Originally Posted by
ancientaviator62
tecumseh,
when we did the HEART job there were great fears of counterfeit parts ending up in the C130K. It was thought that with the loss of so many original manufacturers for the a/c this was a real possibility. However my engineering counterparts on the team did not find any evidence of such parts. But as the archeologists say 'Absence of evidence in not evidence of absence.'.
C-130K fleet was widely fitted with counterfeit main undercarriage parts in the late-'90s. They were not even the same shape as the originals, let alone the same material. Sometime later the C-130K fleet was widely fitted with now broken or completely failed main undercarriages, usually taking the tracks with them. Emergency drills were also widely carried out, even after the counterfeit parts were discovered, as the fleet carried on flying with the bogus parts...