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USAF Special Ops Command plans to design, build and fly an amphibious Herc

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USAF Special Ops Command plans to design, build and fly an amphibious Herc

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Old 16th Sep 2021, 11:06
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USAF Special Ops Command plans to design, build and fly an amphibious Herc

https://www.flightglobal.com/fixed-w...145490.article





All in 17 months... Ooooooh..
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Old 16th Sep 2021, 14:53
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It's worked before... XC-47C
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Old 16th Sep 2021, 15:54
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Originally Posted by Fargo Boyle
It's worked before... XC-47C
Another example, N130Q, still flies on amphibious floats so far as I know - converted in 1976.
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Old 16th Sep 2021, 16:52
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Don't forget the earlier "Hercules On Water " ( HOW) program.
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Old 16th Sep 2021, 20:39
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Drag, of course, is inconsequential. "Ye cannae change the laws of physics, Captain"
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Old 16th Sep 2021, 21:11
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Originally Posted by treadigraph
Another example, N130Q, still flies on amphibious floats so far as I know - converted in 1976.
According to this website it was put back on wheels in 2004. www.airhistory.net/photo/127218/N130Q
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Old 16th Sep 2021, 21:21
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Have they added another door on the c130J Herc?, I ask because that’s on the wrong side and the codes are correct so it’s not a mirror image, is it possibly added because the port crew door would be to short to reach? Though looking closely it’s got a step on the port side too… you learn something every day.


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Old 16th Sep 2021, 21:46
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I expect you would need a door each side to get access to the floats so you can come alongside and moor both portside and starboardside to.
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Old 17th Sep 2021, 00:22
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Salute!

TGBSM!

What a hairbrained idea and more.

Too many ways to insert and exract spec ops folks that require less support and are more mobile and have actually been used in sensitive scenarios.

Must be same folks that planned Kabul, huh?

Gums sends..
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Old 17th Sep 2021, 00:42
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Might be useful for urgent deep ocean resupply, picking up injured or carrying spec forces to join a carrier etc? I wonder what it does for fuel burn and range.
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Old 17th Sep 2021, 01:25
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Sea-130...
I'll just get my coat.
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Old 17th Sep 2021, 02:25
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Byrd did it for his Antarctic expedition in the 1930s with a Curtiss-Wright T-32

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Old 17th Sep 2021, 08:57
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Does this come under the category of a solution in search of a problem?
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Old 17th Sep 2021, 09:25
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Might be just easier to buy the Sunderland off Kermit Weeks.

Anilv
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Old 17th Sep 2021, 09:54
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Anilv, I believe the Coulson Martin Mars are both for sale!
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Old 17th Sep 2021, 10:53
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What wave height could it cope with? Is this something for open ocean scenarios?
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Old 17th Sep 2021, 17:59
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Mari used Herc.

Are they serious?

Assuming they are fitting floats, the resultant drag will limit payload range and speed considerably.

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Old 17th Sep 2021, 18:38
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Is this something for open ocean scenarios?
Absolutely not. Only seaplanes with hulls specifically designed for ocean swells would go anywhere near such conditions - and they are few and far between.

The ShinMaywa is designed to operate in conditions up to sea state 5 - conditions in the North Atlantic and Pacific exceed sea state 6 over 20% of the time in winter.

https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA487947.pdf
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Old 17th Sep 2021, 18:57
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Checks calendar to verify it's not April 1...
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Old 18th Sep 2021, 02:07
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Perhaps they've just floated the idea...................
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