If Nuclear War Breaks Out, This Will Be the Most Dangerous Plane in the Sky

On a windy October day in 1963, 500 miles offshore from Boston, Lt. James H. Flatley III aimed his C-130 Hercules, America’s massive cargo-carrying workhorse plane, toward the USS Forrestal, one of the Navy’s largest aircraft carriers. The ship powered through choppy Atlantic seas that pitched its flight deck up and down by as much as 30 feet as Flatley descended toward his target. Navy pilots like Flatley train relentlessly in order to land nimble jets on aircraft carriers. But the mighty Hercules boasted a wingspan of 132 feet, nearly four times wider than Flatley’s usual fighter, the F-4N Phantom II. Aircraft built to land on carriers have reinforced airframes to withstand hard landings, along with a tail hook to grab arresting cables on the flight deck to bring them to a sudden, safe stop. But Flatley’s lightly modified KC-130F—a Marine Corps refueling variant of the Hercules—had neither. Using an old fighter-pilot trick known as the “chop,” Flatley killed the engines a few feet off the deck, basically belly-flopping his plane onto the carrier. As he brought the 85,000-pound behemoth down, his wingtip missed the control tower by just 15 feet. Despite its incredible size, the C-130 came to a complete stop in just 267 feet, with plenty of the carrier’s 1,000-plus-foot runway left. Flatley would take off and land his KC-130 aboard the Forrestal nearly two dozen times, demonstrating just how well the Hercules could handle extreme aviation conditions. To this day, Flatley, who retired as a rear admiral, remains the only person to land a C-130 on an aircraft carrier. Those early tests proved that the plane’s stout frame and ridiculously powerful propeller-driven engines made it suitable for tasks far more demanding than hauling cargo. The C-130 would serve as an airborne refueler, deliver special-operations troops to far-flung airstrips, and even circle over combat zones with a massive 105mm howitzer hanging out the side. [View in Browser]( [Popular Mechanics]( [SHOP]( [EXCLUSIVE]( [SUBSCRIBE]( [If Nuclear War Breaks Out, This Will Be the Most Dangerous Plane in the Sky]( [If Nuclear War Breaks Out, This Will Be the Most Dangerous Plane in the Sky]( [If Nuclear War Breaks Out, This Will Be the Most Dangerous Plane in the Sky]( On a windy October day in 1963, 500 miles offshore from Boston, Lt. James H. Flatley III aimed his C-130 Hercules, America’s massive cargo-carrying workhorse plane, toward the USS Forrestal, one of the Navy’s largest aircraft carriers. The ship powered through choppy Atlantic seas that pitched its flight deck up and down by as much as 30 feet as Flatley descended toward his target. Navy pilots like Flatley train relentlessly in order to land nimble jets on aircraft carriers. But the mighty Hercules boasted a wingspan of 132 feet, nearly four times wider than Flatley’s usual fighter, the F-4N Phantom II. Aircraft built to land on carriers have reinforced airframes to withstand hard landings, along with a tail hook to grab arresting cables on the flight deck to bring them to a sudden, safe stop. But Flatley’s lightly modified KC-130F—a Marine Corps refueling variant of the Hercules—had neither. Using an old fighter-pilot trick known as the “chop,” Flatley killed the engines a few feet off the deck, basically belly-flopping his plane onto the carrier. As he brought the 85,000-pound behemoth down, his wingtip missed the control tower by just 15 feet. Despite its incredible size, the C-130 came to a complete stop in just 267 feet, with plenty of the carrier’s 1,000-plus-foot runway left. Flatley would take off and land his KC-130 aboard the Forrestal nearly two dozen times, demonstrating just how well the Hercules could handle extreme aviation conditions. To this day, Flatley, who retired as a rear admiral, remains the only person to land a C-130 on an aircraft carrier. Those early tests proved that the plane’s stout frame and ridiculously powerful propeller-driven engines made it suitable for tasks far more demanding than hauling cargo. The C-130 would serve as an airborne refueler, deliver special-operations troops to far-flung airstrips, and even circle over combat zones with a massive 105mm howitzer hanging out the side. On a windy October day in 1963, 500 miles offshore from Boston, Lt. James H. Flatley III aimed his C-130 Hercules, America’s massive cargo-carrying workhorse plane, toward the USS Forrestal, one of the Navy’s largest aircraft carriers. The ship powered through choppy Atlantic seas that pitched its flight deck up and down by as much as 30 feet as Flatley descended toward his target. Navy pilots like Flatley train relentlessly in order to land nimble jets on aircraft carriers. But the mighty Hercules boasted a wingspan of 132 feet, nearly four times wider than Flatley’s usual fighter, the F-4N Phantom II. Aircraft built to land on carriers have reinforced airframes to withstand hard landings, along with a tail hook to grab arresting cables on the flight deck to bring them to a sudden, safe stop. But Flatley’s lightly modified KC-130F—a Marine Corps refueling variant of the Hercules—had neither. Using an old fighter-pilot trick known as the “chop,” Flatley killed the engines a few feet off the deck, basically belly-flopping his plane onto the carrier. As he brought the 85,000-pound behemoth down, his wingtip missed the control tower by just 15 feet. Despite its incredible size, the C-130 came to a complete stop in just 267 feet, with plenty of the carrier’s 1,000-plus-foot runway left. Flatley would take off and land his KC-130 aboard the Forrestal nearly two dozen times, demonstrating just how well the Hercules could handle extreme aviation conditions. To this day, Flatley, who retired as a rear admiral, remains the only person to land a C-130 on an aircraft carrier. Those early tests proved that the plane’s stout frame and ridiculously powerful propeller-driven engines made it suitable for tasks far more demanding than hauling cargo. The C-130 would serve as an airborne refueler, deliver special-operations troops to far-flung airstrips, and even circle over combat zones with a massive 105mm howitzer hanging out the side. [Read More]( [Read More]( [Voyager 1 Is Sending Nonsensical Ones and Zeros Back to Earth]( [Voyager 1 Is Sending Nonsensical Ones and Zeros Back to Earth]( The end may finally be near ... for the spacecraft, at least. [Read More]( [Alternate text] [Alternate text] [Will Chinese Fighters Soon Take On a New Nuclear Role?]( [Will Chinese Fighters Soon Take On a New Nuclear Role?]( It would break historical pattern, but it may not be outlandish as you think. 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