mayor Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 Just thinking back to my first real experience with Herkys. I think it was in December of 1970. Some of us from the Aerial Delivery section at Travis went on a mobility to Ft. Greeley, AK. It was a joint operation between the Air Force, U.S. Army and the Canadian Forces. They moved the Army guys out of the huts and into tents to make room for us spoiled air force guys. At one point, the wind chill was 116F BELOW zero. Ft. Greeley\'s ramp could only hold about 2 large aircraft and we were trying to run an operation with Canadian 130\'s and our 141\'s. One time one of our 130 crews asked to have something unloaded from their a/c. I went out there with one of those large, diesel, adverse terrain forklifts and started to unload. I asked if they wanted the milkstool under the ramp and they said it wasn\'t necessary. The offload only weighed about 200 lbs. This Herky still had the skatewheel rollers on it and the piece was sitting on the rollers. While I was trying to get under it, I was moving the blades down and this forklift would exert pressure down, also, unlike with most forklifts. All of a sudden, the loadmaster yelled at me to stop because the nose was rising into the air. I\'m still not sure if that was possible but he was certainly panicking. One other note on the Canadian Herkys.........they certainly were clean and spotless. They looked like they just rolled out of the factory. I\'m sure they never got the use that ours did. Anyway, anyone on here old enough to remember any of this besides me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagebow Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 Well i am now were near that old, i was born in \'71. However i have worked with the CAF C-130\'s and they have been worked hard since then. We (RAAF) worked with them during East Timor operations in \'99 and they were starting to get near 40,000 hours at that stage on memory. They were reliable but i do recall some of the tech\'s saying they were having structural and wiring issues due to age and useage. One aircraft did have a wing problem during the deployment, i think they got permission to do a one off flight to RAAF Richmond for a repair from RAAF Darwin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinwhistle Posted October 24, 2007 Share Posted October 24, 2007 ;) Gee guys, I really hate to let the air out of your baloon, but; the \"good \'ol days\" were a long time ago in a land far, far,away... Once upon a time there was an air base called, fondly, CCK, from that A.B. teenage crew chiefs and very young flight crews flew the s--t of of nice brand new E model C-130 airplanes. We did, in fact,in 1965-1967 set the standards that crews to this day are trying to match. Soooo, if your Herky Pig is old and worn please remember that she earned every ding, scratch, and dent. Not to mention all the (literal) blood, sweat, and tears that were shed in the old girl. Respectfully submitted...Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mayor Posted October 24, 2007 Author Share Posted October 24, 2007 WOW, you ARE old! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rivars Posted October 24, 2007 Share Posted October 24, 2007 ah yea...the good old days...runnin down to \"Bar Twan\", the Half Dozen, and of course the Dirty Dozen....all that per diem we got for going \"In-Country\"...flyin the \"Klong\"...having to crewrest at Bangkok...water skiing the gulf of Siam...Utapao beach...out door movies...ridin the suicide seat on the bus to town...don\'t know how I ever survived. HEHEHEHEHE B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spec13fe Posted October 24, 2007 Share Posted October 24, 2007 And don\'t forget some \"poor\" crews had to go out of country to the PI or Okinawa. Them \"good ole days\" is where this gray hair came from. But damn it was fun. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mayor Posted October 24, 2007 Author Share Posted October 24, 2007 Well, I never had any of those SE Asia or western Pacific assignments...EXCEPT for a 1 year, remote tour on Shemya:S to be followed by 2 1/2 years at TravisB) . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetcal1 Posted October 24, 2007 Share Posted October 24, 2007 The good \"ole\" days arrive when you see birds that you worked on are a static display at some base some where. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 Spelling is probably wrong, but what\'s a Taiwan Peecho; anybody remember? Are they still 27 cents a liter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiskeyglenn Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 That is Taiwan Beer, I think it\'s Pi ju, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graywolf Posted October 26, 2007 Share Posted October 26, 2007 Yeah, it was Taiwan peejo ..... think it was about 17 NT a bottle if you got it hot from one of the stalls in the market. [img size=200]http://herkybirds.com/images/fbfiles/images/C_130_ani_GW.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiskeyglenn Posted October 26, 2007 Share Posted October 26, 2007 By way Graywolf, we have 2 of the 776th\'s more infamous characters around here, Arne & The Preacher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutch Posted October 26, 2007 Share Posted October 26, 2007 :woohoo: OK! How about this? Were talking about \"The Good Old Days\". Lets see just who is the oldest one on this list. I\'ll start it off with the ripe old age of 67 soon to be 68 next month. I went in to the Air Force in Nov 1956 and was issued one peice fatiques. Any one beat that or the age? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mayor Posted October 26, 2007 Author Share Posted October 26, 2007 Not quite.....I\'ll be 60 in December and entered the AF in \'67. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Farrar Posted October 26, 2007 Share Posted October 26, 2007 One better. I am 73 and went in to the AF in 51. Was in Air Freight in Newfoundland. We were still tying down cargo with ropes, cables and chains. Went to Sewart in 53 and was a dromaster/loadmaster on C-119, YC 122 and C-123s. Went to EDF in 57 on 123s nd 54s. Went to MATS at Donldson/Hunter on Old Shakeys. n 66 got out for a few months and went back in atDyess. my last 6 years was on C-130 B and e. Jim Farrar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HerkPFE Posted October 26, 2007 Share Posted October 26, 2007 Your so right, I did not start feeling old till I visited aircraft that I had flown and they were static displays. I engineered the last P-3A (152152) to NAS P\'Cola for the Navy Museum. Still engineering C-130A\'s until recently. Anyone else engineer on KC-97\'s? Best regards, Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graywolf Posted October 27, 2007 Share Posted October 27, 2007 Whiskeyglenn wrote: By way Graywolf, we have 2 of the 776th\'s more infamous characters around here, Arne & The Preacher. Thought they had retired and were living on an island in Sun-Moon Lake!! Visited the museum in Pensacola last year ........... very nice. It takes a full day just to walk through it all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flarebird Posted October 27, 2007 Share Posted October 27, 2007 Ho,HO, I\'m 75 and when I had my 5 coronary bypasses 4 years ago the Doc gave me 15 more years, 4 down 11 to go LOL. I started out in the Army in 1949, switched to the AF in 1961 and retired in 1978. Life is Goood! Ralph aka Flarebird Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_John Posted October 27, 2007 Share Posted October 27, 2007 Rick, I\'ve seen you in all of those places and wondered about that myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crbchief Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 My \"Good Ole Days\" began at Dyess AFB Texas in April 1963, my first job on a C-130D looking for a hydraulic leak on 488. It was nice when it was turned into a -6, that fixed the ski leaks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 Started in the air force in 1954. I will be 72 in Nov. Was a Crew chief in the 815th and 817th in 60-62. The a FM in 66 At Pope The to ARRS in Nam in 69 Then Hamilton 70 to 72 Final tour Clark AFB. Gene Brinkman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donwon Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 I wnet to the PI in Oct 64 TDY and spent my share of time in the Dirty Dozen. We had to Island hop to get there and back in the A models. Several of you got me beat on age. I am only 62 and joined when I was 17. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muff Millen Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 Taiwan beer Peeju sells in 12 oz cans now and cost about 75 cents US per can....In Mainland China their beer is also in 12 oz cans and cost about 30 cents each. Man I did a bunch of those old leiter bottles of Peeju. Can you imagine all those bag drags to all those sunny sopts all over SEA and they paid us for that duty. Wow sure miss all the good old days but mostly all the great friendships we all shared. Anyone up for a black jack game in the barricks at TSN? Muff PS: I moved here to Smyrna Georgia this past June and I get to see and best of all hear the mighty Herk flying in the neighborhood out of Dobbins ARB love it.:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cobra935o Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 Maybe we need to start some kind of C-130 retirement home over here!! Just kidding, good to hear all the old stories, and such. I have been to most of the places people talk about, just from the 90\'s onward though. :laugh: Nathan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muff Millen Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 Jim I thought you were 73 when we were at Mactan in 67-68 Muff :woohoo: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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