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The Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, California, replaced the four-bladed propellers on a standard C-130H Hercules in February with the eight-bladed NP-2000 propellers developed for the Navy’s E-2D Hawkeye. The MP-2000 propeller is being tested to see if takeoff performance for the LC-130H Ski-Herk can be improved. The LC-130s use jet-assisted takeoff, or JATO, rockets to get off ice- and snow-covered runways. The strap-on JATO bottles are heavy, expensive to use, and in short supply. If testing is successful, the ten LC-130Hs will be retrofitted with the new props. The 109th Airlift Wing, the New York Air National Guard unit that supports scientific research in Greenland and Antarctica, flies the Ski-Herks.
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