Off Limits:Hercules

Running Time Code

Video Description Narration

00:02 Zout from nose of Hercules Cold Open:“There’s only a selected few people that get through this course but the fact of life is, not everybody will because they don’t have what it takes.”“If we don’t think they’re going to cut it then it’s basically a hard fail at that point.”(ALARM) “Abort! Abort!”“Potentially, if I screw up, I could put an aircraft in the dirt.”“As you get to the money shot when the load actually exits the aircraft, that’s the culmination of everything.”

00:36 OFF LIMITS Packaged Opening

00:58 Herc taking offKey: Military Aircraft Training / CC-130 Hercules Transport Aircraft / CFB Trenton, Ontario, Canada

Herc at low altitude flyby

Cockpit of low altitude flyby

VO 1.1:Narrator: This military aircraft is obviously not a fighter jet. It’s not a tactical bomber either, but despite it’s lack of firepower, the CC-130 Hercules is one the most important aircraft in the Air Force.This four-engine, fixed-wing aircraft is capable of short take-offs and landings on virtually any kind of terrain in any kind of weather. It’s maneuverable and cruises at 345mph. But most importantly this workhorse carries tens of thousands of pounds of combat troops, vehicles, food, fuel, and ammunition.Since January 2002, The Hercules has been a vital lifeline for NATO troops based in Afghanistan. These Canadian Air Force crafts and their crew are known as truckers in the sky. They have delivered thousands of passengers and millions of pounds of crucial supplies to the heart of warzones.Flight crews operating these Tactical Airlifters in a military theatre need the right

stuff. Streaking through hot spots at 150 feet off the treetops with no armament means you have to outwit potential aggressors with stealth and speed. Aircrews must complete a grueling 6-month specialized course to prove they have the skills, the nerve and the heart, to fly in one of the most dangerous regions in the world.

02:48 Access granted graphicTrenton Base Key: 426 Transport Training Squadron / CFB Trenton, Ontario, Canada

VO 1.2:

Narrator: 426 Squadron has a rich history dating back to World War II. Here, all Air Crew and Maintenance Technician candidates train in 30 different aviation courses that support both Hercules and Polaris Aircrafts. Each year, over 1000 personnel graduate from 426 squadron fully prepared for military support operations anywhere in the world.  The majority are deployed to war-torn Afghanistan.  

03:26 Soldiers entering baseDave OCKey: Lt Colonel Dave Cochrane / Commanding Officer / 426 Squadron

Dave: right now, we are the lifeline for the army for the troops to get out of the area of operation in Afghanistan, so really we are the ones taking them back and forth out of theatre.

Sound Up: Classroom chatter

03:40 Key: 426 Squadron Ground School / Training Phase 3 of 4Soldiers in classroom

Shots of each position in action

VO 1.3:Narrator: 426 Squadron provides training for all 6 crew positions in a Hercules aircraft. The Aircraft Commander and 1st Officer pilot the plane in the left and right seats. The Navigator and Flight Engineer support the pilots in the cockpit, while out back in the cargo bay, 2 Load-Masters, or “Loadies” are in charge freight in the rear.

Some students have already flown with Hercules aircrews and are looking to upgrade their tactical flying skills. Others have worked on different types of aircraft in the Canadian forces. All of the candidates share the same goal… to be one of the select few who graduate and test their skills in Afghanistan.

04:30 Teacher at head of classroom behind lectern.

Teacher: “For the No-Time Diversion?”

Pollock: “Just like if a threat pops up right in front of you a mile off track or something like that, you gotta get away from there as soon as you can.”

Sound Up from Cockpit: Rumpel: “Crew from the right seat we’ve got a hostile helo sighted.”

Teacher: “Basically, you’re gonna do a timing triangle. And how that works, is basically making an equilateral triangle.”

4:57 Herc banking right

Back to classroom

Prop spin up

CU takeoff

VO 1.4:Narrator: This course isn’t just about learning to fly an aircraft from A to B. In Afghanistan, these planes will be delivering crucial cargo by parachute directly to forward troops on the ground. These students must learn how to squeeze a 132 foot wingspan through jagged, narrow river beds in hostile territory. There are no weapons on a Hercules. Her only defense against an enemy attack is flying at a low altitude in a stealth mode, and evasive maneuvering while under attack. A Hercules aircrew operates with a paper-thin margin of error.

4:16Chris OCKey: Captain Chris Rumpel / CC-130 Hercules Flight Instructor

Various classroom shots

Chris: “Each course consists of about 18 students, that’s broken down to 3 crews of 6 students each. You have 2 pilots, one an aircraft commander, 1st officer, flight engineer, a navigator and 2 loadmasters. Right from day 1 we basically tell them that you’re getting on a roller coaster ride, it’s not over until almost 6 months down

the road, approximately, and they’re gonna have ups and downs. It’s gonna be stressful, it’s gonna be fun. It’s gonna be painful, it’s gonna be a pleasure at times. On occasion we have people that don’t make it through the course. That could be for a various amount of reasons. It could be for family issues, it could be academics, it could be that they just don’t have the skills that we’re looking for to fly the Hercules in the manner that we do. That’s the question we asked at the end of the course: is this person capable of doing this successfully.”

Teacher: “Okay, that’s it for me.”

Sound Up: Classroom chatter.06:33 Classroom shots

Dave OC

Beauty shots of Herc

Students preparing to board

ECU of Herc pan L

Several Herc shots and pans

Dave: “You’ll find with Air crew they are primarily “Type A” personality - very focused, very - showing incredible initiative, and they want a challenge, and that’s what I find is all the students want a challenge and they want to prove their capabilities, so we do have some characters at times and it is good because it really provides for some strong crew cohesion with the air crew, you have people coming from different facets of life and they all come together as a cohesive team with very dynamic discussions at times but people are very focused on the mission and they are very results oriented.”

07:24 Cockpit shots

Shane OCKey: Captain Shane McGill / Aircraft Commander Candidate

Herc taxi

Shane: “I joined originally in 93 as a navigator and I was posted to the Hercules community back before the war in Afghanistan started. I’m currently 42, an old man in the community but I’ve been over there 3 times, I’ve been over as a 1st Officer for my 1st 3 tours, and now I’m upgrading to aircraft commander. When I got out of University I joined a company and uh, I was sitting in a cubicle typing on a computer and at 23-24 years old, I didn’t think that was for me so uh, I thought I’d join the military and be all that I could be.”

Sound up: Cockpit Voice 1: “Got the right hand turn from flight instruments?”

Cockpit Voice 2: “Yeah, check.”08:02 Shots behind cockpit on

groundDean OCKey: Captain Dean Rood / 1st Officer Candidate

Herc takeoff in cockpit and out

Dean OC

Dean: “If you think about an airliner, there’s 2 pilots, and they’re normally called the pilot and co-pilot. Um, In the Military, it’s similar… similar positions. We call it aircraft commander and 1st officer. Whereas the aircraft Commander’s responsibilities are the aircraft, the mission, and the crew - Whereas the 1st officer is there to assist, the aircraft commander – uh, anything that will help the pilot out so that he can devote all his concentration on flying.

Sound Up: Hercules Aircraft takes off

Dean: “I became interested in aviation when I was about 15 or 16. My older brother received his private pilots license, so that’s about when I decided that’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to fly, I wanted to travel around the world, work with a close knit team, and uh, I didn’t really want a normal 9-5ish job, I wanted to do different things, and in the Military you can do that.”

09:06 LS of Herc in Camo, Zout. Snow on ground

Servicing Herc in Snow

Tony OCKey: Sergeant Tony Norris / Flight Engineer Candidate

Servicing Her engine

Sound Up: Tony Norris: “I’ve been in the snow before. I’m Canadian! (laughs)”

Tony: “I am the Flight Engineer. I’m the aircraft knowledge specialist. We’re supposed to know anything and everything from nose to tail about the aircraft and when somebody looks around and goes, why’s that light on, why’s the engine stopped, why’s that squeaking? We’re supposed to know. I’m very new the Herc world. I came from search and rescue; from the new search and rescue platform, the Conrad Helicopter, so I spent 5 years there. So it’s been a pretty intense ride so far. It’s a lot of aircraft knowledge to take in - in a short period of time – I’ve uh, I got

promoted fairly quickly because I seem to be pretty decent at the job, or everybody seems to think so.”

09:56

Spencer OCKey: Captain Spencer Selhi / Aircraft Commander Candidate

In cockpit hard bank right

Spencer: “It’s really a natural progression for those of us that are posted to tactical flying, you start off as a 1st officer, and uh, sort of develop your knowledge of the aircraft and the operational environment and then once you’ve gained enough skills with the aircraft, and enough knowledge, then you can move on and be promoted to aircraft commander and take, uh, take command in an operational mission. I’ve done this course in the right seat, and you know it’s a good course as a 1st officer but I think it’s a lot more fun as a aircraft commander.”

10:38 Front of Herc from Left, engines on.Crew board Herc (View from inside)

Various shots of crew preparing in HercTakeoff through cockpit and outside (behind)

Chris OC

Chris: “Lockheed designed this aircraft for one thing really, is to be the workhorse of the air force. It’s noisy, it’s dirty, and she keeps trucking along. Hence our names, “truckers”, that’s our call sign for the uh, combat ready flight. And it really is indicative of what we do in real life, is ah, take this plane all around the world. Whether it be jungle runs, desert runs, arctic runs. We’re going get it into those places that people don’t want to take their pretty planes to get in there.”

11:15 Various Base Shots

Key: CC-130 Hercules Training / Phase 3 – Flight SimulatorShots of simulator opening and inside.

Soldiers entering sim.

Sim in action

VO 2.1Narrator: Session 3 of the 4 phase training program is about to begin for a group of soldiers learning to fly the Hercules aircraft. If they graduate, they will be going to Afghanistan. They have already slogged through three months in the classroom, and are almost ready to get into the plane. But first, they must prove their capabilities in the aircraft simulator. Only if this team of hopeful candidates can successfully operate in the simulator in a number of warzone scenarios, will they be allowed to move on to the next level – real tactical flying in a Herc. This is a crucial transition point.

11:54 Liftoff in Sim

Chris OCKey: CC-130 Hercules Simulator / Flight 1Key: Captain Chris Rumpel / CC-130 Hercules Flight Instructor

Chris: “We do realize that this is not meant for everybody, and there’s a selected few people that are going to make it to this point and get through this course. Hopefully everybody does but the fact of life is, not everybody will because they don’t have what it takes.”

Sound Up: Chris: “Shane, Steer right here – heading 1-8-0.”

Shane: “Right, 1-8-0”12:17 Night flying in Sim

Shots outside sim

Jim OCKey: Jim McQueen / Field Site Manager / CAE

Jim: “Each hour that we have put in the simulator saves thousands of dollars of actual aircraft time and flying hours. We can do stuff in the simulator that they cannot do in the airplane. Uh, you would not blow a tire on purpose on an airplane, you would not, flame out an engine on-purpose on an aircraft. We can do that and if they crash, we do a reset and everything’s back - back in line, and everybody survives. We have five projectors up on top that will give a 210 by 40 degree visual scene, and it’s pretty realistic.”

12:55 Inside SimDean OCKey: Captain Dean Rood / 1st Officer Candidate

Sim in action from outside

Dean: “When you first get in there and start everything up, it feels like it’s all a simulation and it’s not real, but after about 5 minutes when you’re flying around, it really does feel like it’s the real thing you start getting the same sensations, the same ground rush and everything and it’s uh, it’s quite realistic.”

13:12 Inside Sim VO 2.2:Narrator: Today, Shane, Dean and Tony will test their skills as Aircraft Commander, 1st officer, and Flight Engineer. Although the simulator can crash without killing anyone, this training stage is still crucial. In a real Hercules, missing one seemingly trivial item could mean death. During the flights, Instructors are onboard to keep a sharp eye on all procedures and coaching the students every step of the way.

13:45 Shots inside sim Sound Up: Female Instructor: “Yeah, just to let you know,

Eng: You can’t do a tactical Post take-off unless you’ve done the combat entry, ok?

Tony: “That’s what I was wondering.

Chris: “Yup, that’s a good point, and that’s why we’re in the SIM.”

Tony: I was thinking, because I didn’t get my loadmaster check in either, right, so.”

Shane: “That’s a good point.”14:00 Shots inside Sim

Tony OCKey: Sergeant Tony Norris / Flight Engineer Candidate

Tony: “My job on the flight deck is to back-up the pilots, it gets really busy. You might say a mission specialist, and watching the aircraft, making sure the parameters of the aircraft aren’t overstressed. Potentially, um, if I screw up, I could put an aircraft in the dirt. Shut an engine off when you’re not supposed to, hit the wrong switch, exasperate a fire, you could take down navigation systems, so yeah, you gotta be on top of the ball, that’s for sure. They certainly try to get in as much realism in our training as they can, and even though it’s an artificial environment, it gets to be pretty real.”

14:44 Shots inside Sim VO 2.3:Narrator: This crew handled the 1st flight easily and appears confident. In cases like this, the instructors may throw curveballs at the students to keep them on their toes.

14:56

Key: CC-130 Hercules Simulator / Flight 2Klaxons and Lights go off, crew scramble to find and fix problem.

Sound Up: Dean: “Traffic. Trucker 7 is rolling on runway 0-6.”

Sound Up: (Alarm): Shane: “Abort! Abort! Fire in number 2. Shut down number 2! Just 1 and 4 only.”

Dean: “We had one emergency. Um, simulated engine fire, so as we were accelerating down the highway to take off, we had a fire warning. We shut down the

engine, we tried to discharge the fire extinguisher. It didn’t take. The fire wasn’t contained, so we ended up doing a ground evacuation.”

15:34 Engine emergency continues

Tony OC

Tony: “Does the simulator stress us enough, absolutely, um, certainly when you get the loud noises from the warning horn. There are certain lulls that are normal in the day to day flying, and that’s where they want to actually catch you and say, ‘Hey, wake-up!’ It kind of sucks because everybody gets caught, I’m sure you’ve probably seen the guy sitting at his desk at work and he’s having a long day and he’s doing the head bob, we get the same thing too.”

Sound Up: Shawn: “Okay, let’s ground evac! Crew? Ground evac”

16:15 Crew evacuate sim Dean: “The procedures are all real, it’s a lot of stuff to know, a lot of stuff to study and remember. It can get you stressed, the simulation is very good. And uh, the idea is to become so proficient and so familiar with the procedures, uh, and let yourself feel overwhelmed in the simulator so you become on-top of it, so when it happens in the plane that, that you won’t be stressed, and it’ll become second nature.”

16:43 Chris OC Chris: “They reacted very good, but you know it’s something that I added on the syllabus today because of how well they are doing. Someone might say, is that fair? Absolutely because in real life, I don’t know when that engine fire’s gonna happen. We hope it doesn’t happen, but if it does, they just proved to me that they can deal with it in a timely manner, and that’s what we’re looking for: Crisp, sound, immediate actions being safe and effective, and if they don’t- if they’re not perfect, that’s fine, as long as they’ve chosen that route that is still considered ideal and in the interest of everybody to protect the safety of everybody.”

17:24 Crew preparing in Sim Sound Up: Chris: “Tactical Departure of

Key: CC-130 Hercules Simulator / Flight 3

Dean oC

your choice.” Shane: “My choice? Okay, let’s do a zoom. Okay this will be a zoom departure.”

Dean: “We did a zoom departure, which is where you uh, just lift off the ground, raise the gear, raise the flaps, accelerate, and then zoom up, and gain altitude as quickly as possible.”

Sound Up: Shane: “And here comes the zoom.”

Chris: “Nice job, Right up to the uh, see the chevrons, good stuff.”

17:59 Crew in Sim

Shane OCKey: Captain Shane McGill / Aircraft Commander Candidate

Shane: “It’s very different compared to the way an average person thinks about flying. An average person thinks about going from A to B and most of what goes on in the front of the aircraft is for passenger comfort, so there’s no aggressive maneuvering. We are concerned with avoiding threats and if we are being shot at we have maneuvers that will help us defeat these threats.”

18:23 Crew in Sim

Dean OC

Sound Up: Dean: Did we call the landing check? (pause)

Dean: “There was one point during the flight that we were headed in a direction that seemed a little counter intuitive to me. Uh I didn’t really say too much, tried to figure it out on my own.”

18:40 Crew in Sim

Chris OC

Chris: “There was a situation where he didn’t speak up. He knew that something hadn’t happened, and he quietly stated that there should be something happening meaning specifically a check-list should’ve been actioned. And then he sat there quietly and just let things pursue towards the darker side.”

Sound Up: Shane: “Landing Gear”

Dean: “Down and checked” (some rushed

cross talk) Shane: “Cool – landing check complete”

Chris: “In this case they could’ve forgotten to put their landing gear down and made it very interesting to end it off.” (laugh)

19:18 Crew in Sim VO 2.4:Narrator: In the end, the crew got their gear down in time and landed the Herc safely. This near miss highlighted the importance of effective communication and strong team-dynamics in the cockpit.

19:33 Crew in Sim

Dean OC

Dean: “I guess, you know, had I spoken up and just asked the question it would’ve been resolved a lot sooner. And once you get those things resolved, then you can be more effective to the crew. Because when you’re off in you own world, sort of wondering what’s happening, you’re essentially baggage in aircraft, you’re not contributing anything to the crew.”

19:52 Crew in Sim

Chris OC

Sound Up: Chris: “How’d the landing check go?”

Tony: “That was actually my question. When was it?”

Dean: “I said landing check when we were crossing overhead.”

Chris: “Well, you did but it was really never loud enough. You should’ve been more firm, saying, ‘hey, landing check, you gotta do something.’ You’re a part of the team there, right seat ok so you need to back ‘em up.”

Chris: “Certainly in the debrief, he was aware of his mistake, which is the best thing that can happen in that situation. Basically if you don’t feel something is right, you have to raise it to the aircraft commander’s attention, because there’s been many people that haven’t done it, stayed quiet, and as a result an incident or an accident can occur.”

20:32 Crew in Sim VO 2.5:Narrator: Dean’s mistake could’ve have forced him out of the program. Luckily for him, he recovered in time to save the aircraft. The only damage was to his ego. Dean will have a chance to redeem himself in the next phase of the course - a real flight.

20:58 Key: Land Advance Warfare Centre / Canadian Forces / CFB Trenton, Ontario, CanadaShot of cargo prepared in hanger

Herc medium altitude flyby

Cargo Deck

From tail ramp outside to pan L of cargo

VO 3.1: Narrator: While the cockpit crews focus on tactical flying, the Load Masters are responsible for the cargo in the rear of the aircraft. Ground Troops in Afghanistan rely on the Hercules crews to deliver things like food, water and ammunition to places traditional supply lines can’t reach. Since the parachutes can hold up to 30, 000 pounds virtually anything can be dropped from a Hercules. In training, cargo loads are typically filled with sand. The stakes are high for the “loadies” in the Hercs, and the support technicians who pack the loads back on the ground. If, during a mission, a load’s parachute was to get hung up during its exit from the cargo hold, the Hercules could crash.

21:50 Closeups of loading procedureShawn OCKey: Corporal Shawn Kennedy / Load and Drop Zone Support / Tactical Airlift Maintenance Section

Video shots of harnessing and equipment handling

Shawn: “Behind you what you see here are 3, well these ones right here are heavy loads, which would simulate a lot of the vehicles that would go out if they need to be deployed from the Hercules. Most of them range from about 4000 to 9000 pounds depending on what’s going to be in them. Like if we’re dropping a vehicle it’s obviously going to be a bit heavier than dropping rations and food. From the bottom up is energy dispersing pads at the bottom, which is uh, we call it just honeycomb, which uh, all it does is - when the load actually impacts the ground, it’ll take as much force as possible and

Several practice drops of cargo hitting the ground

Load dropped from Plane

compress so that the load doesn’t get damaged. But from that you just go from your horizontal restraint systems so the actual G-forces of the load exiting the aircraft doesn’t shift the load off of the platform. Uh, but besides that, everything from the suspension slings here – it’s just uh, how the parachute will attach to the load itself, and the release mechanism which is actually one of the more important parts of the load because the moment it hits the ground, it needs to have the parachute disconnect from the load so it doesn’t let it get dragged across a highway, or in this case, across a battlefield. If anything goes wrong with these loads, any parachute that’s hung up outside the aircraft, can bring it down, so if anything shifts in the aircraft, gets hung up, uh we’re talking about a whole aircraft thundering in, and unfortunately it’s not a pretty thought at all. So, especially in terms of overseas where there’s already a high risk with the pilots going in there as it is. So in terms of the quality control here, it’s extremely important that uh, everything in the book is followed exactly the way it’s supposed to because any malfunction and uh, there’s more than just a load that’s gonna thunder in, it’s just – it’s people’s lives.”

23:52 Off Limits graphic

Classroom shotsKey: 426 Squadron Headquarters / Training Phase 4 / Pre – Flight Briefing

Sound Up: Class Instructor: “Good morning. The following briefing is unclassified. Political talks between the UN, Sparta and Vandal Governments have heated up over the current location of 2 tank battalions. A total of six SLFS”….(Dialogue fades out).

24:08 Classroom shots VO 3.2: Narrator: In phase 4 of the training

program, Hercules aircrews are tested without the safety net of the simulator. After several weeks of some basic cargo drop exercises at the airfield, flight teams are now given their orders and objectives just as they would in a real war-zone. Within a simulated combat environment, they are told when the cargo is scheduled for delivery and what to expect from enemy resistance. The team has just a couple of hours to map out the most strategic route to fly to the drop zone, deliver the load on time and then fly safely back to base with enough fuel in reserve.

24:49 Classroom shots

Herc Shots

Loadmaster checking cargo deck

Shane: (under visuals) “The front end crew is here. We’ve got the two pilots and the navigator, and we’re coming up with the route and the flight plan. The flight engineer is at this point going over the plane and making sure it’s completely serviceable and the load masters are going over the loads in the back to make sure that they’re ready, they’re accepting the loads. The loads have been all rigged and they’re accepting the loads from the people that rigged them. Ah, making sure, they’re QCing them to make sure they’re good and then they’re going to check their part of the plane to make sure it’s good to go as well…

25:25 Herc cargo door closingClassroom shots

Shane OCKey: Captain Shane McGill / Aircraft Commander Candidate / Flight Team 1

Shane: “Today’s mission, we’re seeing a few things that are new, uh, we’re getting something called a “Fac Nyliner” and essentially what that is in laymen’s terms is a situation where the army doesn’t exactly know where they want us to drop this load, um typically we have that information and we just plan for it, but today, it’s one of a possible, number of possibilities of places where we could drop it so, we’re gonna get airborne, and we’re gonna go to a point in space and hold, and someone’s gonna tell us at that point where to go. As well, we’re going north to drop on a couple of drop zones we haven’t seen yet, so that’s gonna

Shots around Herc preparing to fly

Pretty: Low level shot of helmet as soldier walks to plan.

make it a bit interesting as well.”

Shane: “We’re all under a certain amount of pressure because it’s a course, um, to perform, and now they’ve added on another little bit of pressure, they call this week, war week, where every time you go up and fly you have to meet certain levels of competency, and they’ve ratcheted up the levels to the point where we’re supposed to do it without errors, so to continue to advance, we need to get it right.”

26:33 Crew walking to HercGreg OCKey: Captain Greg Folkins / In-Flight Pilot Instructor / Flight Team 1

Greg: “Since operations are happening for real in Afghanistan, we have pretty much made the drawing line that, you know these crews are ready to go out and deal with something for real, or if we don’t think they are going to cut it then, it’s basically a hard fail at that point.”

26:52 More of crew walking to plane

VO 3.3:Narrator: Every member of the flight team is aware of their crucial roles and responsibilities during the mission. This is the make or break moment in the course.

27:03 Fade to Black

Shots of 3 Hercs, 2 taxi

Takeoff in cockpit

VO 3.4:Narrator: Instructors on board will be monitoring the entire flight– if something goes wrong, it’s the instructor’s job to single out the weak link within the crew and its chain of command.

Sound Up: Pollock: “3, 2, 1. Take-off”27:25 Takeoff cont

Rear view of takeoff

VO 3.5:Narrator: Speeding through the war-torn mountains of Afghanistan just several hundred feet off the ground in a 155 thousand pound aircraft leaves no margin for error. If this team can’t carry out today’s training mission successfully someone will fail the course.

27:47 Takeoff cont Shane: “Essentially in my seat, in the left seat when you’re flying the aircraft, you

Shane OC

Snow covered trees/lake through cockpit window

really need to pay most of your attention on exactly say, not hitting the ground, and watching where you’re going – that’s where I have my navigator who’s keeping a good eye on the timing controls so we don’t get ahead or late.”

Sound Up: Navigator: “Just be careful there. Here’s a couple of features.” Shane: “Check” Navigator: “See this river at your 12 o’clock here?” Shane: “yup.” Navigator: “That’s pretty much on track.”

Shane: “The navigator is all important in the run-in phase to the drop, he’s got to situate the plane right in space, right where we need it to be, and on time, to get the load out and so very challenging for him.”

28:31 Cockpit inserts VO 3.6:Narrator: They have GPS and radar at their fingertips, but because they are flying so low and so fast, the Navigators choose to work from topographic maps while sighting landmarks on the terrain below… They receive last minute co-ordinates from the command control centre. Now they can make their approach to the drop zone. The entire crew is aware that staying on time is crucial to the success of this mission.

29:07 Herc in airGary OCKey: Captain Gary Schuell / CC-130 Hercules Flight Instructor

Gary: “We fly very fluidly, but at the same time we have a timing that we have to meet and a destination that we have to meet, you know, within one minute and that’s for the, to get the drop on target and on time. So it all has to culminate in being where he wants to be at a given period of time.”

Sound Up: 1st Officer: “Load Master in position!” Loadmaster: “Loadmaster Acknowledges.” Shane: “Here’s our River.” 1st Officer: “Roger that” Navigator: “Slow down, Now!” Shane: “Rapid door.”

Door openingLoadmaster: “Clear to open.”

29:40 Door opening

View out tail doors

Dropping load view from Cargo Bay

Shane: “The whole mission was pretty mundane right up until – we got into the hold and then that was when the money shot was happening. We knew what drop zone we were going to and so then it was game on”

Sound Up: 1st Officer: “Standby for the Pop! Pop – Now!” 1st Officer: “Keep Rolling Left.15 seconds!”

Shane: “What drags the load out of the back is the deck angle so we fly the aircraft at a very high deck angle and it’s on a roller system where it just – you cut a rope type idea and it just rolls out the back. So you can imagine, if that deck angle isn’t there, it won’t roll out properly, but if it’s too high, we run the risk of stalling, so it’s right on the edge of the envelope.”

30:38

(Visual: Load slides out of plane)

Key: CC-130 Herules Training / Phase 4 / Flight Team 1 approaches drop zone(Visual: Load slides out of plane and see it fall out back)

Sound Up: 1st Officer: “5 seconds! Do you have it?” Loadmaster: “That’s a ramp!” Shane: “Close – got it.” 1st Officer: “Green On!”

Sound Up: 1st Officer: “Keep Rolling Left.15 seconds!” Shane: “Flaps. Reset 4” 1st Officer: “5 seconds! Do you have it?” Loadmaster: “That’s a ramp!” Shane: “Close – got it.” 1st Officer: “Green On!”Sound Up: Loadmaster: “Load Clear”

31:14 Load hanging under parachuteShane OCKey: Captain Shane McGill / Aircraft

Shane: “As you get to the money shot and the load actually exits the aircraft, that’s the culmination of everything and that’s for me, the most challenging and the most exciting, and everything – and the most

Commander Candidate / Fight Team 1

WS of Parachute and LoadDoors closing

saturating.”

Sound Up: Loadmaster: “Clear to close.”

Shane: “Ultimately we have to drop this load not only on target but within a certain window – in a bigger package, there may be multiple people going to the same target so, we need to hit it on our time because someone else is using it a different time.

31:49 Herc flying away VO 4.1:Narrator: The load was dropped on time and on target, but there is no time to rest easy. Now the crew must navigate back through hostile territory to the safety of their air base. Just because they avoided enemy detection on their way to the drop zone doesn’t mean there isn’t an ambush waiting for them during their return route.

32:10 Herc in air low level

Gary OCKey: Captain Gary Schuell / CC-130 Hercules Flight Instructor

Gary: “We fly low level to avoid detection, generally speaking. The type of threats that we’re trying to avoid, ah you know, an unfriendly force with small arms, or “Triple A” or something like that, anti aircraft artillery. So he’s looking for you, if he can’t see you then obviously you’re successful. In order for him not to see you we want to put terrain in between us and a potential threat. 200 minimum safe distance is our contract, and what that means is, essentially it’s 200 above ground, but bearing in mind if you have 50 foot trees, you know, if you’re 200 above ground, you’re only 150 above trees, if you do the math, you know it’s approximately 250 feet.”

32:47 Beauty shot snow covered forest through propsChris OCKey: Captain Chris Rumpel / CC-130 Hercules Flight Instructor

Chris: “A lot of it really is focused on the front end, that’s what you’re seeing with the pilots and the navigators. You’ve got the engineers there, but you can’t forget that the load masters are part of that equation. They are an integral part of the crew, very important, ah they do a lot of work that goes hidden.

Various shots around Herc interior

Herc takes evasive action

Sound Up: 1st Officer: “Top hat, Trucker 5, go ahead please.”Load Master: “Trucker five. Top hat. Initial picture – 2 bogies, suspected Helos, hostile.”

Chris: “They will be spotting out their windows, covering the rear aspect of the aircraft, looking for threats; any kind of unusual activity on the ground, reporting to us, because for pilots and the navigator we can only see forward of the aircraft. And once, when everything’s past the wings that’s their responsibility. Could be a missile, could be “Triple A” fire, something like that. They’re the guys that are going to save our bacon from the rear aspect.”

Sound Up: 1st Officer: “Okay 0-9-0. Okay guys we got a threat, pretty much on our 3 O’clock position right now for 15 miles.” Shane: “Cool. Snap 2-7-0. Engage Hostile Helo.” Loadmaster: “Check! Helo Vander right. 4 O’Clock. 3 miles. Hot! Still firing! Still firing! SAM, Right, 5 O’Clock! 1 mile!”

34:11 Shot through props of lake VO 4.2:Narrator: The drop to the ground troops was perfect, but the flight crew is now under enemy fire. After a slight hesitation, the Aircraft Commander executes several evasive maneuvers. It works. He saves the aircraft and his crew from being hit by enemy anti aircraft artillery. The 1stofficer relays the enemy locations to allied forces on the ground who will then move in to eliminate the threat. After changing course, it’s the navigator’s job to quickly generate a new route back to base.

Sound Up: Navigator: “I’m thinking he’s a Helo we could outrun him.” Instructor: “Roger that.”

34:48 Crew in cockpit looking at maps

VO 4.3:Narrator: Even though the approach, the drop and the Aircraft Commander’s evasive maneuvers were near perfect, there was a slight hang-up in adjusting the follow up navigation plan, which briefly delayed the Air Crew.

Sound Up: Shane: “Landing Gear.” 1st Officer: “Check”

35:05 Herc coming in for a landing VO 4.4:Narrator: How big a mistake was the delay? The crew will have to wait until the flight debriefing to find out.

35:14 Herc landing

Greg OCKey: Captain Greg Folkins / In-Flight Pilot Instructor / Flight Team 1

Greg: “It went pretty well. There was some errors through the flight but overall they did pretty well. We kind of take them to a couple of levels above what they might see in theatre so that they’ll be ready for that when they go over there. Some people might actually go to theatre and find it a little bit mundane compared to what we do here on the course. Our war week which is what we’re into right now is pretty much the most difficult Her training that you’re going to get.”

35:40 Crew getting off plane, props still spin

Shane OC

Shane: “You want to be over trained, you want to be over-tasked and uh, it’s like anything you know, if you over-train physically, if you run a marathon every day you can run 10km no problem.”

35:54 Crew still disembarking. VO 4.5:Narrator: After the flight, the instructor tells Captain Shane McGill the mistakes they made. During the attacks, the delayed reaction of the navigator could have put the flight team at risk by flying into unknown and potentially dangerous enemy territory.

36:11 Key: 426 Squadron Headquarters / Flight Team 1 DebriefClassroom shots

Sound Up: Shane: “Okay are we all here? Uh, 1, 2, 3, 4 – 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Um. Debrief Trucker 5. Planning from the front end was a little bit more compressed than usual. That was no surprise with 3 run-ins. Uh, this environment, especially the training environment is one that –

obviously you have to do the job right but you have to do it as fast as you can. You can’t take a lackadaisical approach to it, so I don’t know how to debrief it any more than that but just be as snappy as you can. Be fast and perfect, how’s that? …Okay, 7 tomorrow morning for you guys, thanks.”

36:55 Students leaving classroom

(Visual Transition)

VO 4.6:Narrator: Despite the navigation errors, the overall execution of the mission was considered a pass. Every member of this flight crew will get to fly again.

37:12 Various mission inserts

Key: Test Drop Zone/ CFB Trenton, Ontario, Canada

VO 4.7:Narrator: The flight crew-members are not the only ones involved in a successful cargo drop. In Afghanistan and in training, The Hercules air-crew must coordinate with a Drop Zone Controller. They supply vital environmental data that effects the outcome of the drop.

Sound Up: Ross: “Trucker 5, Drop Zone Tiger. Check 1 minute. Winds from 3-5-0 at 9 knots. Clear to drop.”

37:43 Man in drop zone relaying messages

Key: Warrant Officer Ross Prophet / Drop Zone Controller / Tactical Airlift Maintenance Section

Several drop and retrieval shots.

Ross: “I’m their eyes on the ground, so I see what’s going on here should there be any hazards that would come into play when they were on their run-ins. I would advise them of a stop drop. I’m also here to call their winds. There’s wind limitations for certain types of drops. We give wind direction also, and then the Navs are able to calculate the release points, also using the winds that I give them on the ground. So, ultimately we’re just another added safety – we also coordinate the recovery of the parachutes and the loads.”

Sound Up: Ross: “Whoa. I need to come a little closer. Ugh.”

Ross: “So this meter here, it’s called an anemometer, and it gives us the wind-speed

Insert of anemometer

Herc Flyby

Ross OC in field

in knots, so currently it’s giving us a reading 9.4 knots. It uh, and this is what we use to advise the sir crews of the wind limits on the ground.”

Sound Up: Ross: “Trucker 6. Drop Zone Tiger. Check 1 minute. Winds from 3-5-0 at 13 knots. Clear to drop.”

Ross: “Part of the communications that we do, we communicate twice with the aircrafts, we communicate on their inbound, which is 6 minutes out, and then the 2nd communication we have with them is at the one minute – and at 1 minute we give the direction of the wind the speed of the wind, and then we advise the aircrew whether it’s clear to drop or not… At any time between the 1 minute and the actual drop time we can advise them of a stop drop. Should there be a little aircraft come into the area or a civilian come onto the drop zone, we would advise them of a stop drop.”

39:43 Key: Flight Team 2 / CC-130 Hercules Training Phase 4 / Ready for take-off

VO 5.1:Narrator: As flight school nears the end of Phase 4 – training missions get harder and the standards are raised even higher. Five and a-half months of training come down to just a few more evaluation flights. The next challenge? Contour flying over the tree-tops and tucked down in the river beds.

40:06 Crew boarding Herc

Chris OCKey: Captain Chris Rumpel / In-Flight Instructor / Flight Team 2

Chris: “This is the make or break point in this course. It’s made very clear to the students that this is a very aggressive training plan. We’ll be flying in riverbeds – uh, the ultimate challenge there for contour flying. Concealing the aircraft from the enemy. There’s definitely an art to it. Not only an art but a huge requirement for a huge skill-set because the fact of life is, you are going to war.”

40:35 Crew in Cockpit taxi and takeoff

VO 5.2:Narrator: In Afghanistan, Hercules crews fly through jagged mountains every day.

To avoid detection they will have to tuck a 155,000 lb aircraft into a winding riverbed going at over 200 mph. It sounds like suicide. In a warzone, it’s quite the opposite. Effective contour flying conceals an aircraft. That means facing a lot less enemy fire from the ground. The pressure to perform is enormous.

41:08 Takeoff continued

Spencer OCKey: Captain Spencer Selhi / Aircraft Commander Candidate / Flight Team 2

Spencer: “There’s always pressure. Pressure to perform. Every single day, things get a little bit more complex, so there’s an added element of a little bit of stress both in the pre-flight planning process as well as during the flight. There’s more going on, and your expected level of performance goes up all the time so, it can get stressful absolutely.”

Sound Up: Chris: “And we are 17 minutes and 30 seconds from our original timings.” Spencer: “Check.” Dean: “Okay just stay right on the edge of this lake.”

41:43 Cockpit view of forestDead OCKey: Captain Dean Rood / 1st Officer Candidate / Flight Team 2

Dean: the 1st officer is there to assist, the aircraft commander. If he’s busy flying, I’ll be reading the map, handling communications with the ground and other aircraft, ancillary control, flaps and landing gear.”

Sound Up: Chris: “Once we cut the corner it’s a direct line – if you guys aren’t on your money – on the money for a 10 minute roll X it’s going to make it difficult for the river route.” Dean: “Okay.”

42:08 Forest through WS of cockpit

Bad weather and ELS of Herc banking right

VO 5.3:Narrator: To ramp up the pressure the instructors have subtracted 17 minutes from their drop schedule. Now the Crew must take a shorter route through the riverbed. Add bad weather to the list, and a drop zone they’ve never seen before and you’ve got the makings for a white-knuckle mission.

42:27 Gary OC Gary: “The mission this week is to deliver

Key: Captain Gary Schuell / CC-130 Hercules Flight Instructor Classroom shotsCargo Bay shots

Shots around aircraft flying low level

a load via an air-drop scenario. Um, the loads typically are container delivery system, so 2, 3 thousand pound load that type of thing. Trying to get it on target, on time. Um, they’ve done that in the past, it’s kind of been a little more canned. You know in the sense that we’ve been doing it at drop zones just to the south of Trenton here. The drop zone that they’re going to they haven’t seen before. So the first time they, you know, when they acquire it from the slow down point right into the actual green on, when that load actually goes, it’s all new to them.”

Sound Up: Dean: “Crew from the right seat, we’ve got a hostile Helo sighted after the drop. Near point Alpha Romeo 8. Standby for updates.”

43:15 Plane flying in distanceChris OC in classroom

Many shots of plan flying low level pre drop

Chris: “The reality is that you could have someone on the ground trying to shoot you. You’re trying to do a good deed. Someone might take it as – you’re not being welcome.”

Sound Up: Dean: “Crew from the right seat, that last reported threat’s been eliminated.” Chris: “We have to be very cognizant flying in the valley here guys. Uh – prevent your blowouts. For the loadies too – you’re in on this part here. We want 200 feet off the wingtips. If we’re getting close I need you to let the AC know that, okay?” Loadmaster: “Check” Chris: “There are times where you might feel uncomfortable. Expect to be close to the edges.” Loadmaster: “Check.” Dean: “Okay this track is right on, right when you come over this ridge you should see the entrance to the river.” Loadmaster: “Check”.

44:06 Shots of Herc flying and maneuvers James OC

James: “When we’re down at 200 feet there’s a lot more to play with. So you’ve got the terrain that you’ve got to worry

Key: Captain James Brown / CC-130 Hercules Tactical Navigation Instructor

Maneuvers low level flight: fairly exciting

about, things are a lot faster coming up on the pilot. So when we’re flying along on a regular Air Canada mission as I call them, you can couple up the auto pilot, sit back have your coffee and relax. But when you’re down at 200 feet you don’t have that luxury.”

Sound Up: Navigator: “So left turn just after this.”

Chris: “Right seat, just follow through with you’re thumb on the map okay? If anything, you’re going to fall behind because we’re going 5 times faster on the map.”

James: “So you’ve got to stay ahead, but not too far ahead of what’s coming, rushing at ya. So if we’re going, for instance we’re going 210 knots ground, that means we’re going 3.5 miles per minute. So it comes pretty fast.”

Sound Up: Chris: “Okay, come right. Hard right turn now. You got you’re clear weather Dean. That’s the kind of stuff we expect.” Dean: “Okay.” Chris: “Okay you know you gotta go right, you found clear weather to the right. Make it happen. Okay let just keep coming right, lets get back in the river route. We’ll worry about the timings later.” Dean “Okay, we’re crossing over the river now.”

James: “Down at 200 feet we’re going to use valleys, we’re going to use lakes, major features down on the ground to actually pin point where we are.”

Sound Up: Chris: “Okay, now get your ass in there! Get on the right side! Okay, let’s call the left turn.”

Spencer: “Okay left turn’s going to be the 3-3-0” Dean: “All clear left.” Spencer: “Clear left!” Chris: “Okay this is where you’re going to do a big left and a hard right. So you want to get on the left side?” Spencer: “Next heading’s going to be 0-3-0.” Dean: “Check.”

45:57 Low level maneuvers continues

VO 5.4:

Narrator: The Aircraft Commander has to enter and exit the riverbed several times due to storm systems, but the navigator and 1st officer have kept him on course. They are now approaching the drop zone on time.

Sound Up: Selhi “Stand by for slowdown!” Loadmaster: “Loadmaster Acknowledge” Selhi: “Slow down, now!” Chris: “Right Seat, look for you’re drop zone.” Dean: “Okay, got it.”

46:20 Low level maneuvers continue as they prepare for drop

VO 5.5:Narrator: The pressure to hit the drop zone on time and on target is greater than ever. All the successful contour flying will be for naught if they miss the unfamiliar drop zone. It could mean failure for the aircrew.

46:39 More cockpit and plane exteriors while in flight

VO 5.6:Narrator: For the loadmasters it’s even worse. If their cargo malfunctions at the drop-zone, failing the course will be the least of their worries.

46:51 Herc flies low overhead

Chris OC

Chris: “With a heavy equipment airdrop, if that hangs up, meaning that it doesn’t leave the aircraft, and you’ve got that extraction shoot, that drogue shoot that is out in the slipstream. That could really, it could cause the Herc. despite its massive amount of power, it might not be able to fly. Cause if you slip one step, it could mean between survivability or… becoming a statistic.”

Load drops out of Cargo Bay interior

Sound Up: Selhi: “5 seconds! Green on!” Loadmaster: “Load Clear!” Selhi: “Flaps” Loadmaster: “Green off!”

47:33 Load with chutes open out tail of Herc

VO 5.7: Narrator: The load is dropped without a hitch, on time and on target. In this combat scenario, all enemy forces have been eliminated, so the crew heads for the air base. For this air crew, this is the culmination of nearly 6 months of training.

47:55 Herc flies overhead and shots in cockpit

Dead OC

Sound Up: Navigator: “I think it went great – I think we worked better in front of the Camera” Selhi: “Yeah, camera adds a bit of pressure.”

Dean: a couple weeks ago I wouldn’t have imagined being able to fly 200 feet off the ground at uh, over 200 knots. Um, all the time navigating, avoiding threats. And then coordinating the extraction of a load to land on the target at the exact time, exact location.

Sound Up: Dean: “Yeah, I agree with the Nav, the river route was a bit, uh, well, quite a bit challenging, a bit overwhelming but good exposure.”

48:30 Crew calm in cockpit

Herc flies in distance across beautiful skyscape

Chris: “As a whole everybody’s been doing quite well. Considering it’s a very challenging course. It’s not for everybody and they’re not going to just slide through easily, but they are putting in their full effort, which has really been appreciated and we foresee everybody graduating off of this course.”

Sound Up: Selhi: “Loadmaster, do you have anything to add?” Loadmaster: “Nope, uh, number one loadmaster’s good.”

Chris: “From here they’ll ah, move on to the mount flying phase, that’s an add on part to the course so they get that ah,

requirement as well. And then there’ll be a 4 day check ride which flies throughout North America.”

49:11 Shane OCKey: Captain Shane McGill / Aircraft Commander Candidate

Dean OC

Low level over city/lakeShane OC

Herc in extreme distance with clouds and sunburst

Shane: “This is really becoming a reality for me now – it’s been a challenging course and the end is within weeks away. Um, I’ve already got my date for Afghanistan. And yeah, it’s gonna come quick.”

Dean: “I’m scheduled to deploy with Spencer, so that’s my focus right now.”

Shane: “This course has been very challenging and demanding and ultimately to fly in Afghanistan as an aircraft commander and get a load to some of our guys on the ground that really need it would be the ultimate thing.”

Sound Up: Chris: “Overall I was very happy with you guys, uh, very challenging day. You gave me the confidence that you guys can complete this course with great success. So well done guys; very well done today.”

50:05 Roll Credits

51:01 Fade to Black