Wednesday, February 16, 2011

C-130 short final

C-130 on short final approach … SEA 1972. Although not the case here the C-130 was capable of landing on very short, unpaved runways. The large balloon-like tires and mammoth landing gear struts were designed to absorb high impact landings … often referred to as “assault” landings whereby the aircraft would basically be driven into the ground with slight flare at the runway threshold maintaining a fairly steep angle. Full flaps would be used to minimize approach speed. Hard braking and prop-reversal would accompany the touchdown as all prayed with end of runway quickly approaching. I recall a few assault landings with Captain Ed on dirt runways that were well under 3000 feet somewhere in Cambodia … quite a wild ride with clouds of red dust everywhere. Naturally gross weight of aircraft dependent on cargo load was always a major factor in calculating acceptable takeoff and landing distance limits. C-130s have even landed on aircraft carriers … very brave souls.

1 comment:

  1. Hi Bob,
    The C-130E does not have speed brakes or spoilers. Deceleration on Assault landings is provided by maximum reverse and heavy braking only. Assault landings are flown at 1.15 Vstall instead of the normal Flaps 100 speeds of 1.3 Vstall. Some amount of landing flare is desirable during assaults.

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