Unknown C-130 Variant

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[Purplesuiter]

The other morning on the way home from work, I was driving past the old side of the airport where they park transient aircraft and sitting there was a C-130 in grey livery with the tail code of NY.  What struck me as odd was the pair of "towel rack" type attachments on top of the fuselage between the wing and the tail.

I remember seeing some C and D model F-4s carrying a single towel rack LORAN antenna on top of their fuselage just aft of the ****pit canopy.

Any ideas of what those attachments might be?  If classified, disregard.

[DragonSoldier]

More than likely LORAN...  The "NY" code makes 'em New York Air National Guard and I believe they got the Antarctic mission for the LC-130s, or as I call 'em, "Ski 130s"..

[Purplesuiter]

I kinda figured the NY stood for the NY-ANG, but wasn't sure.  Before I retired in 1991, aircraft tailcodes made it very easy to identify the base they were from, but since then they have changed the tailcode system somewhat, so it is kinda hard to tell anymore. 

Since their missions take them to the Antarctic, the installation of LORAN antennas makes a ton of sense.

[reaganite]

If this is the plane, it's an EC-130E/J Commando Solo. It transmits TV and VHF.

[Purplesuiter]

Nope, not that one.  The antenna was afixed to the top of the fuselage just forward of the tail.

[DragonSoldier]

This is the type antenna Purp's talkin' about, Reganite..

[Purplesuiter]

Yep, that be the style.  The C-130 I saw was in light grey livery.

[Coastie Kyle]

Those Antennas are most likely ADF (Auto Direction Finder) Sense antennas.  We have them on our H models.  Not classified.

[vftb]

Hey Kyle, welcome aboard and thanks for posting.  Come to any of the welcome or intro threads (there's several) and say hi.  Glad to have a Coastie Airdale aboard, pretty well rounds out the crew.  Again, welcome aboard 

[Thor]

LORAN is a thing of the past since GPS came to fruition. They might be the hard replacement for the long wire antennae that the HF radio uses. The MH-53E has those types of antennae for their HF radios.

[Coastie Kyle]

Thanks a lot vftb.  Those "sense" antennas are not a new thing.  Its actually a pritty old system. 
Its also has two flush mounted "loop" antennas (so four total).  I also dont think the long wire HF's are going anywhere soon on hercs, at least for the early generations.  But I could be wrong.  Only three years in, Im still a FNG.

[Thor]

All I know is that the CH-53D (HM-12) used the long wire antennae with an impedence matching device for their HF radios. The CH-46A/D used a sense antenna long wire type with insulators that always got broken. Same with the SH-3A/F/G/H All of those were coupled with a loop antenna for ADF. The H-3 models I worked on had HF radios with the long wire antenna, too. The MH-53E had a towel bar type antenna for the HF because the long wires were prone to breakage and the bar type antenna had better impedance matching characteristics. Helicopter and fixed wing are close, but not always the same. What I have read is that the AF C-130s are undergoing an avionics upgrade and that might be one of them. I tried to find a pic on Google that might lay out the antenna systems, but no joy. There was mention of a KSE system that I know nothing about.

At least you newer avionics techs don't have to haul around an ARC-94 (I HOPE) !! (weighs in at roughly 100 pounds)


Without knowing the exact model of the C-130, it's rather hard to say what that antenna may be used for. I did look again and saw a couple of long wires going up to the tail.

[Coastie Kyle]

We rock the ARC-190 on our hercs .  Two seperate long wires, two seprate radios.  We do things a lot different from the AF.  They might have something simular in one of there 45 different frickin variants.  Ours are just *******ised H models.

[LTGunner]

We rock the ARC-190 on our hercs .  Two seperate long wires, two seprate radios.  We do things a lot different from the AF.  They might have something simular in one of there 45 different frickin variants.  Ours are just *******ised H models.

Welcome aboard Coastie Kyle!  Good to see you contributing to the board 

Here's another interesting C-130H variant:



Boeing’s Other Laser Plane / Laser Gunship Revealed

Boeing has completed installation of a 12,000-pound chemical laser on a C-130H cargo plane and is set to begin testing the tactical “laser gunship” in the new year.  The Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) is not to be confused with the $1 billion-per-plane Airborne Laser (ABL), which is also being developed by Boeing to blast ballistic missiles out of the sky shortly after launch.  ATL is intended for battlefield use, destroying or disabling stationary and moving ground targets with little to no collateral damage from as far away as nine miles.  “The installation of the high-energy laser shows that the ATL program continues to make tremendous progress toward giving the war fighter a speed-of-light, precision-engagement capability that will dramatically reduce collateral damage,” said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems.  “Next year, we will fire the laser at ground targets, demonstrating the military utility of this transformational directed energy weapon.”  Like the Airborne Laser, the ATL uses a Chemical-Oxygen Iodine Laser (COIL), albeit a much smaller version than the one that will go on the modified 747.  Though COIL lasers use and give off toxic chemicals, the “closed-cycle” system on the ATL is expected to allow about 100 shots fired before it must be drained and serviced.   The 20-ton system, however, will require most of the lift capacity of the Hercules and be fired “through a rotating turret that extends through the aircraft’s belly.”

More: http://www.defensetech.org/archives/003897.html & http://www.defensetech.org/archives/003897.html

[Coastie Kyle]

Thats bad ass.  I think the Air force is gonna need to share that system with the Coast Guard !