Well, this is cool.

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 01/16/2014 at 15:08 • Filed to: planelopnik

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Interesting video. Long takeoff "roll", even with the RATO bottles. I've seen Fat Albert go up like an elevator with the rockets, so this plane must have been loaded.

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > ttyymmnn 01/16/2014 at 15:21

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Here is a video of Fat Albert. There is a slight difference in the length of the takeoff rolls. I wonder if the snow gives that much more drag, or if the LC-130 had a ridiculous amount of weight. Based on the lack of climb out I'm assuming weight.

ttyymmnn > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much 01/16/2014 at 15:40

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Weight is my assumption also. I've seen Fat Albert do the RATO takeoff, and that C-130 popped up like a cork. Amazing to watch. But you can be sure that Albert was totally empty and had just enough fuel for the demo flight. The LC-130 in the snow was probably loaded down with ass and trash and a full load of fuel. They may have needed those RATO bottles just to get off the ground. Notice they were going downhill, also. That plane hardly lifted. It seemed to just go straight while the ground fell away.

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > ttyymmnn 01/16/2014 at 16:19

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Yeah, I did notice that they didn't really climb out at all. Read the Wikipedia article and there are some pretty crazy stories in there. The incidents & accidents section was fascinating. I don't think I would like to be on one when a JATO bottle lets loose from its mounting bracket.

In the 1974/75 season during an open field takeoff on Dome C a JATO bottle on an LC-130F came loose and damaged the wing and one propeller thus causing an aborted takeoff. A fire in the wing caused further damage to the wing. A LC-130R was used to rescue the scientists and aircrew. Reluctant to use JATO, the nose gear of the LC-130R collapsed in the rough ice/snow during the takeoff, aborting the rescue attempt. A third LC-130 finally rescued all the scientists and aircrew. After evaluating the situation the Foundation and Navy made plans to recover the two downed aircraft during the next season. This involved replacement of the wing on the first aircraft and of the nose landing gear on the second aircraft. Preparations were made during the off-season to accomplish the repairs. After temperatures had risen sufficiently the recovery operations began the next November. A large number of flights was needed to transport all the material to the Dome C site. As an LC-130F took off for return to McMurdo a JATO bottle came loose, again damaging a propeller. Thus, Dome C became the home of three damaged LC-130s. As the damage to the last LC-130 was relatively minor compared to the others it was repaired first. Through extraordinary effort the repair team and supporting maintenance and aircrews all three aircraft were repaired and recovered from Dome C.

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > ttyymmnn 01/16/2014 at 16:33

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How does it work if they take off from the ice but want to land on a conventional runway?

ttyymmnn > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/16/2014 at 16:47

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After much searching, I found this article on the Air Force website about an LC-130 that landed at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam back in 2012. It's hard to tell exactly how it works, but it looks like the ski separates to allow the wheel to contact the ground. Not sure how the nose wheel works.

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > ttyymmnn 01/16/2014 at 17:25

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Looks like there must be a removable plate on the bottom of the front ski and then they can raise the ski up to allow the wheel to contact the ground first. Perhaps there isn't a removable plate and there is just less surface area on the front ski than I assumed.

ttyymmnn > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/16/2014 at 17:27

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It would have to be something they could do in the air, though. Taking off from Antarctic snow means you'll likely be landing somewhere on a runway. I'd love to know how the engineers solved that one.

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > ttyymmnn 01/16/2014 at 17:32

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I figured out the answer, look at the first picture you posted on the original post.

ttyymmnn > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 01/16/2014 at 17:34

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Good eye! And looking at the photo of the main gear, it must be a similar arrangement.