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Flying with C-130 squadron commanders


alanwbaker
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In the spring of 1973 I was tasked to fly an out and back from CCK to Clark AB with Lt. Col Phil Reide the Commander of the 345. After a lunch at Base Ops were were strolling across the ramp to our plane that was parked on a hardstand in front of Base Ops. It was a clear day and Hulk hill was a poster picture behind our Herk. I gazed down the airfield toward the North and there was a lone T-33 parked on another hard stand.

I asked, "Colonel, what was it like flying the T-33?" Col. Reide chuckled and responded, "Jerry I don't know. I was in the last class at Vance flying the B-25."

FWIW I was in Vance AFB UPT Class 72-08 and during my tour Vance received the last T-38 off the production line. I flew it when it had about 25 total hours.

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Talk about enduring designs. Those T-38's have been flying for almost 50 years; C-130's for even more. By those standards the B-25 and T-33 were short-lived! I also flew C-141's and when those were retired they had 40,000 to 50,000 hours on the airframes--they'd earned their rest at Davis-Monthan.

Alan

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  • 2 weeks later...

Talk about enduring designs. Those T-38's have been flying for almost 50 years; C-130's for even more. By those standards the B-25 and T-33 were short-lived! I also flew C-141's and when those were retired they had 40,000 to 50,000 hours on the airframes--they'd earned their rest at Davis-Monthan.

Alan

Alan -- I flew Talon 1's with over 64,000 hours and most of that time was low level not doing high altitude strat airlift like the T-tails -- and some of those are still flying today.

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Alan -- I flew Talon 1's with over 64,000 hours and most of that time was low level not doing high altitude strat airlift like the T-tails -- and some of those are still flying today.

64,000 hours!!!???? That'd be over 1,000 hours a year for 64 years. They've only been around since 1965 which is 45. I was at Pope when the first ones were delivered.

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When they put center wings on it only 'zeros' EBH time, not airframe. The Talon 1's had new center wings installed starting in 95 if they replaced them again after that I do not know.

Most any any C-130 aircraft has currently in the inventory is 37300.3 hours and that is62-1820 currently in PR

bischoffm,

I don't want to change the subject, but where do you find out how many hours an acft. has on it???

Thanks,

Ken

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If I remember correctly, when I got to Sewart in 63 and was assigned to 56-468 it had somewhere in the 2500 hours range.

It was one of the lowest hours "A" there.

Pappy Hayes would put a red X on the forms if the Flt crew even looked at him wrong.

He did intend for me to learn what I was doing and I had to read every TO from cover to cover.

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