flak@beaver.cs.washington.edu (Dan Flak) (01/11/90)
From: mcgp1!flak@beaver.cs.washington.edu (Dan Flak)
I found this in my archives. I orginally posted it in
rec.avaition about two years ago.
C-130 Enroute Tactics
The following scenario is based on my participation as C-130
aircraft commander in "Cope Thunder", the PACAF equivalent of
"Red Flag".
The C-130 has earned it's status as a "senior citizen" in the Air
Force inventory. This year, it will be celebrating its 36th year
of service. As it looks right now, it will be "trash hauling"
well into the 21st century. As of seven years ago (when I last had
a C-130 in my hands), the oldest C-130's on active duty were
E-models stationed at Clark AB, Phillippines and Yokota AB,
Japan. They rolled off the line in 1963, some of their
crewmembers and crewchiefs rolled off the line later.
The C-130's first and best mission is to airland cargo at forward
operating locations. It's been operated in and out of fields that
even "bush" pilots would consider a challenge. Its "flashiest"
roles, however, are the varieties of airdrop missions it
performs.
The Army likes to get all of its troops on the ground at the same
instant. This implies that what is needed is a lot of aircraft in
a small airspace at the same time. Translated into English, that
means large formations. The largest C-130 flight I've heard of
had 33 aircraft in it. That's big enough to drop in a fully
equipped battalion of infantry.
A typical "Cope Blunder" :-) mission, however, involves a flock
of approximately 9 C-130's taking off from Clark Air Base,
climbing up to 1,000 feet to join up and clear the local area
before going "tactical".
The VFR (Visual Flight Rules) formation for C-130's is a series
of elements 4,000 feet apart with each element consisting of 3
aircraft 2,000 feet apart in staggered trail (normally number 2
on lead's left and #3 on lead's right). The "school taught"
formation is flown at 200 knots at 500 feet. You can maintain
your position by staying about 6 seconds in trail with the
aircraft in front of you (12 seconds between elements). This
works well over the flat planes of Arkansas. Elsewhere in the
world, modifications apply.
Flying over flat terrain gives on the advantage of being able to
stay in formation without much creative thinking. At 500 feet, in
clear weather, you can see turnpoints minutes in advance. It also
dangerous in a combat situation.
The island of Luzon in the areas immediately to the East and
North of Clark Air Base is relatively flat. It gives C-130
formation crews a chance to "warm up". Further north, it gets
more mountainous. The Phillippine Islands are a rather new
feature on the planet, geologically speaking. The mountains in
Luzon are razor sharp, and rise steeply from the narrow valley
floors. They make excellent mazes in which C-130's play.
At considerably more than 200 knots, and at considerably lower
than 500 feet, traversing such terrain can be an interesting
experience. You do not always have your lead aircraft in sight.
You may choose the other side of the ridge line as the previous
aircraft. This is good planning since it is not a good idea to
parade too many aircraft in trail in front of any gunners that
you may wake up in the valley below.
The ridge lines (tops of which are above your flight path)
obscure your vision, and you have to keep a constant "heads up"
as to the whereabouts of the rest of the formation, and what they
were doing when you last saw them. It is best to expect that
turning out from behind the ridge line ahead, will suddenly
appear another C-130 six seconds (or less!) in front of you.
Unfortunately, valleys don't always run in exactly the direction
in which you plan to go. This makes navigation more difficult as
you are constantly zig-zagging across the course instead of
flying along it.
The reasons for all this bother should be obvious. A series of
ridges provides essentially several different routes to the drop
zone. By taking these different routes, only a part of the
formation may be exposed to ground fire at any given time. Being
below the hilltops prevents the formation from being picked up by
surface radars. Being so close to the ground makes it difficult
for airborne radar to detect us.
The latter point is particularly important since it is the
C-130's only defense against fighters. The rugged terrain does a
good job of scattering radar returns, and generally keeps them
from getting a good lock on us. This makes their probability of a
kill with a missile less likely. If they want to get us, they
have to come down and "do it with guns". However, we are more
maneuverable, and can turn around corners tighter at our slow
speeds, than they can. They don't have much time to track.
Nonetheless, I've seen my rear end on gunsight films during
debriefings.
Eventually, we have to come out of the weeds. Drop zones are
picked because they are in relatively open areas. To make matters
worse, we have to climb and slow down to perform the drop. The
C-130 is exceptional vulnerable as it trolls over the dropzone at
1000 feet, flaps hanging, doors open, as slow as 125 knots. When
you string a whole line of them in "dead" trail, exactly 30
seconds apart, you are asking for trouble.
The feeling among C-130 pilots is that the first aircraft will
make it through on the element of surprise. The last aircraft
will also make it through because the gunners will be too busy
congratulating one another.
--
Dan Flak - McCaw Cellular Communications Inc., 201 Elliot Ave W.,
Suite 105, Seattle, Wa 98119, 206-283-2658, (usenet: thebes!mcgp1!flak)