View Full Version : C130J centre wing box replacement confirmed
Frostchamber
23rd Jul 2017, 10:07
Amid the prevalent gloom it's good to see a positive if unglamorous development (often the best sort and easily overlooked) - a £110m contract has been placed with Marshalls to replace the centre wing boxes of the RAF's 14 retained C130Js. All of these aircraft had been due to go under the 2010 SDSR until a slightly more sane SDSR 2015 signalled retention of the 14. The new boxes apparently have two to three times the life of the originals and the OSD is now 2035.
Lyneham Lad
23rd Jul 2017, 11:30
Are they becoming the aeronautical equivalent to Trigger's broom? ;)
bunta130
23rd Jul 2017, 19:21
Replacing wing boxes is absolutely routine (albeit, a big job)......and good husbandry.
You wouldn't want one of ours doing something similar to that in the fire water tanker incident/accident would you......?!
Shaft109
23rd Jul 2017, 20:54
With regards to that particular accident was it just fatigue from the low level environment it was operated in?
bunta130
23rd Jul 2017, 22:09
Not quite:
https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20020617-0
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/NTSB_accident_summary_for_N130HP
Poor souls - doesn't matter how skilled you are as an aviator if the wings come off
ancientaviator62
24th Jul 2017, 07:45
We have been here before with the C130K.
Remember its a design that pre dates the Blackburn Beverley , design philosophy has changed a lot since then !
Haraka
24th Jul 2017, 09:44
Remember its a design that pre dates the Blackburn Beverley
Really? do tell us more.
Davef68
24th Jul 2017, 09:52
Remember its a design that pre dates the Blackburn Beverley , design philosophy has changed a lot since then !
Not quite, but only 4 years younger in terms of first flight
keith williams
24th Jul 2017, 10:35
The fact that the MOD is spending money updating something is no guarantee that it will remain in service for any significant length of time.
Willard Whyte
24th Jul 2017, 11:06
Not quite, but only 4 years younger in terms of first flight
Interesting to note that the Beverley entered RAF service March '56, the C-130 entered service with the USAF December that same year.
TBM-Legend
24th Jul 2017, 11:27
Beverley
what a machine....carried a 'tank' to the threshold of the departure airfield or a load of ping pong balls halfway around the world!
Frostchamber
24th Jul 2017, 11:37
The fact that the MOD is spending money updating something is no guarantee that it will remain in service for any significant length of time.
True enough I guess. And this is pprune, where there are very few silver linings, and those that do exist will always have a cloud :). But perhaps rashly I depart from that zeitgeist by recognising that credibility in complaining about genuine concerns (and lord knows there are plenty of those) is helped by a preparedness to balance that by giving credit where it's due - as in this instance.
Ken Scott
25th Jul 2017, 19:13
With my nerd hat on:
The GAL 60 Universal first flew on 20 Jun 50 and after issues with ground handling was redesigned into the GAL 65 Universal, this second prototype flying on 14 Jun 53. The Air Ministry were impressed enough by the design improvements to order an initial batch of 20 aircraft in late 52 before the new aircraft had flown. The first production Beverley flew on 29 Jan 55.
The USAF issued the requirement for a new purpose built cargo aircraft in Feb 51. The Lockheed design submission used a similar planform and cargo hold configuration to the Chase XCG-20 Avitruc which had been designed & flown as a glider in 1947 & later developed into the C123 Provider. The prototype YC130 was first flown on 23 Aug 54.
So while the Beverley has the edge in precedence terms they are both designs from a very similar age.
Only one of them is still being produced today albeit in modified form.
MoateAir
26th Jul 2017, 11:20
what a machine....carried a 'tank' to the threshold of the departure airfield or a load of ping pong balls halfway around the world!
Apologies for the thread creep.....
As a kid I recall my father showing me a home cine movie he shot coming back from (IIRC) Sardinia to Thorney Island in the Beverley. The film was taken at low level and showed a French steam train overtaking the aircraft. He did say they had a pretty strong headwind on the day.