Lockheed Martin® LC-130F VX-6 Puckered Penguins Mahogany 1/74 (21") Scale Model

VX-6 Puckered Penguins LC-130F Model A carefully crafted Lockheed Martin LC-130F Hercules Model of the VX-6 Puckered Penguins - a perfect display to capture your time with the legendary squadron!  Each model is made of solid wood and hand painted to provide exceptional quality. Length - 16 inches Wingspan - 21 inches Made from Mahogany US Veteran-Owned Business Official Licensed by Lockheed Martin The product is not intended to be used by children 12 years and younger LOCKHEED MARTIN®, C-130 Hercules®, associated emblems and logos, and body designs of vehicles are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Lockheed Martin Corporation in the USA and/or other jurisdictions, used under license by Squadron Nostalgia LLC Antarctic Development Squadron Six (VXE-6 or ANTARCTIC DEVRON SIX, commonly referred to by its nickname, The Puckered Penguins) was a United States Navy Air Test and Evaluation Squadron based Naval Air Station Point Mugu, California with forward operating bases at Christchurch, New Zealand and McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Established at Naval Air Station Quonset Point, Rhode Island on 1 January 1969, the squadron's mission was to provide aviation support for Operation Deep Freeze, the operational component of the United States Antarctic Program. Following the closure of NAS Quonset Point in the 1970s, the squadron relocated to NAS Point Mugu. Using the tail code JD and XD, the squadron flew numerous aircraft over the course of its existence. Following the closure of austral summer operations at Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station in February 1999, the squadron returned to Naval Air Station Point Mugu, California, where it was disestablished on 31 March 1999. On 1 January 1969, the former VX-6 (Air Development Squadron Six) was redesignated as VXE-6 (Antarctic Development Squadron Six).[11] Eight months later, on 31 August 1969, two LC-130 Hercules aircraft of VXE-6 arrived at McMurdo Station, 6 weeks in advance of the opening of Operation Deep Freeze 70. Among the passengers were Rear Admiral David F. Welch, Commander U.S. Naval Support Force Antarctica (NSFA) and seven scientists. During Operation Deep Freeze 1978, VXE-6 evacuated five critically injured Soviets from the crash site of an IL-14 Crate transport aircraft at Molodyozhnaya Station on the southern shore of Alasheyev Bight in the Cosmonauts Sea. This trip was 1,825 miles round trip from McMurdo Station. On 28 November 1979, Air New Zealand Flight 901 (TE 901) crashed into Mount Erebus, killing all 257 on board.[13][14] Three hours later, VXE-6 initiated the search and rescue effort (referred to as Operation Overdue), sending an LC-130R Hercules (XD-01, BuNo 160741, c/n 4731) and two UH-1N Huey helicopters from McMurdo Station to search the area of the last known position of TE 901 (approximately 38 miles true north of McMurdo Station). These aircraft were joined a half-hour later, at 4:16pm by six more aircraft launched from McMurdo Station.[15][16][17] No survivors could be seen. At around 9:00 am, twenty hours after the crash, helicopters with search parties managed to land on the side of the mountain. The search parties confirmed that the wreckage was from Air New Zealand Flight 901, and that there were no survivors.[18][19] In June 2009, Fifteen U.S. citizens were presented the New Zealand Special Service Medal(Erebus) for their work in the body recovery, victim identification and crash investigation phases of Operation Overdue, and resulting from the TE 901 crash. Those receiving the medal included LCDR Reedy Buford, CDR William Andre Coltrin, CDR Paul Richard Dykeman, LCDR William F. Ferrell, LCDR John K. Goodrum, PHAN Charles (Chuck) Hitchcock, PH2 Richard L. Horton, ENS George Mixon, CAPT Victor Louis Pesce, CWO Choyce Prewitt, and AD2 Brian Jon Vorderstrasse.[ In 1988, another medical evacuation to the South African National Antarctic Expedition (SANAE) Station at Vesleskarvet nunatak broke the record for time and distance in a single Antarc