The Four Horsemen

In the 1950's the Tactical Air Command fielded an air demonstration "Squadron" known as
The Four Horsemen.
Many units at the time had demo units but the 463rd Troop Carrier Wind at Ardmore AFB, Oklahoma had a unique twist. They flew the C-130 Hercules.
Captains Gene Chaney, Jim Akin, David Moore and William Hatfield of the 774th Troop Carrier Squadron were the Horsemen.
Diamond formations were a snap. They started the show taking off in the Diamond.


Here's their idea of a "Bomb Burst".After the Bomb Burst they'd reform in diamond for a pass down the show line. They then reformed into a echelon and came back in for the landing. Landing one after the other, Lead would still be on the runway when four touched down.

The team applied to be designated as an official air demonstration team. While in peace time there were plenty of fighters laying around, the C-130 had operational commitments so there weren't aircraft to spare. For that reason the application was turned down.

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