Editing Lockheed WC-130 (section)

{{Short description|Weather aircraft series by Lockheed}}
{{Infobox aircraft
| name = WC-130
| image = RIAT 2023 WC-130 Hercules (cropped).jpg
| caption = A WC-130J Hercules over RIAT 2023
| type = [[Weather reconnaissance]]
| manufacturer = [[Lockheed Corporation|Lockheed]] <br/>[[Lockheed Martin]]
| designer = 
| first_flight = 
| introduction = 1962
| retired = 
| status = Active
| primary_user = [[United States Air Force]]
| more_users = 
| produced = 
| developed_from = [[C-130 Hercules]] <br/>[[C-130J Super Hercules]]
| variants = 
}}

The '''Lockheed WC-130''' is a high-wing, medium-range [[aircraft]] used for [[weather reconnaissance]] missions by the [[United States Air Force]]. The aircraft is a modified version of the [[C-130 Hercules]] transport configured with specialized weather instrumentation including a [[dropsonde]] deployment/receiver system and crewed by a [[meteorologist]] for penetration of [[tropical cyclone]]s and winter storms to obtain data on movement, size and intensity.

The USAF's [[Air Weather Service]] (AWS) received its first C-130 Hercules in 1962 to conduct air sampling missions in the wake of a resumption of atmospheric weapons testing by the [[Soviet Union]] in September 1961. The Air Force was then in the process of replacing its fleet of [[Boeing B-50 Superfortress|WB-50 weather reconnaissance aircraft]] with [[Boeing B-47 Stratojet|WB-47E]] jets but by 1965 the AWS had decided it would better served by the WC-130 in the manned weather reconnaissance role.{{sfn|Fuller|1990|p=355}} Since that year the Air Force and [[Air Force Reserve Command|Air Force Reserve]] have operated a total of 50 WC-130s in five variants. The WC-130J Weatherbird is the current weather data collection platform for the [[53d Weather Reconnaissance Squadron|53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron]].

Only [[1974 Typhoon Bess WC-130 Swan 38 disappearance|one WC-130]] has been lost during operational missions, H-model 65-0965, on 12 October 1974, flying in [[Typhoon Bess (1974)|Typhoon Bess]] northeast of The Philippines. A former weather recon aircraft, H-model 65-0968, was lost on 2 May 2018 while serving with the Puerto Rico Air National Guard on its final ferry flight to retirement.  Two WC-130B models were lost to crashes after being sold to international customers, and another operational WC-130B aircraft was destroyed on the ground by a hurricane.