C-130 Hercules Research Articles

How a Scoville aneurysm clip fought in the Cold War and helped to establish neurosurgery in Iceland.

It can be said that the specialty of neurosurgery in Iceland had its beginnings on November 30, 1971, with the arrival of a huge American C-130 Hercules aircraft. It was carrying a small package containing Scoville aneurysm clips. They were sent to the late Bjarni Hannesson (1938-2013), who had received his neurosurgical training in 1967-1971 at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (then known as Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital and located in Hanover, New Hampshire). He used one to clip the right posterior communicating artery aneurysm of a 34-year-old fisherman, who recovered well. The apparent reason for the use of such a huge aircraft for such a small payload is to be found in the sociocultural politics of the Cold War. It involved the continued presence of the American base at Keflavík, where the C-130 landed. The base was under pressure to be closed by Iceland's left-leaning, nominally communist government. The C-130's arrival generated welcome publicity for the continued operation of the American base, which is still there.

MODERNISASI PESAWAT C-130 HERCULES KERJASAMA PT. GARUDA MAINTENANCE FACILITY AEROASIA TBK DAN PT. DIRGANTARA INDONESIA

The existence of PT. GMF AeroAsia Tbk and PT. Dirgantara Indonesia is an important pillar in the national defense industry that can support the interests of the Indonesian Air Force, especially in the process of maintaining and modernizing the C-130 Hercules aircraft. On this basis, this study aims to identify and analyze the synergy of PT. GMF AeroAsia Tbk and PT. Dirgantara Indonesia in the maintenance and modernization of the C-130 Hercules aircraft. The method used in this research is a qualitative method with a case study approach. The data analysis technique used is an interactive data analysis technique. Data collection techniques were carried out through in-depth interviews, observation, as well as literature studies and documentation studies. The data validity technique used is source triangulation. The results showed the synergy of PT. GMF AeroAsia Tbk and PT. Dirgantara Indonesia in the maintenance and modernization of the C-130 Hercules aircraft is carried out by establishing three main pillars of synergy which include sharing, flexibility/stability (error compensation), and task-dependence. First, the sharing pillar is implemented by sharing tasks based on the company's core business and capabilities. The two pillars of flexibility/stability are implemented by complementing each other's capabilities that neither company has. The three pillars of task dependence are carried out based on a memorandum of understanding that has been agreed upon by both parties

Learning in the Force Protection Environment between International Operations: Last-Minute Learning

This study considers learning in international military operations. It explores these questions: What are the obstacles to learning in a military context? How did these obstacles manifest themselves in contribution made by the Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) in Mali? How effective in overcoming these obstacles were the formal and informal learning processes that took place? And what does this tell us about how learning might be improved in a military context? Norway has supported the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) since 2013. The RNoAF contribution began in January 2016 and continued periodically until May 2021. The contribution consisted of a Hercules C130 transport aircraft with crew and other support personnel. The detachment from Norway consisted of approximately 60–70 women and men with backgrounds in various fields of expertise (aviators, navigators, cargo masters, technicians, security personnel, and other support personnel) required to execute the mission. Based on in-depth interviews of key personnel, this study looks at learning that took place among the various constellations of personnel from the force protection responsible for security during the operation. Much of the learning took place through last-minute efforts because of tight schedules and other pressing tasks. The study has resulted in a conceptual model for facilitating and better supporting the acquisition of knowledge through a continuous process rather than at the last minute. This will require top-down and bottom-up processes, both formal and informal.

Service Life Prediction for Rotating Electrical Machines on Aircraft in Terms of Temperature Loads

This article is focused on the research concerning the calculation of the durability of electrical machines installed in the electrical system of M-28 and C-130 Hercules aircraft. The article presents a method of predicting the service life of aircraft commutator machines, which are the primary source of electrical energy. The result of the research was the determination of the durability of bearings and coils of electrical machines operated on aircraft based on a flight profile analysis. It is problematic to directly measure the wear of bearings and windings of an electric machine on the aircraft. Their usage can be determined from the relation between their wear and the ambient temperature. This research can be used in practice to plan maintenance work on the analyzed aircrafts.

My Mind Was a Military Sky

My Mind Was a Military Sky

Performing encounters (and encountering performance) at Auckland Zoo

Performing encounters (and encountering performance) at Auckland Zoo

Energy expenditure of flight crew of military transport aviation depending on function during typical training activities

AbstractIntroductionThe knowledge of energy expenditure during typical activities is the basic information to estimate nutritional requirements. This is especially important with irregular lifestyle, such as service in transport aviation. Aircraft personnel fly in every part of a day. Flights often take place with changes in climate and time zones. Time of flights fluctuated from a several dozen to a dozen hours.AimThe aim of the work was to assess and compare the energy expenditure of military aircraft crews – “CASA C-295”, “ C-130 Hercules” and helicopter “W-3 Sokol” during typical air training activities.Material & MethodThe study was conducted in a group of 31 members of flight crews. The energy expenditure was based on the examination of heart rate frequency with the Polar RS800 heart rate monitor.ResultsThe study was conducted among crew members of various types of transports aircrafts. The average value of energy expenditure of the CASA pilots (n = 14) was 3,071 ± 0,84 kcal/min (training flight during the day, n = 10) and 5,64 ± 2,45 kcal/min (training flight during the night and in noctovision goggles, n = 4). In a group of flight technicians (n = 7) in aircraft Herules C-130 the average energy expenditure was 3,55 ± 1,83 kcal/min (passeneger reception and service). In a group of loadmasters (n = 6), in aircraft CASA and Hercules C-130 the average energy expenditure was 6,63 ± 1,55 kcal/min (baggage service, dropping paratroopers). The average energy expenditure in a group of paramedics (n = 4), which are members of helicopter W-3 Sokol crew was 8,51 ± 4,29 kcal/min (going down the rope, lifting wounded person from watercrafts).ConclusionThe presented data show the variation in energy expenditure between groups, as well as within groups. The energy expenditure was varied depending on the function on board and on the conditions in which the tasks were performer. Obtained values of energy expenditures during flights allow to classify the work performed in the categories of work from light to heavy (according to the Christensen's classification). Nutrition in the study group should be adapted to the nature of the work performed.

The Past/Present Vietnam War

The Past/Present Vietnam War Roger Chapman (bio) GENE BASSETT'S VIETNAM SKETCHBOOK: A Cartoonist's Wartime Perspective. By Thom Rooke. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2015. LOOKING BACK ON THE VIETNAM WAR: Twenty-first Century Perspectives. Edited by Brenda M. Boyle and Jeehyun Lim. Rutgers, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2016. Because I'm still in SaigonStill in SaigonI am still in SaigonIn my mind —Dan Daley (but sung by the Charlie Daniels Band), "Still in Saigon" (1982)1 I had to coax Thang and Hau—and later, my other relatives in Vietnam—to reminisce about the war, which had become distant to them. They preferred to focus on the present … —Duong Van Mai, a Vietnamese American (1993)2 [End Page 19] The year 2025 will mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Fall of Saigon and by that time there may be nothing left to say about the Vietnam War. Piles of books have been published on this conflict. As Thom Rooke explains in the preface of Gene Bassett's Vietnam Sketchbook, the books (as well as articles) written about Vietnam "are enough … to fill a C-130 Hercules transport plane" (xi). He should have suggested the larger C-5 Galaxy, but his point is understood as he continues: "It seems that any lesson Vietnam can teach has, in some fashion, already been taught" (xii). Meanwhile, the longest American war is no longer the longest, as it was superseded by the "War on Terror" (specifically the "forever war" in Afghanistan, which in 2019 was in its eighteenth year).3 So lessons taught may have been lessons forgotten, though Heraclitus might say, "No nation ever steps in the same quagmire twice, for it's not the same quagmire. …" It would seem that the events following September 11 would relegate the Vietnam War to the dustbin of academic inquiry, but according to editors Brenda M. Boyle and Jeehyun Lim, in the preface of their anthology Looking Back on the Vietnam War, "renewed academic conversations on the legacies of the Vietnam War … have emerged with the opening of previously inaccessible archives and the comparisons drawn between the Vietnam and Iraq wars" (5). Why that "old crazy Asian war"—to borrow from a classic country hit by Kenny Rogers—has long been a fixation of American culture, including academic inquiry, is a question yet to be definitively answered.4 Rooke's interest in Vietnam turned out to be happenstance. He befriended an older man, Gene Bassett, who in 1965 spent several months in Vietnam as an editorial cartoonist for Scripps Howard News Service. One day Bassett casually shared with Rooke about his seventy or eighty sketches he did while touring Vietnam and Rooke got inspired to put together a book. Rooke attended the University of Michigan, the birthplace of the antiwar Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), but he was of the class of 1978, the first "post-draft" class (xii). He feels that because he was younger, he "was left with a relatively unbiased perspective" (xi). Probably this is less the case than he realizes, considering that his tabulation of "consequences" of the war includes American war dead (60,000) and American wounded (300,000) while offering no tally of the fatalities and casualties of the other side. The volume by Boyle and Lim, however, turns attention to the lasting impact "on ordinary people" (5) or "the people who experienced the Cold War as a balance of terror" (6). Bassett's sketches, it can be noted, do at least include some imagery of the Vietnamese. The chapters offered by Boyle and Lim tend to be heavily focused on the Vietnamese diaspora. In actuality, these two quite different works are emblematic of the approach taken in remembering the Vietnam War. Rooke is focused on the war from an American perspective and seeks to preserve a body of memory—the Bassett sketches are primary documents and represent a reproduction of a type of archival material. Boyle and Lim, on the other hand, narrow "ordinary people" to generally exclude American GIs while seeking to remember the war from the vantage point [End Page 20] of Vietnamese in the years of aftermath. When the...

C-130 Hercules maximum effort performance operations as a necessity in war zone airfields

C-130 Hercules maximum effort performance operations as a necessity in war zone airfields

Development and characterization of a high-efficiency, aircraft-based axial cyclone cloud water collector

A new aircraft-mounted probe for collecting samples of cloud water has been designed, fabricated, and extensively tested. Following previous designs, the probe uses inertial separation to remove cloud droplets from the airstream, which are subsequently collected and stored for offline analysis. We report details of the design, operation, and modelled and measured probe performance.Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was used to understand the flow patterns around the complex interior geometrical features that were optimized to ensure efficient droplet capture. CFD simulations coupled with particle tracking and multiphase surface transport modelling provide detailed estimates of the probe performance across the entire range of flight operating conditions and sampling scenarios.Physical operation of the probe was tested on a Lockheed C-130 Hercules (fuselage mounted) and de Havilland Twin Otter (wing pylon mounted) during three airborne field campaigns. During C-130 flights on the final field campaign, the probe reflected the most developed version of the design and a median cloud water collection rate of 4.5 mL min−1 was achieved. This allowed samples to be collected over 1–2 min under optimal cloud conditions. Flights on the Twin Otter featured an inter-comparison of the new probe with a slotted-rod collector, which has an extensive airborne campaign legacy. Comparison of trace species concentrations showed good agreement between collection techniques, with absolute concentrations of most major ions agreeing within 30 %, over a range of several orders of magnitude.

Simulation of C-130 H/J troop doors and cargo ramp flow fields

This article presents the results of a continuing computational effort to understand the flow field characteristics of a C-130 Hercules aircraft configured for personnel airdrop operations. Flight operations with either the troop door or cargo open lead to vortical structures and unsteady flows which can adversely affect airdrop operations. Simulation results using the CFD solver Kestrel, developed within the High Performance Computing Modernization Program CREATETM-AV program, show vorticity generated behind the open cargo door and with the flaps extended, a relatively strong vortex forms along the fuselage which traverses above the troop door into the upsweep section of the aircraft tail. Open troop door simulations capture large velocity gradients and unsteadiness for configurations with and without actuator disk propeller models and with and without sideslip. Simulations are computed on both converged hybrid meshes on the order of 100 × 106 cells and near-body/Cartesian off-body grids, and these results reconfirm that vortex modeling is dependent on mesh resolution around troop door or cargo ramp. The addition of a refined mesh near the troop door, in conjunction with using a delayed detached-eddy turbulence model, provided highly resolved flow physics in this region of interest.

Wing Fuel-Tank Heat-Sink Calculation for Conceptual Aircraft Design

The utilization of fuel as a heat sink can enable the design of higher-performance aircraft through the reduction of heat loads. A conceptual design phase energy model for the cross section of a wing with an internal fuel tank is developed for computing the rate of heat rejection in flight. The calculations focus on physical dependencies rather than empirical correlations, solving the conservation of energy equation by using results from prior solved conservation of mass and momentum equations. A series of control volumes and various temperature profiles are employed to model the thermal boundary layer. The surface boundary conditions include an isothermal surface as well as an unheated starting length to approximate a heated fuel tank. An implicit root-finding method is verified and used in solving the resulting system of equations. Results are compared to empirical correlations for validation purposes involving laminar and turbulent flow test cases over a flat plate, various NACA airfoils, as well as a C-130 Hercules. Two temperature profiles are considered and compared throughout the verification and validation process. The results show reasonable agreement with empirical correlations, and thus show great promise to be employed in conceptual design.

Effective expendable countermeasure model against dual-band infrared and ultraviolet man-portable air-defence seeker systems

The ultraviolet (UV) band of the electromagnetic spectrum has the potential to be used as the host medium for the operation of guided weapons. Unlike in the infrared (IR) band, a target propelled by an air-breathing jet engine produces no detectable radiation in the UV band and is opaque to the background UV produced by the sun. Successful engineering of spectral airborne IR countermeasures (CMs) against existing two-color IR seekers has encouraged missile counter-countermeasure designers to utilize the silhouette signature of an aircraft in the UV as a means of distinguishing between a true target and a flare CM. We describe the modeling process of a dual-band IR and UV rosette scan seeker using CounterSim, a missile engagement, and countermeasure simulation software package developed by Chemring Countermeasures Ltd. Results are shown from various simulated engagements of the dual-band man-portable air defence (MANPAD) system with a C-130 Hercules. These results have been used to estimate the aircraft’s baseline vulnerability to this MANPAD threat and to develop a model flare countermeasure that is successful in greatly improving the survivability of the aircraft.

Runway debris impact threat maps for transport aircraft

AbstractLarge transport aircraft are particularly susceptible to impact damage from runway debris thrown up by the landing gear. A methodology was developed to predict the trajectories of stones lofted by the nose wheel and subjected to aerodynamic forces due to the wake behind the nose landing gear and beneath the aircraft. In conjunction with finite element modelling of the stone/ground/tyre contact mechanics, an analytical model was used to perform a stochastic prediction of the trajectories of runway stones to generate impact threat maps which showed the relative likelihood of stones impinging upon various areas on the underside of a C-130 Hercules. The impact envelopes for the C-130 extended three to eighteen metres behind the nose wheel and two metres either side of the centre of the aircraft. The impact threat maps were especially sensitive to the values of the coefficients of lift and drag acting on the stone during its flight.

Long-term greenhouse gas measurements from aircraft

Abstract. In March 2009 the NOAA/ESRL/GMD Carbon Cycle and Greenhouse Gases Group collaborated with the US Coast Guard (USCG) to establish the Alaska Coast Guard (ACG) sampling site, a unique addition to NOAA's atmospheric monitoring network. This collaboration takes advantage of USCG bi-weekly Arctic Domain Awareness (ADA) flights, conducted with Hercules C-130 aircraft from March to November each year. Flights typically last 8 h and cover a large area, traveling from Kodiak up to Barrow, Alaska, with altitude profiles near the coast and in the interior. NOAA instrumentation on each flight includes a flask sampling system, a continuous cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) carbon dioxide (CO2)/methane (CH4)/carbon monoxide (CO)/water vapor (H2O) analyzer, a continuous ozone analyzer, and an ambient temperature and humidity sensor. Air samples collected in flight are analyzed at NOAA/ESRL for the major greenhouse gases and a variety of halocarbons and hydrocarbons that influence climate, stratospheric ozone, and air quality. We describe the overall system for making accurate greenhouse gas measurements using a CRDS analyzer on an aircraft with minimal operator interaction and present an assessment of analyzer performance over a three-year period. Overall analytical uncertainty of CRDS measurements in 2011 is estimated to be 0.15 ppm, 1.4 ppb, and 5 ppb for CO2, CH4, and CO, respectively, considering short-term precision, calibration uncertainties, and water vapor correction uncertainty. The stability of the CRDS analyzer over a seven-month deployment period is better than 0.15 ppm, 2 ppb, and 4 ppb for CO2, CH4, and CO, respectively, based on differences of on-board reference tank measurements from a laboratory calibration performed prior to deployment. This stability is not affected by variation in pressure or temperature during flight. We conclude that the uncertainty reported for our measurements would not be significantly affected if the measurements were made without in-flight calibrations, provided ground calibrations and testing were performed regularly. Comparisons between in situ CRDS measurements and flask measurements are consistent with expected measurement uncertainties for CH4 and CO, but differences are larger than expected for CO2. Biases and standard deviations of comparisons with flask samples suggest that atmospheric variability, flask-to-flask variability, and possible flask sampling biases may be driving the observed flask versus in situ CO2 differences rather than the CRDS measurements.

Summary of Birds Killed by a Harmful Algal Bloom along the South Washington and North Oregon Coasts During October 20091

Seabirds are known to be vulnerable to biotoxins produced by harmful algal blooms (HABs). The ingestion of prey contaminated with biotoxins such as domoic acid can cause disorientation, seizures, morbidity, and mortality (Work and others 1993). During November 2007 in Monterey Bay, California, an unprecedented stranding of live and dead seabirds highlighted plumage fouling as an emerging mortality factor during harmful algal bloom (HAB) events. The fouling agent was a proteinaceous foam derived from the cellular breakdown of the dinoflagellate Akashiwo sanguinea. This foam coated seabird plumage in a manner similar to fouling by petroleum oil (Hartung 1967; McEwan and Koelink 1973; National Research Council 1985), causing waterlogging, hypothermia, morbidity, and mortality in the California birds (Jessup and others 2009). During late October 2009 along the southern Washington and northern Oregon State coasts, algal blooms caused another seabird plumage fouling event, where several bird species were coated in a foam surfactant. Water and feather samples confirmed that this dinoflagellate bloom was also A. sanguinea (Dr. Raphael Kudela, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, pers. comm.). Du and others (in press) describe the conditions that facilitated the A. sanguinea bloom off the Oregon coast and propose that the source of the bloom was southward transport of cells from a massive September bloom that first occurred off the Washington coast. Similar to the 2007 California event, the foam produced by the WashingtonOregon bloom reduced the waterproofing of birds’ plumage, causing hypothermia in individual birds and leading to the stranding of hundreds of debilitated live and dying seabirds on public beaches. During this event, volunteers and federal, state, and local resource management agencies collected as many birds as possible for rescue and rehabilitation from the Long Beach Peninsula, WA; Fort Stevens State Beach, OR; and Cannon Beach, OR. Most of the birds collected were initially delivered to the Wildlife Center of the North Coast (WCNC) rehabilitation facility in Astoria, OR, where volunteers observed that birds were cold, weak, stressed, and starving. Due to the magnitude of this event, the WCNC facility was quickly overwhelmed by hundreds of collected seabirds, which included Common Loons (Gavia immer), Common Murres (Uria aalge), Pacific Loons (G. pacifica), Red-throated Loons (G. stellata), Surf Scoters (Melanitta perspicillata), and Western and Clark’s Grebes (Aechmophorus occidentalis and A. clarkii). Birds were subsequently transferred to facilities that were better equipped to handle large numbers of seabirds for rehabilitation, including the International Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC) in Cordelia, CA (n 5 479 birds), and Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) in Lynnwood, WA (n 5 125). Some birds responded well to supportive care and were eventually 1 We dedicate this manuscript to the men and women at US Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento, who donated their time and use of the C-130 Hercules aircraft to transport seabirds. This same Coast Guard aircraft crashed off the coast of San Diego, CA on 30 October 2009, within days of responding to the HAB event documented in this manuscript. All hands on board that aircraft were lost. We honor their memory and service. GENERAL NOTES

Military Parachuting Injuries, Associated Events, and Injury Risk Factors

The purpose of this investigation was to examine injury incidence, events associated with injury, and injury risk factors during parachuting in an Army airborne infantry unit. Injury data were obtained by the investigators on the drop zone and confirmed by a physician. Operational data (potential injury risk factors) were obtained from routine reports published by the infantry unit. Weather data were obtained using a Kestrel Model 4500 pocket weather tracker. There were a total of 23,031 jumps resulting in 242 injured soldiers for a crude injury incidence of 10.5 per 1000 jumps. Parachute entanglement incidence was 0.5 per 1000 jumps. Where an event associated with the injury could be determined (67% of cases), these included ground impact (75%), static line problems (11%), tree landings (4%), entanglements (4%), and aircraft exits (3%). Univariate analysis showed that higher injury risk was associated with night jumps (versus day jumps), combat loads (versus unloaded jumps), higher wind speeds, higher dry bulb temperatures, higher humidity, C17 Globemaster or C130 Hercules aircrafts (compared to the other aircraft), exits through aircraft side doors (versus tailgates), and entanglements. Multivariate analysis indicated that independent risk factors for injuries included night jumps, combat loads, higher wind speeds, higher dry bulb temperatures, and entanglements. This investigation provided injury incidence, events associated with injury, and quantitative assessments of injury risk factors and their interactions during military parachuting. An appreciation of these subjects can assist medical and operational planners in further reducing the incidence of injury during airborne operations.

Dynamics of solitary waves observed over the North Indian Ocean during the Indian Ocean Experiment (INDOEX) 1999

During the Indian Ocean Experiment (INDOEX) experiment (January-March 1999), mesoscale solitary waves have been observed and tracked over the North Indian Ocean on a series of Meteosat-5 satellite images. These solitary waves have a horizontal wavelength of 10-15 km and propagate westward at low level at a speed of 10-18 m/s. Unlike similar wave phenomena observed mainly over land, they have a long lifetime, which can exceed 48 h. A key element explaining the existence and longevity of the solitary waves is the presence of an inversion layer, acting as a waveguide and separating the boundary layer into two sublayers: a lower layer over the ocean (marine boundary layer) and an upper layer originating from the Indian subcontinent (land plume layer). Profiles from radiosondes launched from the Ron Brown and from dropsondes from the Hercules C-130 airplane helped to determine this waveguide structure. A suggested mechanism leading to the generation of solitary waves is a collision between the sea breeze in the vicinity of the West Indian coast and the easterly/northeasterly winter monsoon winds, with a possible contribution of convection reinforced by topography (Western Ghats range), during the local afternoon. Another phenomenon related to sea breeze and local convection in this coastal area, the injection of of moisture into the drier upper boundary layer, has also been identified on European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts analyses. These bubbles form daily during the afternoon and drift westward over the North Indian Ocean at latitudes around 12N and progressively subside and dissipate or become integrated into larger air masses. Copyright 2011 by the American Geophysical Union.

Numerical modelling as a cost-reduction tool for probability of detection of bolt hole eddy current testing

Probability of detection (PoD) studies are broadly used to determine the reliability of specific nondestructive inspection procedures, as well as to provide data for damage tolerance life estimations and calculation of inspection intervals for critical components. They require inspections on a large set of samples, a fact that makes these statistical assessments time- and cost-consuming. Physics-based numerical simulations of nondestructive testing inspections could be used as a cost-effective alternative to empirical investigations. They realistically predict the inspection outputs as functions of the input characteristics related to the test piece, transducer and instrument settings, which are subsequently used to partially substitute and/or complement inspection data in PoD analysis. This work focuses on the numerical modelling aspects of eddy current testing for the bolt hole inspections of wing box structures typical of the Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules and P-3 Orion aircraft, found in the air force inventory of many countries. Boundary element-based numerical modelling software was employed to predict the eddy current signal responses when varying inspection parameters related to probe characteristics, crack geometry and test piece properties. Two demonstrator exercises were used for eddy current signal prediction when lowering the driver probe frequency and changing the material's electrical conductivity, followed by subsequent discussions and examination of the implications on using simulated data in the PoD analysis. Despite some simplifying assumptions, the modelled eddy current signals were found to provide similar results to the actual inspections. It is concluded that physics-based numerical simulations have the potential to partially substitute or complement inspection data required for PoD studies, reducing the cost, time, effort and resources necessary for a full empirical PoD assessment.

Performance characteristic of C-130E Hercules aircraft engine under variable work conditions

The paper describes the basic components and the principle of operation of a turboprop engine of the C-130 Hercules aircraft. The paper also includes an extensive analysis of the aircraft flight profile (departing from the Powidz airfield, Poland to Bagram Afghanistan). Following the flight log, the paper contains many calculations, to show the influence of the changing meteorological conditions on the aircraft performance, particularly temperature, altitude and ambient pressure. The results of the investigation constitute the foundations to create further steps of the research for the optimization of a flight profile that balances the amount of fuel and mass of the cargo. Finally, the authors suggest a development of specific software to simulate a flight prior to departure, based upon available data before the mission.