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C-130 HOW — Hercules On Water

Between 1964 and 1973, Lockheed-Georgia Company looked at several amphibious configurations of the C-130 Hercules. In 1968, a US Navy study contract resulted in a one-sixth scale, radio controlled model that was used as a development tool. Called Hercules-On-Water, or HOW, the design kept much of the original C-130 configuration, but this version used a retractable hydro-ski beneath the boat hull-shaped fuselage for takeoff and landing. The design’s Allison T56 engines were inverted and placed on top of the wing to take the intakes and propellers out of the water spray, similar to the configuration used on the P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft. No production contracts were received and the Hercules-On-Water project was shelved.