Lockheed C-65J Spartan

[Aussie747]

In 1980 Lockheed announced full scale development of the twin engined version of the C-130. It was allocated the model number L-400. At the time Lockheed believed there was a market for a smaller version of the venerable C-130. Little were they to know that rough times were ahead and with various big ticket sellers loosing ground to the competitors and with no orders forth coming from the USAF the plans to build the twin Herc were shelved.

In the early 1990s Lockheed had decided to update the C-130 with updated engines and avionics with the development of the C-130J. With the success of this initiative it was decided to re-birth the L-400 concept but with the updated systems and engines of the J.

This time there was greater interest and the first C-65J 'Spartan' rolled off the production line in early 2003, 5 years after the first C-130J flew. The C-65J was an airframe that suited many smaller air arms but was also introduced to supplement and augment exist C-130 fleets.

Australia had been long looking for a DHC-4 Caribou replacement. With serviceability rates falling the Caribou was retired in 2009 and a continuing search for a replacement tactical air lifter went into full swing. The C-65J had been offered to the RAAF once C-130J deliveries had been completed but as the aircraft had not achieved first flight the offer was rejected at the time. The Caribou fleet at the time was holding its own and serviceability was acceptable

In 2008 the RAAF issued an RFP (Request For Proposal) for a battlefield airlifter to replace the DHC-4 Caribou. Responses from a number of manufacturers including BAe, Antonov, EADS and Lockheed were received and after a brief evaluation process 10 Lockheed C-65J Spartans were selected to fill the capability gap left by the DHC-4.

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I have chopped up an Italeri C-130 kit for this little project. Starting with the wings



Gave them extended and rake tips



Then some work on the cockpit



A DC-130 resin radome was re-purposed and reshaped





Wings attached





Rudder re-scribed to give wider chord



Some RWR doo-hickies added to the duck tail



Horizontal stabs reshaped



More RWR doo-hickies added around the front



..and some antennas and strengthening strips added to the upper fuselage



That is how the build stands at the moment. I will be getting back to this one after a backlog of others for our upcoming comp in a couple of weeks.

[The Big Gimper]

Nice work. Where did you cut the wings? Outboard of the two inner engines?

[PR19_Kit]

Really good stuff there. 

Where did the short radome come from? Is it for the C-130A too?

[Captain Canada]

Great work so far and a really interesting subject ! This is going to be epic 

[KiwiZac]

What a fun idea! I'm keen to see the next update.

[Aussie747]

Nice work. Where did you cut the wings? Outboard of the two inner engines?

Yep, just on the outboard side on the inner nacelles, I also used the first few mm of the wing where the location tab and glued it to the outer section of the wing.

Really good stuff there.  

Where did the short radome come from? Is it for the C-130A too?

The radome was a DC-130 radome and I cut and sanded it down to shape. This is what I started with.



It is not as small as the original Roman nose on the early C-130As

I was trying to get this look

[sandiego89]

Great subject! Looks promising....

[PR19_Kit]

The radome was a DC-130 radome and I cut and sanded it down to shape. This is what I started with.



It is not as small as the original Roman nose on the early C-130As

I was trying to get [img=http://www.airliners.net/photo/Lockheed/Lockheed-L-100-20-HTTB-Hercules/0764729/L/&sid=fd4a3c64fe2ba98a10ee50a373166312]http://this look[/img]

Nice one. I'd say you nailed that shape exactly. 

[Martin H]

watching this one with interest. I like what youve done with the nose.

Ive been looking into a similar build myself. Altou Im looking more at the original concept not a J model based build.

[Dizzyfugu]

Cool, melikes! 

[Captain Canada]

You have some text in your link so I went looking 

[KiwiZac]

I was just over at Secret Projects and saw a thread about the L-400 - I didn't realise this was a real project! Some great photos of models and even a cutaway: http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,1750.0.html

[The Big Gimper]

I was just over at Secret Projects and saw a thread about the L-400 - I didn't realise this was a real project! Some great photos of models and even a cutaway: http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,1750.0.html

Cool stuff.

Maybe we should have a L-400 and military derivatives GB? 

[KiwiZac]

Dammit, I'm trying NOT to buy any more kits!

[Aussie747]

Thanks everyone, fixed the link to the HTTB in my earlier post.

I have researched the L-400 a fare bit. The wingtip extensions are supposed to be squarish but I thought I would give them a modern raked look, though I am not entirely happy with the angle of the trailing edge and may change it.

The HTTB is another I would like to build It used different flap system and pictures of it are hard to find, but that is another issue/build for the future.

The other issue I have with the L-400 is the main landing gear. Lockheed had just omitted the for ward strut and wheel and left the main wheel well the same size ( for commonality purposes I suppose). I thought about cutting the well down just to fit one wheel. i will see if I am bothered or just leave it as Lockheed had planned.

Anyway I will get back to it once I clear the bench of the 7 I am currently trying to finish.