Three Lockheed Hercules aircraft were converted to YMC-130H transport planes as part of Top Secret “Operation Credible Sport,” the second attempt to rescue Iranian hostages
The Empire State Aerosciences Museum in New York received one of the three YMC-130H cargo planes that were adapted for the Iran hostage crisis, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
The fuselage departed the Georgian Robins Air Force Base and was put together at the museum in September.
Three Lockheed Hercules aircraft were modified as part of Top Secret “Operation Credible Sport,” which was the second attempt to rescue hostages in Iran.
A scheme to create a “Super STOL” aircraft, to be piloted by Combat Talon personnel, that would use a soccer stadium nearby the U.S. Embassy as an improvised landing field was one of the options discussed for a second hostage rescue effort in Iran. The project, known as Credible Sport, bought three C-130H from an airlift unit in late August 1980—one for a testbed and two for the mission—and converted them quickly.
The aircraft, known as the XFC-130H, was modified by the addition of 30 rockets in five sets, eight of which fire forward to stop the aircraft, eight of which fire downward to slow its rate of descent, eight of which fire rearward to assist with takeoff, four of which are mounted on the wings to stabilize them during takeoff transition, and two of which are mounted at the back of the tail to prevent it from hitting the ground due to over-rotation. The Combat Talon avionics included a TF/TA radar, a defensive countermeasures suite, and a Doppler radar/GPS tie-in to the aircraft’s inertial navigation system. Other STOL features included a dorsal and two ventral fins on the rear fuselage, double-slotted flaps and extended ailerons, a new radome, a tailhook for landing aboard an aircraft carrier, and a new radome.
Only one of the three aircraft had a complete modification. On October 29, 1980, the program abruptly came to a stop when it crashed while being tested. Shortly after, global events made a second rescue effort pointless. The planned rescue was put on hold until a deal to release the hostages was made in January 1981.
The YMC-130H crashes in the ensuing well-known video while conducting flight tests.
Photo by US Dept. of Defense