HERCULES RECRUITING TRAILER (Not a bus, but interesting)

[Jeremy]

As it happens these are built by a company only a mile or so from my house, but I've never seen a used one for sale before. You'd need a truck to tow it with, but it'd make one hell of a unique motorhome:

https://auctions.motorhog.co.uk/vehicle-list/details/other-uk-miscellaneous-hercules-recruiting-trailer-miscellaneous-at-car-transplants-car-transplants-ltd/424510?x=0&type=9&make=OTHER+UK&trns=0&fuel=0&catc=0&dist=0&sort=0&srch=

(And, no, thirty grand (opening bid) ain't cheap - but it's probably a raving bargain compared to the gigabucks the RAF will have paid for it)

Jeremy

[Oonrahnjay]

     Oh, I love that!  I'd go for that in a minute.   But look at the fool I've already made of myself, so consider the source.

[DoubleEagle]

Nice, but it is not accurate, a C130 looks a lot different inside and out. The real cockpit is a lot more spacious.

[Jeremy]

Nice, but it is not accurate, a C130 looks a lot different inside and out. The real cockpit is a lot more spacious.

I don't imagine the sixteen-year-old boys who have their eyes widened at the county fair know any better!

Jeremy

[somewhereinusa]

Very cool. How do you tow it? Does the nose cone come off or lift up with the hitch inside?

[Oonrahnjay]

I don't imagine the sixteen-year-old boys who have their eyes widened at the county fair know any better!

Jeremy

     Having recently been referred to as "the World's oldest 17-year-old boy" (not meant as a compliment!!), I can attest to that.  BTW, the airport where I'm stationed has a 2 1/2 mile long runway (sorry, Jeremy, i don't know how long that is if French measurements, you'll have to convert to kilomegas yourself).  Pretty much everyday, we have C-130s coming in (most Air Force, some Coast Guard from Elizabeth City, some Air Guard, etc.) to practice.  It's amazing to see one do a full-deceleration landing at the threshold of the runway, run up to full, take off to 150 feet, kill it and stop again before the end of the runway.  When you've got the real estate, you can do the "edge of the envelope" manuvers.
     The place is pretty busy with that kind of stuff; Marine Ospreys (mostly call-sign "Crossbow"), F-18s from Seymour J, 747s and 737s from Andrews that just have a blue stripe and "United States of America" on them, and "funny stuff".  There are 767s (may be one, may be more) that are white, have the windows blanked off, and have no numbers of any type; no numbers, no N-numbers, no military numbers - nothing; also, they don't seem to use any of the tower frequencies that anyone else does.  Another "you never saw it" is the grey "baby C-130s", the CASA C-235s.  They also have no numbers, they use standard tower frequencies and call signs like "Venus Two One".  One of our helicopter pilots was stationed in Panama a few years ago; a flight of 6 of them came in and parked over in the corner of the airfield.  A week later, they were all painted white and green, all with the same N-number and "Evergreen Air Freight" markings.  A week later, they were grey again and then gone.  The CASAs visiting Kinston never do more that two touch-and-goes, then they disappear.
      Would I grab that "Hercules" simulator trailer?  In a heartbeat, until I came to my senses ...

[DoubleEagle]

Those unmarked planes could be CIA or some other security agency. Southern Air, Air America, etc., all CIA affiliated. The C130 was designed in the 1950's before computers by people with sliderules, and look at what a durable design it turned out to be. Sort of like some of our buses; designed long ago, but still going.

[Oonrahnjay]

Those unmarked planes could be CIA or some other security agency. Southern Air, Air America, etc., all CIA affiliated. The C130 was designed in the 1950's before computers by people with sliderules, and look at what a durable design it turned out to be. Sort of like some of our buses; designed long ago, but still going.  

   It's rumored that the CASAs are DEA, the all-white 767 may be CIA (can you say "extraordinary rendition"?) used in what appears to be some kind of air line setting.  But you know how rumors are ... But I sure love the C-130 show.

[DoubleEagle]

   It's rumored that the CASAs are DEA, the all-white 767 may be CIA (can you say "extraordinary rendition"?) used in what appears to be some kind of air line setting.  But you know how rumors are ... But I sure love the C-130 show.

Not familiar with the C235s, how many engines? In Vietnam they had a two-engined C123 (if I remember correctly) that was shorter than the C130, but very similar. It could land and take off on very short strips, especially with the extra rocket pods on the rear.

[Oonrahnjay]

Not familiar with the C235s, how many engines? In Vietnam they had a two-engined C123 (if I remember correctly) that was shorter than the C130, but very similar. It could land and take off on very short strips, especially with the extra rocket pods on the rear.

     They call the C235 (or new model CN235) the "baby Hercules" because it looks so much like a C-130 with two engines.  It's obviously smaller but the outline and proportions are so similar the resemblance is bizarre.

[eagle19952]

CN235- the result of economic offsets... i mean come on, a Spanish/Indonesian aircraft...

kind of like Korean automobiles and Turkish canned ham...

[DoubleEagle]

Looks like someone who designed the CN235 eyeballed the C123 and changed the proportions slightly.

[Dave5Cs]

Evergreen went Bankrupt in 1- 1-2014 and the Government took their planes and used them their own dam selves but the company kept the Helicopters they had and ran them to shall we say unfriendly places to get friends out safely. I'm just saying and this could be or could not be true if I was saying anything but I am not!... They were White with a green and red small strip at mid-ship all the way around ( but was changed before use. according to the artical I read.

[DoubleEagle]

When you live by government contracts with mysterious agencies, you run the risk of dying by government contract.