Hercules introduced to exhibits at the National Air and Space Museum

It has been one of the largest technical efforts that the Air and Space Museum has faced, but thanks to perseverance, visitors to this unique museum in Spain, located next to the Cuatro Vientos aerodrome in Madrid, can now enjoy up close what for years was the giant of cargo ship of aviation in Spain.

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The Lockheed C-130H Hercules is already on display on the lawn of the aeronautical institution and can be seen during the museum’s regular hours, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., except on Mondays when it is closed.

It has been a titanic job divided into three different phases of work since this aircraft left Wing 31. The Museum’s copy, with registration T-10.03 and callsign Dumbo 23, was the first Hercules of the batch acquired in the United States that arrived to the Zaragoza air base on March 12, 1974. She completed 46 years of uninterrupted service taking part in multiple military and civil missions, both national and international.

Her last mission was carried out on November 23, 2020 with a flight from Afghanistan and the Middle East. Likewise, she was one of the protagonists of the farewell ceremony organised by the 31st Wing and held at the Zaragoza Air Base on December 21, 2020.

The Hercules has marked an unrepeatable era in Spanish transport aviation. Since its arrival at the Zaragoza Air Base, it has become the large multi-purpose tactical transport aircraft of the Air and Space Force, fulfilling missions on five continents. Its incorporation into the museum’s stable funds greatly enriches the institution’s aircraft collection, especially with regard to transport aircraft, as it completes and updates this category. In addition, the restoration and display project continues and it is hoped that visitors will be able to board the aircraft soon and thus getting to know the internal configurations of this great aircraft up close.

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