Description

French text and captions.
While the DC-3 holds the absolute record for the number of transport aircraft manufactured, it is nonetheless an airliner modified by the addition of a cargo door. The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is, on the other hand, the first aircraft specifically designed for tactical military transport to have enjoyed global success: more than 2,500 aircraft have equipped 75 air forces on five continents. This is without counting civilian companies and other government agencies. And, remarkably, it is still in production more than 70 years after its first flight… and some aircraft delivered more than 50 years ago are still in service.
No aircraft will have fulfilled such varied missions: rescue of downed pilots, recovery of satellites, flying gunboats, command post, electronic spy, observer in the heart of typhoons, hospital plane, humanitarian evacuation, etc.
This book is the first in a series that will span several years and cover all users of the Hercules, military and civilian. Each volume will review the air forces of one or more continents: after the European air forces, there will be, in three volumes, those of Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Central and South America and Oceania. Then an entire volume will be devoted to the US Air Force, by far the largest user, which has developed an impressive number of sub-versions adapted to specific missions. Another volume will bring together the other American users (US Navy, US Marine Corps, NASA, etc.) and the series will be closed by a very last volume entirely dedicated to civilian users.
In this first volume, Xavier Capy presents the aircraft, its origins, its characteristics and its main versions. Many books have already dealt with the Hercules and its technical description. This is why the author preferred to provide in this chapter the elements allowing a better understanding of the evolution of the aircraft over the years and the reasons for its great success. On the other hand, in this collection he focuses on tracing the career of the Hercules for each of the users, with the complete list of aircraft, their current fate, their careers and the formations that used them. All of this is highlighted by an iconography of exceptional richness, often unpublished.
Of course, the situation of the fleets is continually evolving, with immobilizations, reforms, accidents, deliveries of new aircraft, etc. Also, the data included reflects the situation known at the time of the printing of each volume.