Coulson Aviation purchases New Zealand C-130 Hercules aircraft.
Article & Images: Jaryd Stock
The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) has finalised a sale of the four remaining Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) Lockheed C-130H Hercules aircraft to Coulson Aviation which will be based in the United States.
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 and will take the number of C-130’s operating for the water bombing company from six to ten.
Wayne Coulson, president and chief executive of Coulson Group, says they are looking forward to 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.
“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.”
155,000 accident-free flying hours and nearly 100,000 landings over 60 years
Following a substantial upgrade and conversion programme the aircraft will be deployed around the world as fire-fighting tankers.
Its expected the upgrades will include the Coulson RADS-XXL 4,000 US Gallon roll-on roll-off tanking system, which according to the company is one of the world’s most powerful aerial firefighting aircraft due to its range, versatility, and suppression ability per drop.
All five of the aircraft will be able to carry a mixture of fire retardant and or water, with the Coulson aircraft having been recently seen valiantly fighting fires in the high profile L.A. fires back in January 2025.
RADS System onboard a Coulson Aviation C-130
Having served the NZDF for 60 years, the five-strong RNZAF fleet of Hercules which operated with No.40 Squadron clocked up more than 155,000 accident-free flying hours and nearly 100,000 landings at home and around the world.
The C-130H Hercules aircraft operated from Europe to the southwest Pacific, from Afghanistan to Antarctica. They left a legacy of providing support to New Zealanders and their neighbours in all kinds of environments operating from RNZAF Base Whenuapai near the City of Auckland in the North Island.
One C-130H Hercules aircraft (serial: NZ7001) has already been delivered to the Air Force Museum in Christchurch where it is currently on public display to all visitors wanting to see New Zealand Air Mobility history at its finest, the aircraft has carried its nickname ‘Charles’ and it flew 33,000 hours and completed 22,000 takeoffs over its 60 year carrer.
Meanwhile RNZAF has taken delivery of all five C-130J-30 Hercules which has replaced the H model of the aircraft in service and are already been used conducting operations to Antartica and recently deployed to Australia to partake in public engagement at the Australian International Airshow 2025 at Avalon Airport.
Jaryd Stock is based in Sydney Australia. He has been a die-hard aviation enthusiast from a young age when he was chauffeured around by his father to various airshows and airports around Australia. At his first Airshow he witnessed the awesomeness of a General Dynamics F-111C and immediately fell in love with aviation.
Jaryd picked up a camera at a young age and has never looked back. He now combines photography and writing to highlight “Downunder” aviation; especially U.S. DoD units. Jaryd uses Nikon cameras and lenses.