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New C-130 Book now released


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Hi, folks

Just thought I\'d let you know that my book about the 167th Airlift Wing, THE SPEED OF HEAT: AN AIRLIFT WING AT WAR IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN, has now been released.

The book is an oral history of the WVANG Martinsburg unit\'s activities since 9/11, with about 70 members telling their stories in their own words. It includes not just fliers, but maintainers, aerial porters, aeromeds, etc.

It\'s available from Amazon.com and other online booksellers, and any bookstore should be able to order it for you. It\'s also available from the publisher, McFarland and Company, through its website, www.mcfarlandpub.com. The ISBN number is 978-0-7864-3798-6.

My thanks to those of you who have already pre-ordered it through Amazon. I REALLY appreciate the support. (I think Amazon still shows a publication date of June 30th, but the book is out now.)

Meanwhile, best wishes and fly safe!

Tom Young

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Hey, thanks for the post....

To answer your question about the C-5s, our conversion is still ongoing. As I write this, I just got back from a channel run over to the Middle East, and the mission went pretty smoothly.

Of course, 38-year-old C-5As aren\'t going to have the mission-capable rate of the C-130 H3s we used to have. That\'s just a fact of life.

Also, something that surprised me is how different the C-5\'s mission is from the Herk\'s. I guess in my ignorance I might have thought, \"Hey, an airlifter is an airlifter, and this one is just bigger and flies longer legs.\" But the way we use this one is quite different. Long legs, yes, that are often through the middle of the night. (I guess that\'s why they used to say MAC stood for Midnight Air Command.) Also, of course, no more airdrop, low-level, NVGs, etc.

So we have a learning curve to climb, but we\'re getting there. I hope we can keep some of that C-130 camaraderie and mission-hacking approach. (No kidding, I once heard a C-5 maintainer say he likes C-5 crews who came from the C-130, because they\'re less likely to reject a jet for stupid reasons.)

Anyway, thanks for the interest. Best wishes and fly safe!

Tom Young

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I am a personal friend of Tom\'s and can assure you that his hard work is evermore present in this book. I couldn\'t put it down! Imagine having pen and notebook in hand, then walking throughout your wing and talking to the warrior\'s that make it happen......that\'s what you will get in his latest book.

Tom\'s other book, a novel titled Trash Hauler\'s Ball is one of my favorites. It too is a literary tribute to the Herk, it\'s crew\'s and maintainer\'s. I suggest that this novel should be on every Herk lovers mantel.

Great job Tom!

Kurt

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