20 Dec 2022, 03:18
Went to my friends at VXE-6.
"Bernt Balchen, the famous polar pilot, was involved with development of what became the LC-130". They included a photo of him at Lockheed in the 1950s inspecting the first skis for the C-130A. So, it appears they were built in-house at Lockheed.
VXE-6 (ok, VX-6) didn't have LC-130As - presumably those flew the DEW line. Another OAE (Old Antarctic Explorer) noted that the skis on the As were not interchangeable with those on F/R/H.
I am alternately proud/disturbed that three of the LC-130Rs I flew in the mid-eighties are still flying with the 109th as LC-130H.
