Lockheed C-130 Hercules | An Aircraft Capable Of Doing Anything | Aviation History Documentary

The story of Lockheed’s C-130 Hercules, the super versatile aircraft, and one of the few judgment errors made by Kelly Johnson, who famously said: “Hibbard, if you sign that letter,” Johnson said, pointing to the cover sheet that was to accompany Lockheed’s C-130 prototype proposal to the U.S. Air Force, “you will destroy Lockheed.” He thought the Hercules, which had all the style and grace of a road grader, was so ugly that the company wouldn’t sell enough to recoup its considerable development expenses. Fortunately, his boss, Lockheed V.P. Hall Hibbard, overruled the Emperor of Burbank. Some said that Johnson hated the Herk because it couldn’t shoot, drop bombs or go supersonic. Nor did it help that it was only Lockheed’s second four-engine production airplane and that the first, the Constellation, was one of the most beautiful aircraft ever to fly.