20–21 April 1964: Nearly ten years after the first flight of the Lockheed YC-130 Hercules prototype, the Lockheed Model 382, serial number 3946, the commercial version of the military C-130E, made the longest first flight in history when it flew for 25 hours, 1 minute, after taking off from Marietta, Georgia.

The flight crew, led by Chief Production Pilot Joe Garrett, flew the Hercules in a racetrack pattern over Georgia and Alabama, and for all but 36 minutes of the flight, the outboard engines were shut down and their propellers feathered.

The Lockheed Model 382 was certified by the Federal Aviation Administration 16 February 1965.

The L-382 was powered by four Allison 501-D22 turboprop engines, rated at 3,755 shaft horsepower at 13,820 r.p.m., and driving four-bladed Hamilton Standard Hydromatic constant-speed, reversible-pitch propellers with a diameter of 13 feet, 6 inches (4.115 meters). at 1,020 r.p.m.

Maximum operating altitude 32,600 feet (9.936 meters)

N1130E was retained by Lockheed as a demonstrator, however it was briefly leased to Alaska Airlines in March 1965, and returned the following month.

The L-382 was converted to the L382E-44K-20 standard in April 1968, with a 5 foot, 0 inch (1.524 meters) segment added to the fuselage behind the cockpit, and a 3 foot, 4 inch (1.016 meter) section behind the wing.

N1130E was leased to Delta Air Lines in October 1968, and returned after six months.

Lockheed sold N1130E to Pepsico Airlease Corporation, who leased the freighter to Flying W Airways. It was reregistered as N50FW. In March 1973 Pepsico sold it to Philippine Aerotransport and it was operated for the Philippine government, first as PI-97, then RP-97, and finally, RP-C97. The Hercules was placed in storage in March 1981. With a total flight time of 13,144.8 hours, it was scrapped 18 February 2014.

After sixty-four years, the Lockheed Hercules remains in production, and both military and civil versions are in service worldwide.

© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes