Hercules cover art

Hercules

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Hercules

By: Scott Bateman
Narrated by: Angus King
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP 10 BESTSELLER

Listen to the legendary story of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft, seen through the eyes of former RAF captain Scott Bateman


Take wing with an unsung hero . . .

Hercules is the hero of the skies we never talk about. First to land in any combat zone and last out, the Hercules always unflashily gets the job done – whether that’s a risky air drop or hauling out troops in an emergency evac.
Also working as an aerial tanker, gunship, spyplane, air-sea rescuer and even a precision bomber, its versatility has time and again seen the Hercules give the RAF their edge – from Antarctica to Iraq, Afghanistan to the Falklands.
Captain Scott Bateman drags us into the cockpit and buckles us in for an extraordinary pilot’s seat view of this aircraft’s 50-year history.

Anytime. Anywhere. Anyhow.

'An engaging and revealing read' JOHN NICHOL

‘An action-packed insider’s account of what it’s like to fly this legendary flying machine in peace and war’ KeyAero.com

©2024 Scott Bateman (P)2024 Penguin Audio

 Air Forces Armed Forces Engineering Military Military & War Special & Elite Forces Aviation Greek Mythology Middle East War Mythology Ancient Greece

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Apache at War cover art
F-35 cover art
Chinook Crew 'Chick' cover art
Typhoon cover art
Hazard Spectrum cover art
An Officer, Not a Gentleman cover art
Vulcan Boys cover art
Eject! Eject! cover art
Buccaneer Boys: True Tales by Those Who Flew the 'Last All-British Bomber' cover art
Scram! cover art
Rescue Pilot cover art
Harrier cover art
Fleet Air Arm Boys: Air Defence Fighter Aircraft Since 1945 cover art
Canberra Boys cover art
Concorde cover art
Victor Boys cover art
All stars
Most relevant
This book describes what life was like working on and around the RAF fleet of Hercules very well.
It tells the story of what bonded everyone at that station in the good times and the bad.

Very well narrated and easy to follow even if you are not military minded.


Really enjoyed the book and it's worth a listen.

Worth a listen and throughly enjoyed it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Well written good story telling with an excellent narrator. Highlights from many years of service of the Hercules. I have read a number of books on flying and this is up there with the best. The writer covers other peoples events as well as his own. If you like flying books I would recommend this one

Excellent Book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Really enjoyed this series of tales about the many varied actions that the C-130 has been involved in with the RAF. Also interesting to hear about Scott’s journey to becoming a pilot. I did feel that some of the stories were a little over dramatic at times - however that’s possibly in contrast to other things I’ve listened to more recently which were more specifically related to military action with a high threat level. That said - any of the stories would be considered pretty dramatic alongside “normal” life. Some sad parts too as there are also recollections of tragedies and the impact they had on crew, friends and family.

Interesting stories if an iconic aircraft

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
As title really. The book flows and has zero filler. Lots of detail of a career well lived. Some excellent anecdotes, I really enjoyed it. Recommended.

A really fabulous account of lived experience.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A little disjointed at times due to the wide range of dates, actions and stories being told - it was, nonetheless a good listen to tales of this venerable aircraft - in which I was privileged to fly a number of times.
I found the Scottish accent of the narrator a bit grating towards the end - but all in all, as a fan of these types of factual books - it gets a solid 7.5/10….

A good sense of what it is like to serve in the RAF as Hercules aircrew

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews