Norway said goodbye to its 40-year old Lockheed Martin C-130E/H Hercules yesterday, when a final farewell flight by two of the venerable type was made by the Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF)'s 335 Squadron.
Final flight... Photo: RNoAF The six C-130E/Hs, which entered service in 1969, will be replaced by four brand-new C-130Js -- but the first of these will not arrive before November and the quartet will only be complete by 2010.
In the meantime, transport aircraft from allied nations as well as chartered commercial aircraft will have to meet the Norwegian armed forces' demand for airlift, says the country's state secretary for Defense, Espen Barth Eide.
Roll-out of first new C-130J, serial number 5601. The aircraft will become available for use by the RNoAF in November. Photo: Lockheed Martin Five of the retired aircraft will be parked in the Arizona desert in the hope that they may be sold. One will end up in the air force museum at Oslo-Gardermoen Airport.
C-130J training of RNoAF flight and maintenance crews is already going on at Little Rock, Arkansas.
