COAST GUARD AIR STATION CLEARWATER CELEBRATES HISTORIC 50TH YEAR FOR THE C-130

By Lt. Christopher Kendall, PAO Air Station Clearwater

CLEARWATER, FLA. - Air Station Clearwater and its 550-man crew ushered in the 50th anniversary of the C-130’s first flight Aug. 23, 2004, citing it as a major milestone in the life of the Hercules product line. 

C-130 Cake

Photo by Don Demik, CG Auxiliarist,
Air Sta Clrwtr.

On Aug. 23, 1954, the first of two YC-130A test aircraft made a maiden voyage from Burbank, Ca., to Edwards Air Force Base. Approximately five years later, the Coast Guard received it’s first C-130.  To date, more than 2,260 Hercules aircraft of all types in more than 70 different variants have been delivered to 60 countries since the program began. Today, 67 countries, counting those that bought used aircraft, fly the Hercules.

“We take great pride in being part of the rich aeronautical history the C-130 has embodied for the last 50 years,” said Capt. Everett Rollins, Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater’s Commanding Officer. “It is particularly gratifying to know that the Coast Guard’s purchase of the newer ‘J’-model will help carry on a successful future in Search and Rescue as well as other missions.” 

The HC-130 has been the Coast Guard’s primary long-range search and rescue and maritime patrol aircraft since 1959.

Currently, the Coast Guard’s HC-130Hs, the last of which were delivered in the early 1980s, have among the highest operational tempos of any C-130 fleet in the world, with aircraft being flown roughly 1,000 hours a year.  The C-130J is the latest version to come off the longest, continuous, active military aircraft production line in history.  Lockheed Martin formally delivered the first HC-130J Super Hercules airlifters to the Coast Guard at Elizabeth City, N.C., in Oct., 2004. The new aircraft will serve in a number of roles for the Coast Guard, eventually replacing the service’s oldest HC-130H long-range maritime patrol aircraft, a number of which were built in the early 1970s.

The HC-130Js will increase Coast Guard capability in the service’s primary mission areas: long-range search and rescue; law enforcement (which includes alien migrant interdiction, living marine resources and counter-drug operations); airlift; other homeland security operations as necessary; and to augment Department of Defense operations during contingencies.  Currently, the Coast Guard’s HC-130Hs, the last of which were delivered in the early 1980s, have among the highest operational tempos of any C-130 fleet in the world, with aircraft being flown roughly 1,000 hours a year.

To commemorate this tremendous milestone in aviation history, Air Station Clearwater hosted a small celebration and overflights on Aug. 23, 2004. 

-USCG-

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