Have to say I'm a little disapointed with the quality of 'banter' on this thread. It's a bit 'playground' for my liking & I'd have hoped that you chaps, both K & J, could be a bit more adult on this subject.
The C130 Hercules is the definitive medium air transport aircraft, so good that after over 40 years it's still being produced - the only thing that can replace a Hercules is another Hercules. I had a great time flying the K, but sadly the aircraft is now dated, it can't comply with current requirements, it's upgrade programme is hampered by integration difficulties, it's performance is poor hot & high & the whole fleet should've been replaced when the first half was, with the only aircraft that could replace it - another Hercules - and the latest model of that was the J. Are the 'anti - J' contingent really to have us believe that Lockheed, with the benefit of 40 years of improving technology, couldn't improve on the 1966 model? The aircraft has evolved over its life, or do the doubters think the A model was definitive?
I remember when we didn't fly during the day in summer in the Gulf because the performance was so poor on the K. It did mean we had some cracking night(day?) stops in the Crowne Plaza in Kuwait though! Two engine performance could be marginal even at training weights, & 3 engine wasn't that great sometimes! The Siren departure was invented because of Ks struggling to altitude joining G1 on their way to Akrotiri.
The J is the same size & shape as a K, can carry the same things, but because it's got oodles more power, & if you K pilots haven't tried it you really shouldn't knock it! - it can carry more of it. Even in the middle East, at ISA +35 C, with 10 tonnes of freight & 12 tonnes of fuel, we don't have to worry about our 2 engine ceiling. Why is that a problem? Only once have I thought I could've done with external fuel tanks, because we're usually at MTOW without filling up with fuel - ie we can shift more freight around, surely no bad thing with a transport aircraft.
Try this in your K next time you're in the sim - MTOW departure from Lyneham, ISA +10 C, fail both critical engines at rotate & try & keep flying. As a pilot that gives me a certain bit of confidence - we may not have been climbing iaw Perf A, but we didn't crash!
The Eng & Nav are unfortunately surplus to requirements on the J so I can imagine them being a bit unhappy about it, but does that make the aircraft bad? Who flies with them on a modern aircraft anyway? They've gone the way of the AGs, WOPs, WOPAGs, etc, replaced by the advance of technology. Some of my best friends were/ are Navs, not all smelt of p**s, but there simply isn't a need for them on an aircraft with good modern aids, & a pilot friendly cockpit. Again, you K pilots ought to try having more SA than you know what to do with!
It's not all rosy of course, the contract was another RAF created blinder, some of the kit that was fitted to the obsolete aircraft ought to have come to us, & some of our clearances have taken far too long to come in, but the K would fare little better were it to be flight tested today. But the basic J is still a Hercules, with alot of the drawbacks of the older models sorted, & will continue to carry on the great work previously done by the K.
Meanwhile it would be nice to see the K flying again, despite its limitations, as there simply aren't enough
Js to do all the work. I look forward to seeing you in KANDAHAR!
I am also looking forward to seeing some mature responses, no name calling please!