Hercules retired after 40 plus years of service

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Chrsitopher Callaway
  • 1st Special Operations Wing Public Affairs
Hurlburt Field --  A nearly 50-year-old aircraft took its final flight from the flight line on Hurlburt Field, Fla., March 4.

The C-130E Hercules, labeled "slick" because of the aircraft being barebones with nothing other than what it needs to fly, left Hurlburt Field for the last time. The E-model is slated for retirement with the departing aircraft number 63-7815 taking its last flight to a boneyard in Tucson, Ariz.

The Hercules has flown more than three times the amount of hours as any other aircraft on Hurlburt Field with more than 28,000 hours total. The model departing Hurlburt has survived a complete cockpit fire that parked it for two years before being completely repaired.

"That's a lot of hours for one aircraft," said Chief Master Sgt. Scott Doremus, superintendent of 1st Special Operations Maintenance Squadron. "The great things about these planes are if we had an unlimited amount of money we could keep these flying forever. They are so well put together."

The primary use of the basic E-models was hauling and troop transport. During its life span, the Hercules sustained modifications that transformed the aircraft into the H-model gunships, which are located on Cannon Air Force Base, N.M.

The aircraft was first used by the U.S. Navy in 1965 and flown by VR-22 HAD Naval Air Transport Wing Pacific, which was the unit that flew the aircraft during the Vietnam War.
In 1975, a ground fire destroyed the entire flight deck of the plane while it was stationed at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas. At that time, the aircraft had 11,564 hours. It was not repaired until 1977 when transferred to the Pennsylvania Air National Guard.
In the course of its career, aircraft number 63-7815 has been home to and servic
ed six different squadrons and sported five different colors. The plane arrived on Hurlburt Field in 2004.

"You have to believe the tax payers have gotten their money's worth on these aircrafts," Doremus said. "We are starting to modernize the fleet with the J-model. It's sad to see them go but the slicks have seen their time."

In September 2012, the plane flew its last mission with the 6th Special Operations Squadron. The aircraft clocked a grand total 28,657.6 hours after the mission.
"It's a pretty amazing aircraft; the build was just so tough," Doremus said. "It was such a great plane that when it first came out they weren't able to build enough; everyone wanted them."