Driving past the Chesterfield County Airport, I was surprised (in a good way) to see a Lockheed C-130H Hercules parked at the far end of the ramp. With a 132' / 40m wingspan, it stood out from the light aircraft and business jets that are the airport's usual clientele.
Its markings are from the
302nd Airlift Wing based at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado.
The Hercules is a truly remarkable aircraft. It has been in service with militaries all over the world since
1954! One of the safest planes ever built, it was designed as a troop carrier, medevac, and cargo plane - all of which it still does - but it is also used as a gunship, search and rescue, scientific research support, weather reconnaissance, aerial refueling, maritime patrol, and aerial firefighting aircraft.
Its design as an assault transport gives it the ability when empty to take off using less runway than a four-seat Cessna 172 (1,400' vs. 1,600'). Fully loaded with a 42,000 lb. (19,000 kg) payload, such as 92 passengers or 3 Humvees, it still needs a mere 3,586' / 1,093m to get off the ground.
What it's doing at Chesterfield isn't known to me. Sadly, the US Air Force doesn't tell me such things.
On a lighter note, we have these flying over us once or twice a week as we're only a few flying miles from various air force bases. Also the jet-engined version. (I'm not a plane buff so am ignorant on the name)