Quoted:
Very cool, always loved teh C-130's. So this may be a stupid question, but...
The video mentioned something about the Herc's would go to full reverse throttle, and would be in reverse by the time they hit the deck. Does this mean the engines would reverse the rotation of the prop? So spin counter-clockwise during flight, cut throttle, come to a stop, and then spin backwards?
No, the pitch on the prop blade is fully reversable, the engines are constant speed and power is derived by how much pitch is on the blades, how much bite they take from the air... Normally there are mechanisms that keeps the props from going into the ground range while in flight but they made some modifications to all of that to allow the pilot to bring the props into reverse before they hit the deck.
The USN tested this up to a GW of 125k lbs, take off and landing, IIRC. The C-130 is a very capable aircraft, so much so that it has remained in continual production for over five decades with little change in her airframe. It can take off and land in amazingly short distances, take one hell of a beating, land on anythig from a dirt road to a corn field, her engines can fully ingest a seagul and still function( I know this personally). I've spent quite a bit of the last 6 years in one, I should know
I would not fly in anything else. In my eyes, it is the greatest aircraft ever fielded. She's not fast, shes's not even pretty but if you need 30k lbs of 50 cal amo delivered to a bunch of Marines in the middle of the desert on short notice and an unimproved airfield under fire, the Herc can do it better than anything we have in the inventory. They fly thru hurricanes, they mount artillery on them, I've seen them spraying insecticide over a flooded New Orleans to quell the mmosquito hatches, it is one of the most versatile combat aircraft in the world. Did I mention they can take off and land from a carrier?
Sincerely,
A proud Herc crewman