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This episode looks at a handful of Search and Rescue missions in the 1975-1986 era, including the Nocturne (which also featured Sir Angus Houston), Charleston, and Matina.

The episode also discusses the development of the helibox and the air-sea rescue kit (ASRK).

From  the mid 1970s, Australia's defence strategy shifted to 'Defence of Australia'. This resulted in more domestically-focused tasking and support to the near region for disaster relief and SARs. This episode covers some of the Humanitarian Assistance  / Disaster Relief operations of that era, including the Moree Floods, Operation Ricebowl, and several cyclones.

This episode details the history of Royal Australian Air Force operations in Antarctica with a focus on RAAF C-130 involvement, including airdrops at Macquarie Island.

In the early 1980s, 36SQN supported the Forest Commission Victoria by installing and operating a Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS). This episode details the circumstances leading to this decision, the operations that ensued, and the reasoning behind the cessation of the aerial fire fighting role.

This Episode covers:

• The strategic circumstances that led to the RAAF's acquisition of the C-130H
• Technical upgrades that came with the C-130H
• Acquisition and the early training for the C-130H capability
• The C-130A disposal saga.

This episode covers a range of maintenance related tasks in the 1965-1975 era, including:

• Cargo Door bolt failures
• Boron Fibres
• Wing corrosion and cracking
• Bogging
• Rudder Kick-back

This is the last episode for 2023. Workhorse will return mid-Jan 2024 on a bi-

This episode features Stu Bryce who was captain of A97-160 when it had a catastrophic engine failure half-way between Hawaii and Pago Pago in 1973. 

Search and Rescue (SAR) doctrine is also covered, along with an explanation of why RAAF C-130s were given the SAR role in 1967.

Retired Warrant Officer and Flight Engineer Tony Ryan features in this episode which focuses on domestic Australian Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief (HADR) operations in the early 1970s. 

The large-scale floods of early 1971 and 1974 rivalled the floods of 2022. The ADF response was wide-ranging, including major commitments by RAAF C-130s and the introduction of hay bale dropping. 

Cyclones Althea (one of the biggest to ever hit Townsville) and Tracy (devastated Darwin) are also covered. In particular, the Cyclone Tracy response involved 19 C-130s and included very long crew days and a few interesting tales.

This episode covers Airborne Operations training and development in the 1965-75 era. Of note, the Australian Army's return to mass airdrop was initiated by 6RAR and supported by 36SQN in this era. 

Also covered is the role of Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief, along with a look at some of the HADR Operations of that era in places like Indonesia and PNG.

This Episode features guest Ian Frame. He covers RAAF C-130 operations in South East Asia from 1971 - 1975 (mostly Apr 1975). The operations discussed include:

• Weapons delivery to Cambodia in 1971
• Non-combatant Evacuation Operations at Phan Rang
• Operation Babylift
• HADR flights to An Thoi
• Evacuation of the Australian Embassy in Saigon
• HADR flights to Laos

This episode is a general overview of Royal Australian Air Force C-130 operations in South East Asia during the 1965-1972 era. 

This episode discusses the C-130's suitability for Aeromedical Evacuations (AME) and how the RAAF's Hercules aircraft were employed in the AME role. In particular, Vietnam-related AMEs are discussed, including the transition from C-130As to C-130Es in the AME role.

This episode looks at the situation in the mid-1960s by examining the circumstances that took Australia to Vietnam and the decision to acquire the C-130E.

This episode features Bob 'Shorty' Heffernan talking about two C-130A Legends:

Dave Hitchins, Commanding Officer 36SQN for four years, and - 'Shorty' himself! Shorty was a loadmaster and was key to the development of several airdrop innovations on C-130As.

The discussion covers hay drops, Vietnam, AMEs, repatriation tasks, and airdrop.

Retired Group Captain Dave Richardson discusses maintenance in the early 1960s, along with a few stories from his time as a C-130 Engineering Officer and Officer Commanding Air Lift Systems Program Office. Topics include:

C-130A serviceability
Fuel tank corrosion
Modifications
Rate of Effort
T-56 engines
486 Squadron
2 Aircraft Depot

This episode looks at the ground trades that loaded C-130s and some of the early equipment used to load C-130s. Covered in this episode:

Air Movements
Air Dispatchers
The Brooks Perkins system
The 463L pallet
The Truck Aircraft Loading Unloading vehicle  (TALU)
Energy Dissipating Material (EDM)

John 'Sam' Samulski joins us today to discuss the history of airborne operations and the early days of airborne operations training in the Australian Defence Force. Included is an in-depth discussion of the various types of equipment airdrop and a look at the first drops conducted by C-130s in Australia.

This episode features retired Air Vice Marshal Greg Evans - a pilot who flew C-130s, commanded 37 Squadron and Air Lift Group. 

He discusses pilot training at length, including:

• The RAAF Categorization scheme,
• A comparison of RAAF training techniques with USAF training (he was on exchange with the USAF),
• Simulators; and
• Training in the C-130A during the 1960s.

The episode also features an account of upside down spinning in a C-130.

In 1962 the British Cobbold Commission recommended the amalgamation of Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo, Sarawak, and Brunei to form Malaysia. Indonesia opposed this initiative by arming insurgents in Borneo and by conducting combat operations along its border with Malaysian Borneo. This conflict was dubbed the Borneo Revolt and was also commonly known as Konfrontasi. 

RAAF C-130s were involved in the very first missions into Borneo and supported the operation for years. Bob Wheeler was a C-130A loadmaster in that era and flew several missions in support of Konfrontasi. He details some of the incidents from that operation, the impact of Konfrontasi on C-130 flights to Butterworth, and the conditions C-130A crews experienced both in training and on task. 

This episode looks at early C-130A operational tasks that cumulatively gave the Australian, government, citizens, and military planners a good sense of just how much more capable air mobility was with C-130s in the inventory. The tasks covered include:

• The very first RAAF C-130 Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief mission which took place in the New Hebrides (Vanuatu) in the aftermath of 1959’s Cyclone Amanda;
• An around-the-world mission called Operation Eastbound; and
• Examples of the early Search and Rescue missions – one successful and one not so successful. This includes the story of Michael Rockefeller's disappearance in November 1961.
  
  Also covered is a summary of what C-130 crews did during crew rest.