Workhorse - RAAF C-130s
"Workhorse" is a podcast about Royal Australian Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft from their earliest history through to modern times. The series is based on the soon to be released book “Air Mobility Workhorse”, which will be available from Big Sky Publishing.
Topics include:
- Operations from around the globe, including all four corners of the planet, from 1959 to now
- Aircraft technical discussions
- Training
- Roles (Search and Rescue, Air Logistics, Airborne Operations, Special Operations, Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief, Surveillance, Non-combatant Evacuation, Aeromedical Evacuation and Firefighting)
- Maintenance and modifications
- Logistics
- And, of course, the people that made it all possible.
Workhorse - RAAF C-130s
Workhorse - RAAF C-130s - E18 - Floods, Hay Bales, and Tracy - with Tony Ryan
Retired Warrant Officer and Flight Engineer Tony Ryan features in this episode which focuses on domestic Australian Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief (HADR) operations in the early 1970s.
The large-scale floods of early 1971 and 1974 rivalled the floods of 2022. The ADF response was wide-ranging, including major commitments by RAAF C-130s and the introduction of hay bale dropping.
Cyclones Althea (one of the biggest to ever hit Townsville) and Tracy (devastated Darwin) are also covered. In particular, the Cyclone Tracy response involved 19 C-130s and included very long crew days and a few interesting tales.