C-130 Hercules aircraft, developed by Lockheed ltd. at the beginning of 50's, is the main tactical cargo airplane of the USAF. It is intended for tactical transportation and also for airmission landing and parachute dropping of troops and military equipment. Prototype's maiden flight was made on 23 th August 1954. Serial manufacture started at the and of 1956. C-130A was the first from Hercules family. Test flight were in April 1955, delivery for customer began in December 1956. Entering into USAF service, C-130 became a primary element of the Composite Air Strike Force (CASF) concept, designed in the mid 50's. Accoding to this conception, the first large-scale troops and equipment air-lift was made by C-130 to Turkey in 1958. Later on, aircrafts were actively used in different military conflict. More than 2100 C-130 military cargo aircrafts and L-100 civil aircrafts in more than 70 modifications, including about 1170 airplanes for USA, were produced at the period of manufacture. |
