RAF C-130s - The End is Nigh...

[F3]

Well, everyone's certainly stepped up to the plate on this thread. Particularly liking the nose art pics which regrettably did not incl. the most risque one, applied to a Herk which I believe was used by Special Forces. I've a B&W scan of it somewhere which I'll dig out. Just out of interest what is Lyneham used for now?
Here's the pic which I found in my Hercules file. If anyone has one in colour I'd be interested to see it.

XV206 with Foxy Lady Gulf War nose art. by Michael Britton, on Flickr

[Stug298]

Well, everyone's certainly stepped up to the plate on this thread. Particularly liking the nose art pics which regrettably did not incl. the most risque one, applied to a Herk which I believe was used by Special Forces. I've a B&W scan of it somewhere which I'll dig out. Just out of interest what is Lyneham used for now?

the Army use it as a training depot and have trashed the place !!

[F3]

Thanks for the info. Shame.

[Buccs2b]

Couldn't resist adding some more

1. Leuchars 1990
HerculesC1XV211 by Tony Adams, on Flickr

2. On the fence at Lossiemouth 1993
Lossiemouth_19930913-14_0043 by Tony Adams, on Flickr

3. Leuchars 1995
Leuchars_199509#_0081 by Tony Adams, on Flickr

[James Cutting]

Looking weathered through the loop

RAF Hercules C-130J ZH874 by James Cutting, on Flickr

RAF Hercules C-130J ZH874 coming in low by James Cutting, on Flickr

Looking much cleaner at Brize

Royal Air Force | Hercules C-130 ZH868 | Soaking up the evening sun by James Cutting, on Flickr

[TonyO]

On the line...........

img112 by Stewart goldsmith, on Flickr

img114 by Stewart goldsmith, on Flickr

These are epic, presumably you were up one of the light stanctions? And I have never seen a shot with the probe removed/cut off.

[Stug298]

yes i had gone up the tower to ready to take pictures of the 15 ship practise flight the probe on 200 had been damaged i think during a sortie and thank you for your kind words...cheers

[Stug298]

In case you've ever wondered what happens "at the end" this is how its done XV294 was the first HERK i flew on back in 1980 and i witnessed its destruction some 32 years later , cut up into smaller and smaller bits and then a man with a broom sweeps it into a pile which then goes of in a skip for beer cans.......mixed emotions going on there...

P2230002 by Stewart goldsmith, on Flickr

P2230009 by Stewart goldsmith, on Flickr

P2230011 by Stewart goldsmith, on Flickr

P2240013 by Stewart goldsmith, on Flickr

[F3]

Wow! Brutal. Makes the RTP Tornado deconstruction line I witnessed @ Leeming seem positively refined.

[Stug298]

Wow! Brutal. Makes the RTP Tornado deconstruction line I witnessed @ Leeming seem positively refined.

You should hear the noise as they crunch through the spars and with hyd fluid spurting out hear and there its like watching mythical beasts fighting to the death......

[Jonesy]

Some from me. The retirement of the C-130 is a very sad occasion as I started my RAF career on 47/LXX Eng back in 2001.

[F3]

Some nice shots there Jonesy. Is that a hangar roof in the last one? Whatever it is that Herk is remarkably low; certainly the lowest I've ever seen and that's including the one I saw fly through Spadeadam!

[Nighthawke]

Looks like a hill to me - but a great photo regardless.

A good thread with some lovely reminders of RAF Hercs past and present.

[Jonesy]

Some nice shots there Jonesy. Is that a hangar roof in the last one? Whatever it is that Herk is remarkably low; certainly the lowest I've ever seen and that's including the one I saw fly through Spadeadam!

No, that's Cad East in the background. The K came round quite high so wasn't land locked.

[F3]

Yes. I can see now that it's a hillside and not a roof. Still impressive catch. This thread just keeps on giving.

[Tally-ho]

The following two pictures were taken at Cagnes-sur-Mer, next to the Nice Cote d'Azur Airport, in March 2013. It was also the surprise of the day, in that an RAF plane is to be seen at a prime commercial airport on the French Riviera. And the Frenchies around me had much to say ... no they did not know where I came from ...

[alanp]

My three…
1.
ALAN_POTTS_20160707_MG_7437 by Alan Potts, on Flickr

2.
ALAN_POTTS_20150904_MG_3541 by Alan Potts, on Flickr

3.
ALAN_POTTS_20130717_MG_6393 by Alan Potts, on Flickr

[STN RAMP RAT]

Some nice shots there Jonesy. Is that a hangar roof in the last one? Whatever it is that Herk is remarkably low; certainly the lowest I've ever seen and that's including the one I saw fly through Spadeadam!

Sadly they have been lower, with fatal consequences

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/raf- ... 27162.html

[F3]

Defo STN RAMP RAT. Reminds me of a wartime tale my old dad told me about a Typhoon that beat up an Army Parade. When it landed the erk who was waving it in fainted. Close inspection revealed the severed head of a RSM wedged in the radiator scoop, mouth still open from barking out orders and moustache still waxed! And that's no Line Shoot.

[3Greens]

A few older shots first in our original brown/tan camo

A very memorable open evening for local residents onto RAF Binbrook, 7th September 1973


XV186 from Finningley September 1974


XV195 from Finningley September 1975


1989 the Lightnings had been gone a year from Binbrook, but 2nd Para were organised for a mass para-drop over the Stanford Range under 'Operation Red Lanyard' on Saturday 3rd June 1989, which involved a fleet of 15 Hercules. The initial transit route through Lincolnshire down into Suffolk was at 300'
These two C1P's departed just after 6pm


followed by 13 x C3P's in stream takeoff from 9pm - just 7 visible here in all that exhaust 'clag'


Proper planes !
Hope you enjoyed them
3Greens