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The Hercules aircraft, synonymous with RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire, celebrates its 50th birthday on Monday.
The transporter plane has played a pivotal role in most key military and relief campaigns of modern times.
It can land on a range of surfaces, including snow, ice, sand, fields, roads and even aircraft carriers.
The first test plane made its maiden flight in Burbank, California, on 23 August 1954.The RAF's fleet has been based at Lyneham since the 1970s.
Multiple tasks
Its work has included transporting troops, fuel, ammunition and humanitarian relief.
In the 1980s, two Hercules aircraft worked 14 hours a day, seven days a week, to deliver thousands of tons of food and medical supplies to Ethiopia - many crews volunteered for the job.
During the first Gulf War, the Hercules was the only aircraft that could land on desert strips.
Troops were taken to the front line of the Kuwait invasion and at the end of Desert Storm were taken home at the rate of 1,000 a day.
BBC Read More
The transporter plane has played a pivotal role in most key military and relief campaigns of modern times.
It can land on a range of surfaces, including snow, ice, sand, fields, roads and even aircraft carriers.
The first test plane made its maiden flight in Burbank, California, on 23 August 1954.The RAF's fleet has been based at Lyneham since the 1970s.
Multiple tasks
Its work has included transporting troops, fuel, ammunition and humanitarian relief.
In the 1980s, two Hercules aircraft worked 14 hours a day, seven days a week, to deliver thousands of tons of food and medical supplies to Ethiopia - many crews volunteered for the job.
During the first Gulf War, the Hercules was the only aircraft that could land on desert strips.
Troops were taken to the front line of the Kuwait invasion and at the end of Desert Storm were taken home at the rate of 1,000 a day.
BBC Read More
