After 50 years and 213,700 flight hours
ST. PAUL, Minn. – For 50 years the Minnesota Air National Guard has flown C-130 Hercules cargo planes, thundering four-engine turboprops that shake and rumble like a relining chair on steroids. Colonel James Cleet, 133rd Airlift Wing commander. announced this as the Golden Jubilee year for the Minnesota Guard’s C-130s. The planes, which can carry 42,000 pounds of cargo each, are stationed at the Joint Air Reserve station at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport, Crew fly touch-and-go landing exercises throughout the region, including LaCrosse and Rochester, usually on weekends.
50 years later
The 133rd Airlift Wing has racked up 213,700 flying hours with C-130s. That’s the equivalent of 27 years of nonstop flying. One of the original C-130A models is on display at the Minnesota Air National Guard Museum. The latest model, the C-130H3, has been flown by the 133rd the past 25 years.
Recent mission
In January after the Trump insurrection riots at the U.S. Capitol, the Air Guard’s C-130s flew 1500 Guard soldiers and 120 tons of cargo to Washington for security leading up to the inauguration of President Biden. C-130s and carry 92 passengers or 64 airborne soldiers in tactical missions.
Belly-landing
A C-130 belly-landed at Duluth airport in 1973. It was repaired. The C-130 was designed with high wings and unusually low ground clearance, to take off and land on unprepared runways. In some configurations it needs only 4,200 feet of runway and touches down at 100 mph.