Huge C-130 Hercules Conducts Risky Dirt Strip Landing

Dirty Job.

Among the biggest aircraft in the US Air Force C-130 Hercules has some room to move. Used primarily for airlifting heavy cargo this military transport aircraft has been in service since 1959. Military aircraft aren’t always guaranteed a smooth landing strip so training on other terrain comes in handy such as dirt landing fields.

“The average annual throughput is more than 11,000 students. Lockheed Martin provides C-130 aircrew and maintenance training via academic and ground-based simulator instruction. The system includes agile training for all aircrew positions, refresher courses, cockpit resource management (initial and recurring), instrument refresher courses and the instructor preparatory course.”

This HC-130 from the National Guard’s 102nd Rescue Squadron conducts dirt strip training in Fort Polk Louisiana. These landings and takeoffs in rough terrain are risky but necessary when entering harsh combat zones military operations.

This training prepares them for hostile situations involving air-to-air, air-to-ground missions. Film from AIRBOYD captures this immense C-130 taking off and landing over and over in the Louisiana sunset and picking up dirt as it flies off into the skies.