Comments: Hardcover, 320 pages, 203 color and 75 black-and-white photos, 5 color illustrations


ISBN: 978-1-4738-6318-7


Price: $39.95


Publisher: Pen & Sword Books Limited

From the publisher: Designed in response to a 1951 requirement, the C-130 Hercules is the most successful military airlifter ever built. Since it first flew in prototype form on Aug. 23, 1954, more than 2,100 have been produced in more than 80 different versions. Across its variants, the Hercules serves more than 60 air forces as well as many civilian cargo operators in a multiplicity of roles, including air-to-air refueler, gunship, airborne command post, flying hospital, and firefighter.

This rugged and easily maintained aircraft entered service in 1956 with the USAF Tactical Air Command. Ten years later, the “Charlie 130” was providing essential logistical support in Vietnam. This period in Southeast Asia was the Hercules’ finest hour. Paradrops, airlift, and evacuation operations were completed around the clock, often at low level, usually under fire, and nearly always in bad weather.

A generation later, the C-130 served with equal distinction in the Gulf War in the role of airlifter, radio-countermeasures and “psy-ops” platform, gunship, and, once again, blockbuster bomber. The “Herky Bird,” or “Fat Albert,” has proved a key component in humanitarian relief operations ever since in all parts of the world.

The incredible success story of the C-130 is far from over. Here, the author tells the story at firsthand.

FSM says: History of the ubiquitous C-130 from the snub-nosed prototype to the most-recent six-blade versions. Firsthand combat accounts and an extensive photographic account of Lockheed’s long-tenured workhorse will provide modelers with extensive detail and diorama inspirations.