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Image courtesy RAF Museum
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Hercules for Cosford Museum
The RAF Museum at Cosford has taken delivery of its latest acquisition, an RAF C-130K Hercules C3 transport aircraft.
Gary Parsons - 15-Aug-2011
August 15: The Royal Air Force Museum at Cosford in Shropshire took delivery of its latest acquisition, an RAF C-130K Hercules C3 transport aircraft on August 12.
The aircraft was flown into RAF Cosford by a crew from 47 Squadron, based at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.
Hercules XV202 was an American-built C-130H variant produced by Lockheed in Marietta, Georgia and was originally allocated the United States Air Force serial 66-8552.
It was one of 66 acquired by the RAF in 1966 and delivered as a Hercules C1 on August 17, 1967.
XV202 was one of 30 Hercules modified during the early 1980s with the fuselage being lengthened by 15ft (4.6m).
Work was carried out by Marshall of Cambridge (Engineering) Ltd, using fuselage plugs in front of and behind of the wing to produce the C3 variant.
RAF Museum Curator, Al McLean said “We are very pleased to be given a Hercules.
For more than 40 years it has been the cornerstone of the RAF’s tactical transport fleet and has operated all over the world.”
The aircraft will undergo a short period of maintenance before being moved onto the RAF Museum site where it will go on permanent display as part of the Museum’s extensive Cold War collection.