---
title: "A Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin Helicopter Can Fit Inside A C-130"
description: "The Coast Guard prides itself on self-reliance, exemplified by this image of one of its Dolphin helicopters being transported by one of its C-130s."
date: "2022-01-03"
modified: "2022-01-03"
authors:
  - name: "Brian O'Rourke"
    link: "https://www.twz.com/authors/brian-orourke"
url: "https://www.twz.com/43724/coast-guard-mh-65-dolphin-rescue-helicopter-can-fit-inside-a-c-130"
categories:
  - "Air"
  - "C-130"
  - "H-65"
  - "Helicopters"
  - "Navies"
  - "Sea"
  - "Transports"
  - "U.S. Coast Guard"
tags:
  - "C-130H"
  - "C-5 Galaxy"
  - "coast guard"
  - "hc-144"
  - "hh-65"
  - "MH-65"
  - "U.S. Coast Guard"
---

# A Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin Helicopter Can Fit Inside A C-130

![](<https://www.twz.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-twz/content/2022/01/USCG-MH65-HH130.jpg>)
*www.twz.com*

When it comes to photos of aircraft inside aircraft, no one is really surprised to see a helicopter or [even a bunch of helos](<https://www.twz.com/43461/dozens-of-afghan-helicopters-have-now-been-delivered-to-the-u-s-air-forces-boneyard>) inside a C-17 Globemaster or a C-5 Galaxy. Those aircraft are pretty large — and built to haul outsized objects. The C-130, on the other hand, is quite a bit smaller — small enough that a C-130 fuselage, at least, can fit inside one of [those same C-5s](<https://www.twz.com/11014/air-force-now-wants-to-get-sidelined-c-5-galaxy-transports-back-in-the-air>). So, the photo at the top of a Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter inside a Coast Guard HC-130H from Air Station Clearwater, Florida, caught us a little off, uh, *guard*.

According to a Christmas Eve post on Facebook:

[Air Station Miami](<https://www.atlanticarea.uscg.mil/Our-Organization/District-7/Units/Air-Station-Miami/>) operates five MH-65 Dolphin helicopters alongside five [HC-144 Ocean Sentry](<https://www.homelandsecurity-technology.com/projects/hc144a-ocean-sentry-surveillance-aircraft-uscg/>) aircraft. The Dolphins, built by Airbus and derived from that company’s AS365 Dauphin, also serve on some Coast Guard Cutters at sea. The Coast Guard [considers the MH-65](<https://www.uscg.mil/Assets/Article/1822743/mh-65-short-range-recovery-helicopter/>) a “short-range recovery” helicopter and uses it for search-and-rescue missions as well as some armed interdiction missions against smugglers and for other law enforcement activities. It has an endurance of around three hours, a top speed of 148 knots, and a range of about 300 nautical miles. These figures can vary due to the mission profile of course.

https://youtube.com/embed/TSaVYSb2bZM

![message-editor%2F1641249877687-airguardc-130toc-5.jpeg](<https://www.twz.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor%2F1641249877687-airguardc-130toc-5.jpeg>)
*Guardsmen help push a C-130 fuselage out of a C-5 Galaxy. The training fuselage was transported from the Rhode Island Air National Guard to the New York Air Guard., **109th Airlift Wing Public Affairs***

[Air Station Clearwater](<https://www.atlanticarea.uscg.mil/Our-Organization/District-7/Units/Air-Station-Clearwater/>) operates both the Hercules and the MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter, the Coast Guard's larger and longer-range search-and-rescue helicopter derived from the Sikorsky S-70/UH-60 Blackhawk/[Seahawk line of helicopters](<https://www.twz.com/30564/veteran-navy-pilot-shares-10-interesting-things-about-flying-seahawk-helicopters>), of which 44 are operational. The MH-65 inventory is over double that, at 102 examples.

It turns out that, while loading an MH-65 onto a C-130 is not an everyday occurrence, it’s far from unheard of. While MH-65s do self-deploy around the U.S., given the type's range, moving one from one Coast Guard station to another inside a C-130 can be the fastest, most efficient plan, but it can also be an absolutely essential one, too. For example, the HH-65 seen below was [transferred from Whidbey Island to Hawaii](<https://www.dvidshub.net/image/1106716/coast-guard-helicopter-transferred-hawaii-air-station>) in 2008, when the Port Angeles, Washington station received then-upgraded MH-65s.

![message-editor%2F1641251891456-hh-65intoc-130.jpg](<https://www.twz.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor%2F1641251891456-hh-65intoc-130.jpg>)
*Coast Guardsman of Coast Guard Air Station Port Angeles, Wash., load an HH-65C Dolphin helicopter into a C-130 Hercules for transport to Hawaii from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, May 20, 2008., *U.S. Navy/Deputy Public Affairs Officer Tony Popp**

There’s [also the one below from 2011](<https://www.dvidshub.net/image/1101730/mh-65-delivery>), another transfer to Hawaii, this time of an MH-65:

![message-editor%2F1641251972337-mh65c-1302011.jpg](<https://www.twz.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor%2F1641251972337-mh65c-1302011.jpg>)
*A group of Dolphin flight mechanics pulls out an MH-65 helicopter from an HC-130 Hercules aircraft at Air Station Barbers Point, Hawaii., *U.S. Coast Guard**

The U.S. Coast Guard prides itself on its organic airlift capabilities, especially the longer-range capabilities provided by the C-130, and the new C-130J only increases what the small force of around 27 C-130s can do at any given time.

Still, seeing a Hercules swallowing up a Dolphin just looks wrong, and we definitely would want someone checking our math on the weight-and-balance calculations. But the Coast Guardsmen are clearly up to this — and many other challenging [tasks at sea](<https://www.twz.com/40360/u-s-coast-guard-cutter-enters-the-tense-black-sea-highlighting-the-services-overseas-presence>) and [in the air](<https://www.twz.com/3485/watching-this-coast-guard-lifeboat-towing-its-twin-through-a-narrow-inlet-is-totally-nerve-racking>). And we appreciate them sharing photos of it all.

*Contact the author: Brian@thedrive.com.*

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