Civilian C130s

[Dr Jekyll]

Why are there relatively few civilian C130s? Or is it just that they are rarely seen in the UK?

My guess is that most specialised freight carriers buy second hand, and it's easier to take the seats out of an airliner than put a ex military aircraft on a civil register.

[kharmael]

C130s are slow, uncomfortable, cannot fly very high or very far. They are a tactical transport. Not particularly effective in cost or practicality at moving freight around the world.

[SloppyJoe]

Antonov An-12 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonov_An-12)

this could be one of the reasons. Don't see them much in UK or Western Europe but absolutely loads of civilian operators.

[treadigraph]

Used to be occasional visitors to Gatwick/Heathrow in the 1970s, TIA, Saturn Airways, Southern International, Pacific Western. Think I saw TIA examples at Gatwick most frequently.

[WIDN62]

An excellent question incorrectly answered by Kharmael.
They are only slow if you compare them with a jet.
They are only uncomfortable if you are in the freight bay, and cargo operators don't have people down there.
FL 270 and 3000+ nms seems OK to me for a turbo-prop.
Cost - can't help you there as I have never paid my own crews or bought my own aviation fuel, but they will certainly be cheaper on fuel than a similar-age jet. The old models require a flight deck crew of 3, but I imagine the AN-12 does as well.
Practicality - it depends what you want to carry.

I suspect you have partly answered your own question, there are probably a lot of ageing airliners on the market. Also most large modern airliners carry a lot of freight underneath the paying public.

I did once hear that only 2 fire bottles for 4 engines means they cannot be on every country's civil register, but that may be an urban myth!

[scr1]

there is one at inv just now N121TG been here since 25/06

[kharmael]

WIDN62:

My response was entirely based around comparing them to Jets. As a fellow C130 Operator.

[Desert185]

Having flown civil C-130's (double stretch L-382G's) for TIA/Transamerica in the 70's and 80's, this was my take on them...

We flew them all over the world, often outsize cargo to remote runways. We flew the US Coast Guard Falcons from France to Arkansas, one at a time. The leg from Bordeaux to Boston was 12 hours with external tanks. We flew the L-1011 engines (three at a time) from EMA to Palmdale (KPMD). The route was East Midlands-Keflavik-Frobisher-Winnepeg-Palmdale.

My longest leg was a ferry flight from Santa Maria, Azores to Dallas, TX...14+ hours.

I have flown armored cars from Bangalore, India to Milan, Italy. We flew for Diamang in Angola, resupplying the mines with food, fuel and general supplies during the 70's and 80's.

We could carry 50,000# 5 hours or something 10x10x50 with less weight for longer periods, while burning ~4,000#/hour @ 280 KTAS. A ferry flight could go to FL310 and true at 320 Kts.

Not many planes could move oil rigs in the Sudan one day and then fly 12 hours with a Falcon 20 in the back the next day. Outstanding capability and often underestimated and underappreciated by the jet folks.

[merlinxx]

St Lucia Airways L100 J6-SLO:ok:

[10 DME ARC]

Desert185 - Sounds like there is a book in there !!:D

[merlinxx]

Transafik.com:ok:

[merlinxx]

And lost a couple along with some good folks in ops ex LAD:mad:

[Dave Clarke Fife]

Transafik.com:ok:

Transafrik.......I think you mean.


Transafrik (http://www.transafrik.com/fleet_l100_intro.html)

Don't think CRGH has any dealings with it anymore though but they are looking for crews

[NutLoose]

and it's easier to take the seats out of an airliner than put a ex military aircraft on a civil register.

Locheed actually built a Civilian version of the Herc, you can recognise them as they have the two lower cockpit windows missing and no rear side para doors on them.

There is one more or less permanatly based at East Mids doing I think emergency oil spillage coverage.

[merlinxx]

Sticky keyboard:(

I even remember their DC8 30s in LAD