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kanyiko — CH-08 on approach
#aircraft #belgium #c130 #hercules
Published: 2016-01-24 01:03:06 +0000 UTC; Views: 490; Favourites: 21; Downloads: 0
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Berchem, January 22nd 2016Lockheed C-130H CH-08 of the Belgian Air Component is on final approach into Antwerp International Airport during a routine exercise.
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Comments: 43
Thank you!!
Unfortunately the wind had turned today, once again we had a Herc doing touch-and-goes out of the airport, but they're always too high on take-off to make decent pictures of them.
An extra pity was, that the local P-51 was doing some flying as well...
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The local airport holds a bit of a classic collection - about a dozen or so SV-4 biplanes; a Boeing Stearman and a Boeing Staggerwing; a North American T-6 Harvard and half a dozen or so T-28 Trojans; the P-51; a Sea Fury (which is yet to fly); a CAC Boomerang; and I think I'm forgetting quite a few others as well. >.>
Of these, the Harvard, Staggerwing and Mustang are the most common ones to be seen flying about. :3
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woaaaa, whadda colection! Whadda privilege! Se those old birds must be quite a watch ^^
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The annual fly-in certainly always is a treat to watch, especially when there are special visitors (DC-3, B-25, Beech 18, Spitfire...)
But summer days can herald their own surprises. There's nothing as majestic as the unexpected four-ship biplane flypast... :3
The past week saw some special flights once again - another C-130H on manoeuvres (unfortunately flying the other way this time), as well as a testflight of the local P-51D (same day as the C-130H) and the local Boeing Staggerwing. :3
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Have ya seen classic jets too? Like the hawker Hunter?
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Not here at the local airport, but I did see the Hunter in service, during its last display season with the Patrouille de Suisse. (1994)
(Later picture, taken in 2011)
Jet fighters are a bit of a rare occasion over here due to the short (1500 m) runway, but the nearby NATO reserve base (when still active and maintained) did host a number of fly-in events which saw vintage jets. Combining that with a number of air shows, I did get to see a surprising number of now-vintage jets:
Gloster Meteor; de Havilland Vampire; North American F-86 Sabre; Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15; English Electric Canberra; Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star; Hawker Hunter; Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21; Vought F-8E Crusader; Lockheed F-104 Starfighter; Fouga Magister; BAe Nimrod; Grumman A-6 Intruder; Grumman F-14 Tomcat; Hunting Jet Provost; Folland Gnat; Saab 37 Viggen; Vought A-7 Corsair... actually, I'm quite surprised now now many of these I actually saw flying, rather than as static display objects in one or another museum!
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The nose of C-130 is so ugly, yet this plane is so successful...
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They come in worse varieties. While the nose of the C-130 will definitely never win any beauty contests, it originally started off even weirder, with the so-called "Roman Nose" on the C-130A. Or "lack of nose", to be more precise.
So indeed, the radome nose of the production C-130 was very much added as an afterthought.
However, the standard nose is nothing compared with that of some of the specialised variants of the Hercules, such as:
The MC-130E:
The MC-130H:
Or the MC-130P:
... compared to which, the standard C-130H would probably come out as the winner in the family beauty contest.
Apologies to all of you for using your photos, by the way. I hope you don't mind!
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Nope don't mind at all. Nice essay.
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Thank you for the compliment! ^_^
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Actually, the "Roman Nose" seems more harmonious to me because I normally hate any ugly sculpted additional cowlings.
Also, I was always surprised (and unimpressed) by those semi-randomly placed cockpit windows.
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They do offer an amazing view, though.
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That's true. Many old Soviet types (Tu-104, Tu-124, Tu-134, An-10, An-12, etc.) had a nice glass dome at the nosetip (where all modern types have a radar), there was the navigator's place. Amazing view as well
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Hah, that feature had Western observers puzzled for quite a while - there was a theory going along that these traffic aircraft could be converted into makeshift bombers if the Cold War got hot, and that this was what the "bombsight" position was for. Of course, this was because they didn't know about the (often lack of) rudimentary navigational aids in the vast expanses of the Soviet Union, and thus the importance of visual navigation for these airliners.
Of course, Western airliners (or early ones) often had an astrodome position instead, although this disappeared when navigational 'computers' (or calculators to be more exact) improved in the late 1950s...
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Why not? Russians can use anything for bombing!
But what a view! (Actually, pretty scary without proper experience 
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw5bl8… An-30
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The only way to make that more epic, is to put good ol' 633 on it. :3
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWXQUh…
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Thank you!
I promise you, though, as soon as the A400M enters service here (within two to four years), I'll give you pictures of that in return!
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.... C-130 ... A plane with tremendous success! ... Like the DC-3 or the JU-52! ....
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Not to mention the longevity and durability!
Although I've always considered the C-130 to be a bit of a cheat on that terrain - after all, production of the Junkers Ju 52 ended in 1946, and that of the DC-3 in 1947, yet it are these same airframes which still serve today, over three quarters of a century later. The C-130, despite the age of its base design, is still in production, so while it may be "old", it's not exactly the same... >.>
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.. Right! ... 
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Not to mention Daisycutter bombs... >.>
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... 
... I have seen a C-47! ... Circling round and around! ... With two small caliber Gatling guns! ... Sticking out of the cargo door opening! ... Trying to clean an area for foes! ...
... Far later in the war! ... The AC-130 Gunship Specter took over the job! ...
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... how I will miss her when she goes (her retirement is due within this and five years...)
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well when you think about it the 130 has been around for over 40 years
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62 years, actually. They first flew in 1954, so thinking of a world without the C-130 is about as odd as thinking about a world without the B-52 or the 747...
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well the B52 is already planned to be used for another 25 years they actually have the smarts to figure out it is cheaper to keep upgrading it then it would be to replace it.
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I still wonder, though, when they finally will realise it's a bit cheaper and more logical to replace the old gas-guzzlers of TF-33s by something that makes a little more sense, like, for instance, the GE-90. Because I can't help thinking that by 2040, it'll be a bit harder to find spares for, or zero-time TF-33s. >.>
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Come and look at them flying in Greek colors. Looks like we are going to keep them for many more years to come... We used to paint them in Vietnam style camouflage, but now they are painted in low visibility sceme.
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As did we, in fact! When our C-130s were delivered, Vietnam colours were very much in vogue on our air force fleet (F-84F, RF-84F, F-104G, Mirage 5, HS 748, SF-260 Marchetti, T-33 Shooting Star, Alpha Jet, and even Fouga Magister, all of which flew in Vietnam colours). However, all started to shed their colours for low visibility greys from the early 1990s onwards (except the F/RF-84F which was retired in 1972; the T-33 which was retired in 1979; the F-104 which was retired in 1983; the Mirage 5 which was retired in 1993; and the HS 748 which was retired in 2002); the Marchettis were the last ones to shed Vietnam colours in favour of Trainer yellow, although they too now have started receiving low-viz greys instead.
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THAT was a fast exposure! Or she crashed. 
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I started tracking her too soon, and as a result my cam locked on and focussed on the tree in the foreground (of which a branch can be seen in the lefthand upper corner) rather than on the aircraft itself. A pitty, but the ambient light too rather killed the picture, I'm sure I'll be able to get a better capture if I were to shoot her during a clear day.
The C-130 entered service here in 1972, and is slowly approaching its retirement; it's slated replacement is the Airbus A400M of which 7 should start entering service within three year's time. Out of 12 delivered, two were lost in seperate accidents: CH-06 in a fatal accident at Eindhoven Air Base in 1996 that only turned fatal because the base fire department failed to provide adequate support after it crashed (taking 30 minutes from the moment of the crash untill they finally entered the aircraft, by which time 34 out of 41 aboard had been killed as a result of the post-crash fire); and CH-02 when it was destroyed in a hangar fire now ten years ago at Brussels Airport. The latter loss, due to it occuring within a civilian maintenance provider, was covered by the company's insurance, as a result of which a replacement was purchased: CH-13, a former USAF C-130E converted to C-130H standard, which was briefly registered as "CH-14" due to superstition, until common sense prevailed and it was properly numbered in sequence.
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