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New book "C-130 Crew Chief" Vietnam era at Amazon


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Think I will check it out as well. I have been with the C-130 over 30 years now and often wondered why no crew chiefs ever wrote a book of the adventures, but then, most couldn't write too good. :D I sure could add some funny stories. I have been truly blessed with this aircraft!

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Well, three days have gone by and I still don't have my book! :D

I was thinking my experiences probably wont compare to you guy's as the only place I ever went on a C-130 for 33 months was to CRB,Clark,Tachi,Tokyo, Misawa,Osan,Taegu Bangkok,Okinawa, & Ubon. Oh yeh, also Cubi Pt. But, I went to all of those places more than a few times!!!!

If that book would have been available on kindle, I would have already finished it!

Ken

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Well, three days have gone by and I still don't have my book! :D

I was thinking my experiences probably wont compare to you guy's as the only place I ever went on a C-130 for 33 months was to CRB,Clark,Tachi,Tokyo, Misawa,Osan,Taegu Bangkok,Okinawa, & Ubon. Oh yeh, also Cubi Pt. But, I went to all of those places more than a few times!!!!

If that book would have been available on kindle, I would have already finished it!

Ken

Ordered mine in paperback last night and at that time Amazon had it in Kindle. I was able to preview a few pages on the Amazon web site and that little glance tells me he was probably a crew chief. What I'm especially waiting for the book is to find out if I know the guy and if he mentions any names I'll recognize, as he was at Pope the same time I was.

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Got the book and burned thru it in little over an hour as it is only 100 pages long

. Fer sure a real crew chief wrote it. I had to keep looking at the name of the author to make sure it wasn't me that had written it. It was a near copy of my first 4 years at Sewart AFB Tn...the tech school on B-47's at Amarillo AFB Tx, (within 3 months of my enlistment) the class pic on the wing then going straight to C-130's. Also the 60 day rotations to the Philippines, him Mactan, me to Clark. Breaking down in Bangkok for an extended stay,him with an engine change, same here plus a prop change...how convenient. He even told about the misery of changing dozens of MLG tires with all the thousands of steel wires sticking out of the tread, with your bare hands (ice tires...in Vietnam, go figure) All in all a neat little book and to the outside world a good thumbnail sketch of what a C-130 crew chief did in the early days of the then, fairly new Herk. I give it a thumbs up. Bill :)

Edited by Spectre623
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Bill, I agree, the book has got to be a first as far as what a crew chief did back in the days!! But, it was too short!!!

I really envy the author in that he got to go all of those places in the world in 4 short years. I would have re enlisted if I had my first 4 years like his!!! I think if he would have made it longer and told some stories about the long days with no rewards (except personal) he could have added another 100 pages!!

Actually I am kind of jealous I didn't think of doing that!!

I think one of you flight engineers or load-masters should write a book. You 20 year guys could really tell some stories!!

I'm glad I bought the book and all of the while I was reading it, I though of Chris (tinwhistle). Do you know any of the names Chris???

just my $.02 worth,

Ken

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I have resisted adding to the discussion because I wanted to see unsolicited responses. I am very pleased so far. The book length was the result of the manuscript in my word processor that kept changing every time I saved and reopened the program. All the pictures would go away and the contents messed up. I panicked, and heving seen all the reasons a manuscript would be rejected by the publisher, I finally gave up and sent it in to see if I was beating a dead horse. I am about to start a second edition with improved software and a little experience to give me confidence. Thanks for the reviews (You could add them to the Amazon page also) I will get more active now that the acceptance of my work seems enevitable.

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I am working on a second, extended edition of this book. It would be a great help if you guys who crewed C-130s between 1967 and today could tell me what has changed over the years. When I got discharged it looked like the romance of the job was beginning to falter as you see in the book. Did it just become a job? Why? Did they stop having TDY rotations going on all over the world? Did they stop crew chiefs from traveling with their airplane? Did they train too many people into the field? This kind of insight would allow me to make comparisons and create a more historical background.

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Pope AFB 1963 thru 1971 464 TCW. If you were there during this period and crewed (maintenance) C-130s please send me a message giving your name, dates, airplane SN and TDYs you went on with dates (if known) as well as permission to memorialize it. The second edition of this book will include as complete a list as I can gather for reference purposes. (dates refers to calendar dates, not sweet young things)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Read the book this past weekend. With very few exceptions, that could've been a biography of my first 4 years in the USAF. The class photo on the wing of the B-47 at Amarillo AFB is identical to my class photo. I had to get a magnifying glass to verify that the faces were different.

Great book -- just too short.

Don R.

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