sailor Posted April 22, 2016 Share Posted April 22, 2016 For a book on a mid-Atlantic rescue,May, 1980, featuring the Skipper (Maj. Wm. F. Gunkel, now deceased) and crew of a C-130E, during a routine flight (Fla, to NC, for fuel, to Frankfort) that turned into a life saver. Author is looking for anyone involved in rescue, as well as much technical data as possible---avg. air speed during Atlantic crossing. Alt? Sailor EPIRB working only on VHF, usual to monitor that channel? Supposedly aircraft was first to show new desert camo paint job; after Germany, plane headed to spec. op base in Egypt, where she was thereafter based. Engines? Stall speed? And more. All help appreciated. Want to get this story right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMPTestFE Posted April 25, 2016 Share Posted April 25, 2016 I don't know anything about the event in question, but I do know that you don't mix "Skipper" with "Major". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC10FE Posted April 25, 2016 Share Posted April 25, 2016 Are you Rorey Nugent? I agree, you don't mix "Skipper" with "Major." The crew was Major Bill Gunkel (aircraft commander), 1st Lt. Ed Gallagher (co-pilot), Capt Charles Gaetze (navigator), SSgt Carl L. Thomas (flight engineer) & SSgt Richard McClure (loadmaster). The airplane was the 37th TAS' first desert camouflaged C-130, but I don't remember the tail number. The airplane was never based at a special ops base in Egypt. Don R. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Railrunner130 Posted April 25, 2016 Share Posted April 25, 2016 I'm not familiar with that particular incident, but IIRC there was a rescue at sea facilitated by a KY ANG crew in 2002-ish. A Cessna 172 had to ditch at sea between Lajes and mainland Portugal after running out of fuel. The crew dropped some survival gear and stayed on station long enough for a P-3 to take over top cover until a ship was able to pick up the pilot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sailor Posted April 25, 2016 Author Share Posted April 25, 2016 To Don R. Thanks for the information. I am that sailor, Rory Nugent, and I want to get things right. I got to know Gunkel well before he died, but he always shied away from talking about his role in the rescue. So we talked about most anything else. For a new book, I'd like to set the scene as well as possible inside the aircraft when the first EPIRB signal was detected, then silence (the EPIRB was malfunctioning and/or low on battery juice), then picked up, lost, over and over, until the loadmaster sighted the wreck. Also, I'm looking for basic info on C-130 flights over Atlantic. Speed. Altitude. What a pilot would hear through earphones? would Lajes be a mandatory stop? What would the crew normally be doing, say, 350 miles out of Lajes? Reading? And more ?????s. Don, were you involved in the rescue? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sailor Posted April 26, 2016 Author Share Posted April 26, 2016 21 hours ago, DC10FE said: Are you Rorey Nugent? I agree, you don't mix "Skipper" with "Major." The crew was Major Bill Gunkel (aircraft commander), 1st Lt. Ed Gallagher (co-pilot), Capt Charles Gaetze (navigator), SSgt Carl L. Thomas (flight engineer) & SSgt Richard McClure (loadmaster). The airplane was the 37th TAS' first desert camouflaged C-130, but I don't remember the tail number. The airplane was never based at a special ops base in Egypt. Don R. I am he, I responded below in the forum..Hope to hear from you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC10FE Posted April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 Rorey, Email me @ [email protected]. I have an article from the Rhein Main AB newspaper you might be interested in. No sense clogging up this forum. Don R. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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