m.mccann08 Posted November 22, 2009 Share Posted November 22, 2009 A-models and early B-models had a cargo door of the left side just aft of the crew entry door. From what I have read, there were problems with them coming open inflight and causing several crashes and were sealed up. Does anyone have any pictures of them opened up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC10FE Posted November 22, 2009 Share Posted November 22, 2009 Check out 3721d in the gallery. Don R. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ang012 Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 Early E models had them also Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donwon Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 I was at Sewart when one of the doors came open and A2C Gary Back got sucked out and fell to the ground. There were steel plates placed oner the latches on the bottom of the doors so they couldn't be opened. As I recall they were operated by a hydraulic hand pump only. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herkman Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 They in the main were a useless idea. Were operated by a handpump which was a slow way to open and close. We found in the RAAF they were seldom used and used to give false door warning lights. Also if you left them open when loading heavy items they would not close correctly and often one had to taxi the airplane to get all the locks engaged. We were very happy when they were permantly closed by a TO in 1960 I think it was. Only the very first of the E models had them. The concept was not a bad idea, but in actual practice there was no real gain by loading through them. We where more than a little wary of them as we were told that the airplane which lost the door, that it also came back and hit the No 2 engine and prop. Regards Col Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonzo Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 Guys, In one of my C-130 books it says that the first 8 E models had the side door. I do not know if that 's true but I know for a fact that the first E model has the door. 61-2358. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Wilson Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 What I had always been told was they fwd cargo door was there to help load in the days prior to the 436L system, less distance to have to drag something with the J-bars!! What did they do to move cargo on and off prior to dual rails? (other than winch and J-bars that is). Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hlg6016 Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 Not sure of the nomenclature, but we used roller sections (10'X2" maybe) that had what looked like metal roller skate wheels on them and would stack them up centerline in the cargo compartment when not in use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GVS Posted November 24, 2009 Share Posted November 24, 2009 Not sure of the nomenclature, but we used roller sections (10'X2" maybe) that had what looked like metal roller skate wheels on them and would stack them up centerline in the cargo compartment when not in use.We called them roller/conveyers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donwon Posted November 24, 2009 Share Posted November 24, 2009 We called them roller/conveyers. That is what we called them also. Skate wheel rollers. I think some were bolted to the floor up to the front of the main wheel wells. Passangers sat in the front part of the cargo compartment. I also heard that later on with the Dual rails the cargo was moved forward and passangers sat to the rear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F106A Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 61-0955 (3634) Photo in the gallery here too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 The door on 55-0022 c/n [cn]3049[/cn] had 128 internal wrenching, countersunk screws around the door edges and 4 lock mechanisms at the bottom which were tightened with 7/8" bolts. It was a pain to open and close but there was no way it was coming open. [ATTACH]664[/ATTACH] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John H Wilson Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 The very first C 130 without the front cargo door was 62-1784. It was stationed at the West Virginia Air Guard in Charleston at the end of the VN War, also with the famous 62-1787. It you remember reading the -2s many of the TOs said 62-1784 and up in certain sections of the TOs this is why. I believe it is still active at the training side of LRAFB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WxFE Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 When I first started flying, the 815th had 62-0360, -0365, -0366, and -0552. On one of my first preflights after coming straight from LR, I remember my IFE asking if I had checked all my hydraulic reservoirs. I answered yes. Then he proceeded to chew me out for failing to check the forward cargo door reservoir. WTF?! I was really confused. I was one their first "baby" engineers without any prior engineer time and they seemed to forget what a true newbie was (previously I was a crew chief on A-10's, not 130's, as another handicap). I tried to explain that LR never mentioned a forward cargo door, but I don't remember that mattering to him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmat Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 WxFe, Are you talking about the 815th WRS at Keesler? The sns look like the WC-130Es that used to be with the 53rd and 54th WRS before they were deactivated. I didn't think that any of the WC-130Es went to the 815th. But if so, the sns would be 61-2360, 365, 366, and 64-0552. The first three would have had the doors, although they had long since been sealed. I worked on all of them in the mid seventies at Keesler with the 53rd or on TDY to Guam to the 54th WRS. Being a MET/ARE repairman, I was with the 3380th AMS at Keesler and TDY to the 605th MASS at Guam. One thing that I remember about the WC-130Es and the 815th. CMSgt Joe Waller was shop chief on the Reserves side of the Met shop and he had come over from the active side when it had started up. I remember hearing talk that the Reserves had resisted accepting any Es. Best wishes, Grant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Railrunner130 Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 The very first C 130 without the front cargo door was 62-1784. It was stationed at the West Virginia Air Guard in Charleston at the end of the VN War, also with the famous 62-1787. It you remember reading the -2s many of the TOs said 62-1784 and up in certain sections of the TOs this is why. I believe it is still active at the training side of LRAFB The TO1C-130A-9 is another good source for serial number breaks beginning at 62-1784. Both it and 1787 are with the Little Rock ANG. 1787 is mentioned in another thread as being slated to go to the USAF Museum upon retirement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WxFE Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 WxFe, Are you talking about the 815th WRS at Keesler? The sns look like the WC-130Es that used to be with the 53rd and 54th WRS before they were deactivated. I didn't think that any of the WC-130Es went to the 815th. But if so, the sns would be 61-2360, 365, 366, and 64-0552. The first three would have had the doors, although they had long since been sealed. I worked on all of them in the mid seventies at Keesler with the 53rd or on TDY to Guam to the 54th WRS. Being a MET/ARE repairman, I was with the 3380th AMS at Keesler and TDY to the 605th MASS at Guam. One thing that I remember about the WC-130Es and the 815th. CMSgt Joe Waller was shop chief on the Reserves side of the Met shop and he had come over from the active side when it had started up. I remember hearing talk that the Reserves had resisted accepting any Es. Best wishes, Grant Grant, Thanks. I was going off of my faulty memory. Actually looking at my flight records (I didn't keep a personal log until later) it shows my last flight on a WC-130E was on 10 Nov 93. What's interesting is that the the 53rd WRS had been resurrected as a Reserve unit on November 1! So the WC-130E's flew with the 53rd again, at least for a little while. What's odd is the serial is listed as 553. Looking closer, I see 553 listed several other times. Was there an 0553 WC-130E? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdaley Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 yes 64-0553 there were 6 WC-130E's 61-2360 is broken up at the Aviation Warehouse in CA 61-2365 now flying for Snow Aviation in Columbus OH as N307SA 61-2366 turned into beer cans at the HVF scrap yard Tucson 64-0552 now flying in the Belgian AF as CH-13 64-0553 now chopped up parts in Tucson 64-0554 an Aircraft Battle Damage Repair aircraft in the Boneyard at DM I heard too that 62-1787 was going to WP Museum, what is it famous for? Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Railrunner130 Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Grant, Thanks. I was going off of my faulty memory. Actually looking at my flight records (I didn't keep a personal log until later) it shows my last flight on a WC-130E was on 10 Nov 93. What's interesting is that the the 53rd WRS had been resurrected as a Reserve unit on November 1! So the WC-130E's flew with the 53rd again, at least for a little while. What's odd is the serial is listed as 553. Looking closer, I see 553 listed several other times. Was there an 0553 WC-130E? Willow Grove ended up with the WCs for a little while, but I'm not sure what time frame. When the Grove closed, they were shifted to other places. I remember seeing a few at March last year. I believe they all ended up with Nashville in their training squadron to be reverted to slicks. Provided the money appears that is.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WxFE Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Willow Grove ended up with the WCs for a little while, but I'm not sure what time frame. When the Grove closed, they were shifted to other places. I remember seeing a few at March last year. I believe they all ended up with Nashville in their training squadron to be reverted to slicks. Provided the money appears that is.... Those are/were WC-130H's (formerly '64 & '65 HC-130H's), not the older E models that (some) had come off the assembly line with forward cargo doors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LC130LOAD1 Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 (edited) LC-130F 148319 with the forward cargo door open on the ramp in Christchurch, NZ in the early 60's. The three Navy LC-130F's still have the structure, hydraulic lines, pump, reservoir, actuators and locks. At some point in time a couple of the aircraft were re-skinned, you can no longer see the forward door from the outside. The doors were bolted closed (bolts through the door and door frame), the locks were bolted closed. Edited December 7, 2009 by LC130LOAD1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edlmann Posted October 23, 2016 Share Posted October 23, 2016 On 11/22/2009 at 7:02 PM, ang012 said: Early E models had them also We had 61-2367 (3712) and 61-2372 (3717) at CCK in '71 to '73. Both had sealed forward cargo doors, but the hand pumps were still in place. Come to think of it, i think other early "E" models had the pumps installed, although the door had never been installed. Aircraft assembled by a committee? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edlmann Posted October 23, 2016 Share Posted October 23, 2016 I'd also swear that I saw a Marine bird at Danang in the '71-'72 time frame with an open forward cargo door. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edlmann Posted October 23, 2016 Share Posted October 23, 2016 On 11/29/2009 at 9:44 AM, bobdaley said: I heard too that 62-1787 was going to WP Museum, what is it famous for? Two Air Force Crosses in one flight, for starters. See Spare 617. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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