Final C-130K Flight

RAF Brize Norton photo by Paul Crouch

Two Royal Air Force crews from RAF Brize Norton, near Cambridge, made the final operational sorties in the service’s remaining two C-130K (designated Hercules C. Mk. 3, officially) aircraft on 25 October 2013. The K-model was retired at the end of October, closing an RAF career that began in 1967. During the flight, crews flew across many parts of the United Kingdom for flybys, including Thorney Island, Colerne, Filton, Bristol, and Cambridge. They also bid farewell to a number of other RAF stations including RAF Valley, RAF Lossiemouth, and the unit’s former home at RAF Lyneham, Wiltshire. The RAF now flies twenty-four extended length and short-fuselage C-130Js (Hercules C. Mk. 4/5, officially).