All C-130 E's grounded in Iraq for wing cracks

[Cannikin]

Anybody have any stats on how many are over there?

[Grey Ranks]

1. Not quite what you were looking for

http://fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/c-130.htm

There are about 220 C-130Es in the US arsenal. Given the Air Forces rotation cycles I wouldn't think more than 45 are over there. That doesn't inclue the planes based in Germany though, which make routine trips.

[dave123williams]

2. Isn't there actually artillery onboard those planes?

Could explain cracks in the wings...just my $0.02

[Grey Ranks]

3. Only on AC-130s

Most C-130s are cargo planes. Yes, a small number of converted planes are gunships with artillery.

Either way I am sure this is a sign that we need to spend billions of dollars on new unnecessary cargo planes. Maybe it can shoot flames from its back when it takes off, just for effect.

[dave123williams]

4. Ah - I just associated the '130' part of the designations...thanks.

So, are the AC-130's just modified C-130's?

[DistantWind88]

5. Yes

[BrotherBuzz]

6. Shooting flames out the back

can be the optional rocket assisted take-off (RATO). Disposal rockets can be added for quick takeoff on short unimproved runways. Vrrrooom.

[dmkinsey]

7. BITCHIN'!

huh-huh fire's cool huh

[BrotherBuzz]

8. I think this idiot used one of those rockets

Rocket Assisted Take-Off

1995 Darwin Awards Winner


The Arizona Highway Patrol were mystified when they came upon a pile of smoldering wreckage embedded in the side of a cliff rising above the road at the apex of a curve. The metal debris resembled the site of an airplane crash, but it turned out to be the vaporized remains of an automobile. The make of the vehicle was unidentifiable at the scene.

The folks in the lab finally figured out what it was, and pieced together the events that led up to its demise.

It seems that a former Air Force sergeant had somehow got hold of a RATO (Rocket Assisted Take-Off) unit. RATO units are solid fuel rockets used to give heavy military transport airplanes an extra push for take-off from short airfields.

Dried desert lakebeds are the location of choice for breaking the world ground vehicle speed record. The sergeant took the RATO unit into the Arizona desert and found a long, straight stretch of road. He attached the RATO unit to his car, jumped in, accelerated to a high speed, and fired off the rocket.

The facts, as best as could be determined, are as follows:

The operator was driving a 1967 Chevy Impala. He ignited the RATO unit approximately 3.9 miles from the crash site. This was established by the location of a prominently scorched and melted strip of asphalt. The vehicle quickly reached a speed of between 250 and 300 mph and continued at that speed, under full power, for an additional 20-25 seconds. The soon-to-be pilot experienced G-forces usually reserved for dog-fighting F-14 jocks under full afterburners.

The Chevy remained on the straight highway for approximately 2.6 miles (15-20 seconds) before the driver applied the brakes, completely melting them, blowing the tires, and leaving thick rubber marks on the road surface. The vehicle then became airborne for an additional 1.3 miles, impacted the cliff face at a height of 125 feet, and left a blackened crater 3 feet deep in the rock.

Most of the driver's remains were not recovered; however, small fragments of bone, teeth, and hair were extracted from the crater, and fingernail and bone shards were removed from a piece of debris believed to be a portion of the steering wheel.