Foto's "US military aircraft nostalgia and more" die ook nog thuis lagen.

[ruudvanom]

Foto 872. Dit is eigenlijk een kleurenfoto maar na het scannen viel hij mij tegen en dus nu zo maar omdat hij toch de moeite waard is. Voor de kleurenafbeelding moeten jullie dus naar het internet.

EC-130V “airplane-radar”
In 1986 the US Coast Guard (USCG) acquired eight Grumman E-2C Hawkeye early warning and control (AEW&C, also called 'radar planes') aircraft to detect aircraft transporting between the Caribbean and the US. However, the E-2C did not meet the autonomy and range requirements that the USCG needed. Thus, the E-2s were returned in 1992 and in the same year the USCG received a proposal from General Dynamics to modify one of its search and rescue HC-130s with the same systems as the E-2C.
Designated EC-130V, the Hercules was fitted with the AN/APS-145 surveillance radar by mounting on a rotating platform. The mission and crew rest stations were mounted on a pallet that was easily installed in the C-130 cargo bay. Tests with EC-130V USCG 1721 were satisfactory.
In addition to airspace surveillance, the Hercules would be used for search and rescue missions, maritime patrol, fisheries control, exclusive economic zone control missions, and even mission support with the Space Shuttle.
However, budget cuts forced the Coast Guard to abandon the project. The aircraft was transferred to the Air Force, where it received registration 87-0157 and designated as NC-130H, being used for test flights.
Subsequently, the NC-130H was sent to the Navy, which reinstalled the APS-145 radar for upgrade tests on the E-2C. After the evaluations were completed, the Hercules flying radar returned to the Coast Guard with its designation HC-130H, which operated it until 2014.
This time, the Hercules was donated to the US Forest Service, receiving civil registration N118Z and becoming a forest firefighting aircraft, equipped with the MAFFS II system. The C-130 was transferred one last time to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection – Cal Fire, where it continues to serve as a firefighter. (Bron: aeroflap.com.br)

Groet, Ruud.