1 if 4, Lockheed C-130 Hercules Sea Drop

I was walking along the cliffs of Dorset's Studland coast and noticed a group of men who were set up with some very professional kit for filming, when suddenly this Lockheed C-130 Hercules transporter aircraft appeared, flying low and slow, a few hundred yards off the cliffs. As it was passing in front of us, something appeared out of the tail end and as parachutes began to deploy, it became obvious that it was a boat. The boat very quickly separated from the sled on which it slid out of the plane and I noticed a couple of fast boats were speeding towards what would be the splashdown area. As you can see, the Hercules was not displaying any identification marks, but the CAA will give exemptions to the rules on aircraft displaying Registration and Nationality markings, for the purpose of filming (whether it be fictional or factual) so I didn't know what was the purpose of this exercise but out of curiosity, I walked up to the film crew and asked what was going on, to which one of them uttered the famous words that I never thought would be spoken to me in real life - "We could tell you, but we would have to kill you" I'm sure I saw a twinkle in his eye but, at that point I thought "I've got my photos, it's time to go"

Transport Dorset Studland Old Harry Rocks C-130 Hercules Transporter plane Sea drop exercise Studland Dorset

This image is available to purchase and is part of our Studland Stock Photos Collection.