Country of origin:

United States of America

Description:

Long-range civil freighter

Power Plant:

Four 3,360 kw (4,510 shp) Allison 501-D212A turboprops

Specifications:

History:

On 21 April 1964 Lockheed flew a civilian freight example of the military C-130 transport and placed it into low-rate production. This aircraft was used as a civil demonstrator, and was basically a C-130E without military equipment. It was of high-wing monoplane configuration, the wings being unswept but tapered on the trailing edge. The fuselage was a fail-safe semi-monocoque structure with a hydraulically actuated door providing access for vehicles and equipment. Known as the Model 382, but sold as the L-100 series, it had 3,020 kw (4,050 shp) Allison 501-D22 turboprops, these being civilianised variants of the military T56A-7.  Accommodation was provided for a flight crew of four or five, the flight deck and main cargo hold being both pressurised and air conditioned.

The prototype / demonstrator (N1130E) was used for the certification process, this being received on 16 February 1965, and deliveries were commenced soon thereafter.

Sales to civil operators were not forthcoming in any great numbers and a decision was made to increase the volume available for cargo to 121.75 m³ (4,300 cub ft), this becoming known as the Model 382B and being the first of the series to be known officially as the L-100. Certification of this model was received on 5 October 1965.  In 1967 the Company modified the 382 demonstrator to have a 2.54 m (8 ft 4 in) extension of the fuselage, increasing the internal capacity to 150.26 m³ (5,307 cub ft). The power plants were changed to the 3,362 kw (4,508 shp) Allison 501-D22A. The new model was known as the L-100-20 and was first flown on 19 April 1968, certification being received on 4 October 1968.  Two Model 382Bs were then stretched to this configuration but kept the D22 engine. becoming known as the Model 382F / L-100-20. Subsequently further conversions were carried out.

In 1969 a further variant was proposed, the Model 382G or L-100-30. This had the fuselage lengthened by a further 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) which provided an internal volume of 171.50 m³ (6,057 cub ft). The first of this model flew on 14 August 1970 and certification was received on 7 October 1970. At this time the rear cargo hold windows were deleted and it had a cargo hold length of 17.07 m (56 ft). The first aircraft went to Saturn Airways of Oakland, California.

Civil operators of the series have included Safair, Lynden Air Cargo, Transafrik, Libyan Air Cargo and First Air. A number have been used by the military forces of some nations and these include Indonesia, Philippines, Libya, Algeria, Kuwait, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Gabon, United Arab Emirates and Argentina.

Examples have been noted visiting Australia on occasions. In 1982 Cargomasters announced it was importing three civil Hercules for freight work, but only one, a Model 382G – L-100-30 (VH-CYO – c/n 4763) arrived and worked for a year but returned overseas in June 1983 as N108AK. Others have visited Avalon, VIC on occasion delivering helicopters for demonstrations. In 2012 an L-382G arrived in New Guinea for Lynden Air Cargo, becoming P2-LAD (c/n 4698 ex N402lC).  Airlines of Papua New Guinea had a contract with Adagold Aviation and Lynden Air Cargo to service ongoing heavy outsized cargo transports operated in the construction phase of projects in New Guinea. This company has operated up to six civil Hercules. A further example was later registered in New Guinea with Lynden Air Cargo as P2-LAE (c/n 5225).

A company known as Southern Air Transport, which was formerly a Central Intelligence Agency airline, was founded in 1947 and operated a few aircraft. In 1973 the Company was sold to a former executive of the Company and amongst its fleet at that time were two L-100-30s (c/n 4362 – N7984S and c/n 4299 – N92232R) and an L-100-20 (c/n 4250 – N9266R). This Company received a three year contract to support drilling operations by Chevron in the central highlands of Papua New Guinea. As no roads were available to reach the oil recovery operation near Lake Kutubu the Company operated at least one of its L-382Gs flying equipment and supplies from Nadzab airport near Lae which work provided some challenging flying conditions for the crews.

In mid-2013 Chapman Freeborn Airchartering entered into a contract with Safair to place and operationally manage an L-382 Hercules in Australia, this aircraft to be based in Brisbane on long-term lease and used for international and domestic airlift operations, the aircraft being able to lift 20 tonnes.

Another variant of the Hercules was the EC-130Q built for the US Navy as a platform serving as a strategic communications link for the Fleet Ballistic Missile submarine force and as a backup communications link for the USAF manned strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile force. After a few of these were retired they were obtained by private companies and a few were converted by Coulson of British Colombia for fire-bombing duties, one N130FF [Fire Bomber 131] performing this role in Victoria during the 2014-15 and 2015-16 fire seasons. The type has seen service in Australia in subsequent years.

In late 2015 an L-100 N405LC Thor arrived at RAAF Richmond, NSW for the fire season. This aircraft, operated by Coulson Flying Tankers Hercules and using the call-sign ‘Bomber 132’, arrived from Anchorage in Alaska and was capable of delivering 15,450 (3,399 Imp gals) of water, retardant or suppressants in an area up to 30 metres (98 ft) in width and over one kilometre in length. It used a constant-flow retardant aerial delivery system designed for the lengthened Hercules fuselage and it used a roll-on roll-off system so the hopper tank could be removed, allowing the aircraft to revert to cargo configuration.

During the 2018 Farnborough Air Show an L-100M performed a loop during its handling demonstration. Lockheed Martin also announced during the show it was going to introduce a firefighting variant of the LM-100J known as the FireHerc.