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84-0211


bobdaley
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Yep. I remember that day. I wanted to watch, but it was not a pleasant thing to witness. They cut her apart like a Thanksgiving turkey. Last I saw of it, the cockpit was laying on the ground, nose up. I'm pretty sure it was cut up, dumpstered and shipped off to a certified dump facility. (I wasn't aware there was such a thing.)

I heard a rumor (so take it with a grain of salt) that some of it ended up in a non-certified dump and the contractor got in some deep kimchi over it.

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It's one thing to have a bird recycled into beer cans that crew (air and ground) can enjoy later, but a dump? I hope every little salvagable part was stripped off her first. I'm sure the big stuff, engines, hydraulic pumps, etc. was put back in the system.

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I think Ralph (Sparky's crew chief) said they got $14 million in parts out of her. The good outer wing went to 207 and the tail (I think) went to 208. I know the bulkhead at 245 and the dual rails ended up in 1057. The bulkhead was redone as Ralph's tribute to 211. I'm not sure why the dual rails were moved.

I never did ask what happened to the fully inflated main wheel and tire that ended up in the cargo compartment. Strangest thing I've ever seen....

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  • 4 weeks later...

I was a member of the team that repaired the remaining planes and disposed of 211. The DANG was very hospitable in our stay there. The left wing was installed on 207 and the empenage was intalled on 208. There was also a section from about FS 230-330 that was removed and spliced into 212. The sheet metal guys did some awesome work. All salvagable parts were removed and put back in the supply system. I remember Ralph at 211, watching as his baby was being carved up. He wanted a piece but could not bring himself to taking it. He would mark something, the 3 guys would cut it out...he wouldnt take it. I have CD's of the pictures of all the damage on all the planes and to this day it is unbelievable that we were able to put those planes back in the air. I have since retired and now the CLSS is closed. I was proud to be a part of that unit...they had amazing mechanics

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I basically owned 211 for better than 10 years. I was deployed to Afghanistan when the tornado hit and when I got home she had been shorn up and pretty much a mess. I went inside and just died. We kept hearing they were going to fix it and we all knew better. I don't know who the fool was but her back was broken in two places and I have seen crashed airlplanes that looked better. I got to help the team take it apart and get what we could to fix the other three. The team that worked on all of them was wonderful and yes they kept giving me pieces and I finally kept one. I was given 1057 as a replacement and while a decent bird it just wasn't the same. I took 211 almost completely around the world and it was one of the best C-130s I ever worked on. I have a bunch of pictures I will post of a lot of different birds I have been around over the years. I think the count was ten dumpsters for all of it. Most pieces were about 4 feet square. We did keep a piece of wing for trining and ended up needing the barrel nuts on it to get 209 flying again after the wing barrel nut fiasco! So all of the fleet has at least one piece of 211 on it.

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