Military Aircraft Manufacturing C-130 & L-100J Hercules - How it's made in the USA factory
Video from the channel Aircraftory about Lockheed C-130 Hercules, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 25:44. Language: English. Video type: Documentary.
What it's about
A narrated tour of the Lockheed Martin plant in Marietta, Georgia, where the C-130J Super Hercules, the latest version of the C-130 and the only one still in production, is assembled. The video follows the aircraft from parts manufacturing and fuselage assembly through painting and test flights. Its second half consists only of footage set to music.
Historical context
The narration recalls that the C-130 was born as a troop, cargo and medical evacuation transport capable of operating from unprepared runways, and that over time it has taken on other roles: gunship, search and rescue, scientific support, weather reconnaissance, aerial refuelling, maritime patrol and firefighting. For comparison, the video intercuts footage of the Airbus A400M assembly line in Europe, an aircraft that in size sits between the C-130 and the C-17.
Key facts
According to the video, about 3,000 employees are involved in producing each aircraft, and the full process takes about 13 months. Assembly is mostly manual, with tens of thousands of screws per aircraft and parts coming from the company's other plants in Meridian, Mississippi, and West Virginia. The four Rolls-Royce AE 2100 turboprops are installed with cranes and then fitted with six-blade propellers. After a quality inspection, the aircraft moves to the paint hangar; among the examples shown is one for the Royal Air Force bearing livery marking the type's 50th anniversary in that service. Before delivery, each aircraft is tested in a simulator and in flight. The civilian LM-100J version is also mentioned.