How safe is the C-130?

[Twenty4]

On the 11 C-130 which account Belgium, eight must be operational permanently, but it is not any more the case for a certain time. Dismantle one C-130 to make an another fly become a daily task for the technicians in charge of the maintenance of these planes. These planes are in such a state that parts must continuously be replaced. The personnel draws the alarm bell and complains. The personnel already informed the cabinet of the Minister of Defense Andre Flahaut, which ordered one internal audit some time ago. The minister had affirmed that the planes, which date from the beginning of the Seventies, could still function until 2018. There you have the Belgian Silverback!

24

[earthman]

Didn't Belgium order a bunch of A400Ms? Or will they end up getting just one A400M, and use it to fly around the world collecting parts from scrapped C-130s to use on their own fleet?

[fokker_f27]

Wasn't that also the case with the Flying Boxcars?

[ElcoB]

De Ministerraad ging akkoord met het voorstel van de heer André Flahaut, Minister van Landsverdediging, om deel te nemen aan Strategic airlift interim solution SALIS. De Europese strijdkrachten beschikken niet over voldoende vliegtuigen voor transport over zeer grote afstanden of voor het transport van grote zogenaamde outsized cargo items zoals helikopters en gepantserde voertuigen. Dat belemmert de snelle ontplooiing van strijdkrachten voor militaire operaties en bemoeilijkt een efficiënte respons in het kader van humanitaire tussenkomsten. De levering van 180 Europese A400M vrachttoestellen komt hieraan grotendeels tegemoet. De eerste A400M zal echter pas in 2018 in België worden geleverd. Als tijdelijke oplossing hebben 16 landen, voornamelijk Europese, begin dit jaar een open contract gesloten met een Duitse firma. Onder dit contract SALIS verbinden de landen zich ertoe om jaarlijks een minimum aantal vlieguren van de contractant af te nemen. Als tegenprestatie waarborgt de contractant de permanente beschikbaarheid van twee transportvliegtuigen van het type Antonov-124. De deelname is ook voor België voordelig. Dankzij de gewaarborgde beschikbaarheid van Antonov-124 kan men beter plannen en lopende operaties beter ondersteunen. De deelname aan het contract brengt vaste kosten met zich mee, maar vanaf 70 vluchturen per jaar verdienen die zichzelf terug.

Uit de ministerraad van 21/03/2006. ( Government issue)

* Belgium participates in SALIS for heavy military airlift.
* This secures disponibility of airlift capacity for Belgium till 2018, year when the first of seven A400M enters service.

Indeed, the C-130's are getting older but are there really problems ? or is your post inspired by an overworked mechanic ?

[regi]

strange, I do also know a mechanic working on the C-130's and he is very fond of them.
He never told me something about old , dangerous airplanes.
The B-52 of the US Airforce are flying already from the 1950's.

[cageyjames]

I don't understand the problem. The C-130 while "old" is still comming off the assembly line and Lockheed Martin claims that it is still the transport of the 21st century (yea what else are they going to say). Getting parts isn't very hard especially since there are so many C-130's out there both flying and in scrap yards.

The C-130J has those sexy Rolls-Royce turboprops and HUD. It isn't a C-17 by any means, but C-130's are the bread and butter of airlift and probably will for years to come.

[Depretair]

A friend of mine saw this afternoom between 17h and 18h LT a C130 making a U turn over is building (Anderlecht). He said there was a lot of smoke coming out the engines, the wing were vertical when the plane made the turn. Then the plane took the direction of Koekelberg (church) made few turns over this part of Brussels and then turn back towards the airport. Any news ?

[Andries]

He said there was a lot of smoke coming out the engines

Was this the first C-130 your friend ever saw ???

If there would be no smoke, then you should be worried !

Greetz,

Andries

[Rago]

I don't understand the problem.
Getting parts isn't very hard especially since there are so many C-130's out there both flying and in scrap yards.

Not a lot to understand! This is a typically Belgian situation. Defence wants to have the equipment(and they buy everything they can), but they simply don't have the money to buy the spare parts... They always "forget" to reserve the funds to buy the spares!

[cageyjames]

They always "forget" to reserve the funds to buy the spares!

A common problem for sure anywhere in the world (I've worked with many in the U.S. Navy trying to get parts for the F-14 back when it was being phased out).

Still at least with the C-130, unlike many military planes, there is a huge private sector aftermarket where you can get parts if you are willing.

If they can't fund a relatively cheap plane like the C-130, the A400M won't solve anything.

[Rago]

If they can't fund a relatively cheap plane like the C-130, the A400M won't solve anything.

100% true, but they "must" do like the rest of the partners to keep up the "Belgian Peace-keeping and charity" Image.
Why do it with an old C-130 if you can do it with a state of the art A400M? (but can't afford it? )

[smokejumper]

The C-130 of today (C-130J) is not an old plane. It is very much different that the C-130A of the early '50's. The basic design may date to the 50's, but the requirements are still the same. Modern materials, modern engines, modern electronics, modern navigation, etc. have made it a modern airplane that is capable of carrying combat loads for long distances into rough fields.

It is affordable and maintainable; you just have to have the parts and trained mechanics to keep it in the air. The fact that it, like the Boeing B-52, keeps providing first line service shows the correctness of the design!

[Bilboone]

Not a lot to understand! This is a typically Belgian situation. Defence wants to have the equipment(and they buy everything they can), but they simply don't have the money to buy the spare parts... They always "forget" to reserve the funds to buy the spares!

It's not only for the C-130's but it is the same also for the two Airbuses A310 and Embraer ERJ-135's. They Can fly only One Airbus at the time and even sometimes both are AOG. Because they don't have a spare engine or need to rob some parts to serve the otherone.How many times was there a Embraer already grounded somewhere, Ask Minister of Foreign Affairs Karel de Gucht, I think he knows everything about broken Aircrafts...especially C-130's in Africa.....

It's a typical problem for Aircraft operators, no spare parts, big problems...

I know when OO-DPI (EAT 757) left a few weeks ago, there were spare parts onboard for about 4 Million $... says enough.

[Depretair]

Hello,
Dear andries, be advised that my friend is not that crazy. He also work for an airline since many years. Both of us know the kind of smoke coming out the engines of an hercules. He was speaking about the entire situation. Anyway, no answer about that. Suppose it was an ex F16 pilot trying the C130. Bye..

[DENUT]

Depretair,

The situation your friend described looks to me as a (very) steep turn, to maintain altitude you therefore have to increase thrust, hence the heavier than normal 'smoke' generation, also your friend described the C130 continuing it's business and proceeding to make other turns further away, so there is no indication of anything going wrong...
To answer your question: No news, since this is a non-event

Kind Regards,

DENUT

[earthman]

Yes, nothing unusual, it seems the C130 is flown almost like a stuntplane during normal operations.