It's hard to imagine a more versatile aircraft than the humble-looking C-130 Hercules (seen here on the runway at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, in October 2006), a propeller-driven design from the middle of the 20th century that continues to be reinvented for an era of ever higher, ever fancier tech. The plump airframe carries paratroopers and fire-fighting equipment, hurricane hunters and 105mm cannons. The newest model, the C-130J, comes from the factory with the digital displays characteristic of today's "glass cockpits," while older versions--still logging thousands upon thousands of air miles--are being retrofitted with much the same technology.
Captions by Jonathan Skillings, staff writer, CNET News.com
- Talkback
- Most Recent of 6 Talkback(s)
- Thread View
- Flat View
- C-130 = Super Spooky?
- IIRC, before the end of the Vietnam fiasco the C-130 gunships were flying although they weren't nearly as potent or as accurate as what flies today. This would have been in the '68 period. The old AC-... (Read the rest)
- Posted by: bodger@... Posted on: 01/07/08 You are currently: Logged In | Log out
 Puff the Magic Dragon mgkdrgn | 01/02/08 |
 "Puff" was NOT a C-130 Dr_Zinj | 01/02/08 |
 They're loud... Dr. John | 01/02/08 |
| "Puff" was a "gooney bird" silvertip@... | 01/05/08 |
| C-130 Hercules gregory-wheeler@... | 01/02/08 |
| C-130 = Super Spooky? bodger@... | 01/07/08 |
What do you think?
More ZDNet Photo Galleries
-
-
Tasty Baking’s new LEED factory
0:57
Tasty Baking CIO: Brendan O’Malley
-
Balancing act: innovation vs. reliability
1:28
Facebook VP of technical operations: Jonathan Heiliger
-
Securing data at E-Loan
1:47
E-Loan CIO: Jay Shah
-
When crops are scarce
1:47
Del Monte Foods CIO: Marc Brown
- View all CIO Vision Series Videos »
