C-130 AMP aircraft ahead of schedule Published Sept. 2, 2010 By Wayne Crenshaw 78 ABW/PA ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- Work is under way on the first aircraft to receive C-130 Avionics Modernization Pro-gram upgrades at Robins. In all, 10 C-130Hs will receive upgraded cockpit avionics and new wiring here during the next five years. A second aircraft is scheduled to arrive in October. A crew of 25 is working on the first aircraft, and about 40 workers will be involved when the second aircraft arrives, said Randy Odell, C-130 AMP Flight deputy director. It's the same crew which had been doing the work on an even more advanced C-130 modification, the Combat Loss Replacement Program, which modified C-130s for Special Operations use. The only special training local workers needed to install the upgrades is related to some fiber-optic wiring, said Odell. The first C-130H arrived in early August, and the crew's first task was to strip out all of the old instrumentation from the cockpit. That's been accomplished. "We are already ahead of schedule," said Odell. The biggest change lies ahead, and that involves replacing the aircraft's mechanical gauges with digital gauges which are both more reliable and easier to maintain. The new gauges are also set up for use with night-vision goggles, which allow pilots to shut off cockpit lighting at night when they're flying in hostile areas.