USAF Special Ops Command plans to design, build and fly an amphibious Herc
 

https://www.flightglobal.com/fixed-w...145490.article


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....2e8b5b6391.png


All in 17 months... Ooooooh.. :)

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....87729af694.jpg
It's worked before... XC-47C

Another example, N130Q, still flies on amphibious floats so far as I know - converted in 1976.

Don't forget the earlier "Hercules On Water " ( HOW) program.

Drag, of course, is inconsequential. "Ye cannae change the laws of physics, Captain"

According to this website it was put back on wheels in 2004. www.airhistory.net/photo/127218/N130Q

Have they added another door on the c130J Herc?, I ask because that’s on the wrong side and the codes are correct so it’s not a mirror image, is it possibly added because the port crew door would be to short to reach? Though looking closely it’s got a step on the port side too… you learn something every day.


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....6cf17d1aab.png

I expect you would need a door each side to get access to the floats so you can come alongside and moor both portside and starboardside to.

Salute!

TGBSM!

What a hairbrained idea and more.

Too many ways to insert and exract spec ops folks that require less support and are more mobile and have actually been used in sensitive scenarios.

Must be same folks that planned Kabul, huh?

Gums sends..

Might be useful for urgent deep ocean resupply, picking up injured or carrying spec forces to join a carrier etc? I wonder what it does for fuel burn and range.

Sea-130...
I'll just get my coat.

Byrd did it for his Antarctic expedition in the 1930s with a Curtiss-Wright T-32
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....d0ce7ddaf2.jpg

Does this come under the category of a solution in search of a problem?

Might be just easier to buy the Sunderland off Kermit Weeks.

Anilv

Anilv, I believe the Coulson Martin Mars are both for sale!

What wave height could it cope with? Is this something for open ocean scenarios?

Mari used Herc.
 

Are they serious?

Assuming they are fitting floats, the resultant drag will limit payload range and speed considerably.

Absolutely not. Only seaplanes with hulls specifically designed for ocean swells would go anywhere near such conditions - and they are few and far between.

The ShinMaywa is designed to operate in conditions up to sea state 5 - conditions in the North Atlantic and Pacific exceed sea state 6 over 20% of the time in winter.

https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA487947.pdf

Checks calendar to verify it's not April 1...

Perhaps they've just floated the idea...................

Wouldn't something like the ShinMaywa US-2 be more useful and readily available?

If you accept the C-130 will be unsuitable for oceanic waters, the ramp could offer advantages for SOF in calmer littoral Ops for the insertion/extraction of assault craft and surface and sub-surface vehicles such as RIBs and AUV/UUVs, as down with the Chinook, but at far greater ranges.

It is meant for operations in the Pacific. No prizes for guessing why. During WW2 the Sunderland crews were eventually banned from conducting open ocean rescues as too many aircraft were damaged and destroyed doing it.

Orac, I would say the ramp will need a ramp addition inside to reach the water.

Inflatable slide,or roll-up one...

Its easy when you know how. They would just need semi submersible floats. The secret is not to stand up in the boat

Looks like this is not a new idea either.
https://jalopnik.com/a-c-130-hercule...e-t-1716610531
If you search YouTube for Hercules on Water (HOW) there is a discussion of a trial of an amphibious version of the C-130 which included a water ski to get airborne in higher sea states. It seems that it never got past the model stage.

Ekranoplans might be more viable. The Ukrainians would be happy to quote.

The Spruce Goose looks in good condition in a museum and could be made flyable. It would be more stealthy than a C130.

More on the 1968 amphibious C-130

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1Q...FFc1RjQkM0ekVn

Megan, rather reminiscent of the Albatross...

Now that you mention it treaders, yes, they had dozens of them parked wing tip to wing tip along the sea wall at Pensacola when we were training, always fancied the aircraft, whats not to like with two big radials.

I think that this idea is a ridiculous non-starter. Everyone knows that proper air forces are getting rid of C130.