The New Zealand Defence Force has finalized the sale of four retired Royal New Zealand Air Force C-130H Hercules aircraft to American aerial firefighting company Coulson Aviation for $9 million. The deal, announced on Apr. 11, marks a new chapter for the venerable aircraft that were officially retired from military service earlier this year.
Corporal Naomi James, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The aircraft will be prepared for flight and flown to Coulson’s Maintenance Base in Thermal, California by a commercial crew over the next few months, where they will undergo substantial upgrades and conversion to firefighting tankers.
These workhorses of the RNZAF completed their distinguished service on Jan. 30, after 60 years of operations. Their retirement was commemorated with special flypasts over Northland and the central North Island, with a South Island flyover conducted in early February. The fleet’s impressive safety record includes more than 155,000 accident-free flying hours and nearly 100,000 landings at home and around the world.
While four of the aircraft have been sold to Coulson Aviation, a fifth Hercules has been preserved for public display at the Air Force Museum at Wigram in Christchurch, ensuring this important piece of New Zealand’s military aviation history remains accessible to future generations.
The RNZAF’s history with the Hercules began in 1965 when the first three aircraft were delivered to No. 40 Squadron at RNZAF Base Auckland. They were immediately put to work transporting personnel from NZ Army 161 Battery and aid to Vietnam. That same year, a Hercules with personnel and supplies made its first flight to Antarctica, beginning decades of operations in one of the world’s most challenging environments.
By 1969, the aircraft had proven so valuable in providing strategic and tactical airlift capabilities that a further two were purchased, bringing the fleet to five aircraft.
“It’s an incredible record considering some of the challenging and often inhospitable operating environments,” said Chief of Air Force, Air Vice-Marshal Darryn Webb. “Beyond the vast accumulation of data lies mission purpose, and for many, life-changing assistance provided by those who support, maintain and operate our C-130H aircraft.”
Over six decades, the Hercules fleet established an impressive operational history. In the 1970s, they became the first RNZAF aircraft to visit mainland China and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The fleet also provided service in Pakistan, Cambodia and Bangladesh.
The 1990s saw two aircraft and supporting crews deployed to Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War, along with United Nations and other peacekeeping support in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Somalia, Uganda, the Persian Gulf, and Rwanda. Around the turn of the century, the aircraft helped sustain more than 1,000 New Zealand troops stationed in East Timor.
In 2001, the Hercules deployed detachments of the 1st New Zealand Special Air Service Regiment to Afghanistan, which was the beginning of a 20-year NZDF deployment to the country, including troop rotations in and out of the Bamyan province.
The fleet’s humanitarian contributions have been equally significant. The Hercules were instrumental in disaster response missions throughout the Asia-Pacific region, including the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami, where one aircraft evacuated 120 people from Banda Aceh. They supported relief efforts during Cyclones Pam and Winston in the Pacific, the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake, and more recently, Cyclone Gabrielle.
Air Vice-Marshal Webb noted that crews often recall the unique missions most vividly, such as “the recovery of victims from Mt Erebus aircraft disaster in Antarctica or loading 120 people out of Banda Aceh after the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami where one survivor brought his pet monkey.”
Other unusual missions included “air dropping a bulldozer to the remote Pitcairn Islands in the Pacific, moving crocodiles and an elephant to wildlife reserves,” and Webb’s personal experience of “a live and very unhappy pig as a gift from Bougainville Islanders.”
Wayne Coulson, president and chief executive of Coulson Group, expressed enthusiasm about integrating these aircraft into their existing fleet of six C-130H Hercules. “Coulson is honoured to acquire the NZDF’s four C-130H’s, solidifying Coulson’s position as the largest non-government C-130H operator worldwide,” he said.
“This acquisition strengthens our commitment to providing world-class aerial firefighting solutions and expanding our operational capabilities globally. We look forward to continuing our mission of protecting communities and natural resources with these proven, versatile aircraft.”
The sale comes after the New Zealand government announced in 2020 that the aging fleet would be replaced by five new C-130J-30 Hercules. The last of these new aircraft arrived in December 2024, allowing the C-130H fleet to take a well-earned retirement.
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