The Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules airlifter marked 60 years since its first flight last weekend, and it holds the title for the longest continuous production run in military aircraft history.
The first flight of the C-130 was in Burbank, Calif., in 1954. All C-130 production models are built at the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics facility in Marietta.
In 1993, a C-130 test plane crashed at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta when simulating an engine failure, killing all seven people on board. And in 2012, Lockheed Martin cut about 400 jobs as it slowed production of the C-130.
But over the years, more than 2,500 C-130s have been ordered or delivered to 63 nations.
Lockheed Martin is inviting those with connections to the Hercules to share memories on social media with the hashtag #herc60.
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