Saw this beauty at Barbers Point, HI today. Any info on what it's here for or what it's normal mission is? Seems strange to have snow skis here in Hawaii of all places....

Antarctica perhaps? Here's a closeup of a C-130 main ski gear, down on the ice:

-DP

They do a lot of Antarctica and Greenland re-supply missions. A good friend of mine is a Loadmaster on those LC-130s. Notice the 8 bladed NP2000 props also.

Would have loved to talk to the crew. But they're probably off at the beach. Must be one hell of a life getting to fly to Antarctica

Years ago I had dinner with the Air Force pilot who did all the flight test on the first C-130s on skis. They did all the flight test on two aircraft on Lake Bemidji, MN in wither (of course).

These skis were developed for the Herc to enable construction of the DEW Line sites on the Greenland ice cap. That same pilot made the first snow landing in the Greenland ice with a load of construction materials. I asked how he examined a landing site, and he just laughed. He said this was winter, flat light, etc. So, they configured, skis down, full flaps, and flew it on about where they wanted the DEW Line site. First landing went fine. As they were starting to unload, the second airplane came in nearby, and tore a gear off during landing.

Fortunately, that airplane contained a small bulldozer, which was then used to prepare a ski strip for further landings. Once the busted gear was fixed, the two airplanes were used to shuttle supplies and building materials to the building sites.

Amazing project, and a fascinating guy to visit with. He passed a year or so later.

MTV

Cool story Mike!!

WWhunter wrote:Cool story Mike!!

It was a cool story, and fascinating. Sometimes you sit down next to someone you've never met and a really spectacular conversation comes to pass. This gent had some fascinating anecdotes about those airplanes and that program.

MTV

As mentioned, thats the Air Guard unit that handles the S Pole mission. When I bought my first 170, the XO (Im sure he is not there now) of the unit helped me fly it home as I didnt have the 170 time yet. He has a small grass strip in Upstate NY. Cool dude, and some fun stories of them flying down south.

Bigrenna, that fellow is still there and still has his strip.

The route to Anarctica is via HI, and if they have issues they might have to layover for a longer duration than normal while repairs are made, poor things. Lol.

Pb

Probably on the way to New Zealand before hopping over to Antarctica.

My Dad was a project coordinator at Lockheed in Marietta, GA where the Hurky bird is manufactured (as of next year the earliest ship can apply for social security). When I was a kid they broke a ski or strut on the ice during a mission, and the team at Marietta, GA had to put together the "kit" to repair the bird. .

It was an interesting exercise to listen to as they had to include everything, and I mean everything, needed to jack the bird up and replace the broken part. If someone forgot a key bolt the whole project would have failed.

Hell, I can't find my screwdriver half the time on my workbench.

TD

This article isn’t about the C-130 on skis, but it is nevertheless a testament to just how difficult that Antarctic mission can be, The Twin Otter is an amazing machine, no doubt, and the Ken Borek crews are some of the best.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/ ... -1.4046501

MTV

Years ago a friend of mine sold his Grumman Yankee on ebay to two guys in Saratoga Springs. He didn't have the time to fly it up there so I volunteered. Turns out the guys flew those birds on skis. They helped pick up the lady who operated on herself if I recall correctly. They took me to the base and let me wander around one of them. It was pretty new at the time and they told me it cost a cool 40 million.



What the hell they wanted with a Yankee I will never know...... lol...

Yeah, likely on the way to Christchurch. Season starts 1 October and they do all the Depot maintenance in New Zealand.

I spent two season on the ice with these birds. Truly awesome.

My current Aviation goal is to go back down as a civilian pilot with Ken Borek... Fingers crossed

All great stories, thanks for the info! They're still parked out here, so they must be enjoying the beaches a little too much [emoji6]