Hand-Made High Quality Hercules C130 Model Airplane

Our Hercules C130 model airplane is made of the finest grade materials which underwent stages of meticulous and careful sanding, carving and modeling to its original form. Our craftsmen and artisans ensure finely handcrafted LC-130R, Navy, Arctic with Skis model airplane with precise blueprint details of the original airplane.

The Hercules C130 model airplane's paint scheme, markings and parts are extremely accurate and complete, reflecting the true original C130 Hercules. It also comes with a sturdy, durable base with a chrome steel support mounting rod. This top-quality C130 Hercules model plane will surely be appreciated by anyone who receives this elegant desktop display as a gift.

This C-130 aircraft was specifically built for use in Antarctica in support of polar exploration. It was originally funded by NSF (National Science Foundation and crewed by the US Navy). It was never used for surveillance, enforcement of laws and treaties or illegal drug interdiction, marine environmental protection or military readiness. They started converting these aircraft in 1967 for polar use. The aircraft was built in Georgia by Lockheed and the skis were built in Belgium. These aircraft have traveled all over the world in support of scientific exploration. It is not a USCG HC-130. It is a US Navy LC-130R.

Its most important mission is to support the scientific community in the Antarctic by personnel and cargo transfer from the McMurdo Station to different field stations and camps. The Lockheed Aircraft Company was the manufacturer and in the early 1960, the first LC-130 was delivered and was designated as C-130BL. Also in that year, the designated C-130BL was changed to LC-130F when the classification of the aircraft was altered by the United States Defense Department.

The aircraft was delivered to the United States Navy Department to support their Antarctic missions that was happening during that time. A second set of aircrafts was purchased as a replacement aircraft by the National Science Foundation. In the early 1970, the management of the Antarctic Program was assumed by the Polar Program Division. The aircrafts were selected as LC-130R and were brought in two lots. The first lot of three was in 1974 and the other two was in 1976. The LC-130R was equipped with a more powerful engine and can take more load than the LC-130F.

The LC 130R is equipped with retractable skis that permit the aircraft to land on ice, snow and runways. The aircraft is using Jet Assisted Takeoff Rockets when it is on rough snow surfaces. The rocket bottles that were equipped on the aircraft were jettisonable but because of some accidents that occurred when the bottles are detaching from the aircraft on its takeoff, the aircraft had some modifications.