretty much the official "born on" date.

If you want to get closer to the actual date (for "J" models anyway, which is my experience) you can go about 4 to 5 months prior to the acceptance date. When we roll her out of the B-1 building, she is pretty much a complete aircraft without paint. Between paint & flight test it takes about 4 or 5 months from the time we roll out of B-1 to acceptance.

But aircraft don't always get accepted in order of build either. Lockheed uses "Delivered" aircraft numbers as milestones. They will say this aircraft is the 200th delivered. Which not necessarily means it was the 200th built. For instance. The 200th "J" model delivered was also the first MC-130J delivered. It was in fact though the 199th "J" model to roll off the assembly line. The one that rolled off the line at 202 was the 199th delivered.

Discovery Canada's latest episode (aired on the 28th of September 2014) of Mighty Planes is a two hour special on the C-130 Hercules for the 60th Anniversary. Though will not be aired in the US until the Spring of 2015. Looks like it will be on the Smithsonian Channel.

Here is a little 3 min preview;

Pretty neat to see people you work with on TV. I make an appearance around 1:50 mark. I'm the tow coordinator.

They want a Military or Civilian version? Military version call The AFR squadron that has Hercs at Dobbins ARB(Which is Metro Atlanta) or Lockheed-Martin. They are also at Dobbins.

In just about a week’s time on the 23rd of August the C130 Hercules will celebrate the 60th anniversary of its first flight.

In just about a week. Wish I had two day weeks.

Lockheed-Martin is looking for stories/pictures....

http://lockheedmartin.com/us/products/c130/herc60.html

ASL isn't the launch customer. The launch customer has yet to go public, no clue as to why either. They were mentioned couple years ago when this ball started rolling, but haven't been lately. They have an ORDER for 6 not an LOI.

The first LM-100J already has it's LM construction number. Looks to roll down line late summer 16.

There is a big wall poster of this in the Planning office on Final Assembly.

You're correct, P3. From what I've read though, this airframe started out early in its production as an E-model. Along the way, it picked up the differences associated with the L-100, such as the engine anti-icing lights and the Beta lights which I'm sure were an FAA certification requirement. Also interesting to note, on the commercial Herc, the only thing on the battery bus is the fire extinguishing system.

Don R.

Thanks Don.

I thought L-100's didn't have the lower flight station windows? Or was that something done later in the production run?

The Navy used TAD in place of TDY. It meant Temporary Attached(?) Duty. The Navy guys knew it actually meant Travelling Around Drunk.

Don R.

Close. Actually its Temporary Assigned Duty

Traveling Around Drunk also works... :)

According to LM from their first inquiry on re-cert. The FAA says ONLY SOFTWARE.

One of the Big Box guys is the customer that came to LM about the aircraft, NOT the other way around. UPS wants the aircraft, not LM wasn't out there trying to sell it.

And no, no one has said how, why, where, they want the aircraft, and I haven't heard aircraft numbers either. But can't see LM going to all this trouble for a couple of planes either.

Pretty much the re-cert, and getting the aircraft to an agreeable price are the hold backs...

And now the other Big Box guy is apparently waiting in the wings on how this all pans out.

I know it would be expensive for the certification on a L-100J, but it was done once already. 70 airframes is 3 years of production and a 21% increase in total orders for the J, based on the current order book of 330. With the belt-tightening in the defense sector, it seems like a good hedge.

My point earlier was that there is also no competition for an L-100J - nothing else out there can do that mission. But Embraer is partnering with Boeing and plans to offer a stretch civilian model of the KC-390, which is sized EXACTLY to compete with the C-130. Now is the time for LM to undercut them by getting to market first. Just my two cents.

I'm also eager to see if anyone buys the commercial J. I think the market is out there but will the price tag be reasonable and the operating expenses favorable? Time will tell.

Currently, the price tag doesn't make this a viable option...that and certification issues.

Follow-up one the L100J

The FAA certification on the airframe is still CURRENT. No need for re-cert there. Only the software needs to go though re-cert, and that's not that big a deal, nor as costly as a full cert.

If things continue to move as planned. Possible production could start in 2016/17. TWO customers interested. One of the two is supposedly the one that really got the ball rolling on this thing. The only hold back right now is cost, and that's just about there. It will be a completely stripped down Herc.

NO ONE here has even come close to naming the customers either. Think BIG BOY box movers. Not these little chump change operations, you all have listed.