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Tachikawa ???


Mt.crewchief
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I was thinking about old times again the other day, and started wondering why I don't see any posts by guys from Tachikawa!! I used to hang around with some of them when we would meet up at CRB. This is when I was on A Models from Naha 1967-1969. At the time the C-130 inputs were A Models from Tachi and Naha, and B Models from PI.

I don't remember if the Tachi birds left CRB before I left Naha or not! I do know that they and the Naha A Models were not at CRB when I started going back to there from CCK in April 69.

I guess I am probably confusing people with my dumb questions, but I guess the real question is ---are there any Tachi troops here???

Thanks,

Ken

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Muff,

At one time while I was over in the area (Naha or CCK), the Japanese were protesting something at Tachikawa and they were flying balloons and kites and whatever in the flight path at the end of the runway. It seems to me that maybe the A-models pulled out around that time.

I don't remember there being any A's from Tachi at CRB later in my tour at Naha.

But, then again, I might not remember I wrote this by tomorrow!!!!

Ken

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Ken you are right ....I have forgotten when Tachi closed down the "A" operation....but the 345 TAS moved from CCK to Kadena Dec 1973 then moved to Tachi in 1975 and are still there. The guys are probably too busy doing back to back TDYs to the sand box.

Muff

I beleave you meant they went to Yokota in 1975 Muff. The 374TAS And are still there.

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I was with the 776th which ended up TDY at a Tachi (out of Pope) from Dec. 1965 to (I think) April or maybe May of '66. We were held at Tachi 'cause CCK wasn't ready for us just yet. Don't remember much about Tachi, wasn't there a lot as we did a ton of TDY "in country" from Tachi. I always figured we were TDY from TDY. As long as I'm here, does anyone remember a loadmaster by the name of James Wilcoxson, he went by the name of Jodi. I sure would like to find him. He crossed over to loadmaster school at Pope in early 1964 with Sam McGowan and that bunch. I heard that he eventually ended up a FE, and obviously a lifer. Thanks....Chris

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I thought 533 was at Naha in 65 and was at CRB and was on T/O and hit a Mortor Hole in the PSP runway and tore the nose gear out.

I remember going down and getting some parts from a plane next to the runway and takeing them back to Naha.

Someone posted Pix of a plane but it wasn't 533.

A mind is a terrable thing to lose, I don't remember sex.

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  • 2 weeks later...
I was with the 776th which ended up TDY at a Tachi (out of Pope) from Dec. 1965 to (I think) April or maybe May of '66. We were held at Tachi 'cause CCK wasn't ready for us just yet. Don't remember much about Tachi, wasn't there a lot as we did a ton of TDY "in country" from Tachi. I always figured we were TDY from TDY. As long as I'm here, does anyone remember a loadmaster by the name of James Wilcoxson, he went by the name of Jodi. I sure would like to find him. He crossed over to loadmaster school at Pope in early 1964 with Sam McGowan and that bunch. I heard that he eventually ended up a FE, and obviously a lifer. Thanks....Chris
Chris, the only thing I have heard about Jodie is that he was part of the Stray Goose C-130E-I deployment to CCK. His name is on their list but no one seems to know anything about him.
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When 315th Air Division inactivated in April, 1969 the 815th transferred to the 374th Wing. The squadron itself inactivated in either 1970 or 1971. They started shutting down C-130 squadrons in PACAF in 1970, with the A-model squadrons the first to go. They also shut down some B-model squadrons along with them. What I've always wondered is why they kept CCK open instead of moving the E-models to Naha since the original PACAF squadrons were there. As it was, CCK was only open for another year or so.

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I flew in/out of Tachikawa many times. Sometimes as a LM on a C-130E but mostly on C-124 out of McChord in Tacoma. I remember well the baloons and kites. We always had to make a steep diving approach as well a steep takeoff to avoid the obstructions. Seems there were always protest at Tachikawa but don't have a clue as to why. There never seem to be any problems a Yokoda.

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  • 7 months later...

Muff,

At one time while I was over in the area (Naha or CCK), the Japanese were protesting something at Tachikawa and they were flying balloons and kites and whatever in the flight path at the end of the runway. It seems to me that maybe the A-models pulled out around that time.

I don't remember there being any A's from Tachi at CRB later in my tour at Naha.

But, then again, I might not remember I wrote this by tomorrow!!!!

Ken

I am wondering if you remember when this happened? I was at Tachikawa TDY from CCK from Dec 65 to June 66 (never arrived for the first time at CCK until end of June 1966) and the only time I remember about the protesters at the end of the runway was on May 1st 1966 and think it had something to do with Russian (Communist?) May Day celebration. I remember being told that a Flying Tiger or Slick Airways CL-44 had almost clipped the fence while landing that day and had scattered the protesters for awhile. People could get so close to the end of the runway because the runway divided the base about in half and town was just past the fence on both ends of the runway. I had a hard time getting around until I learned to ask if where I was going to was Tachi East or Tachi West. Lived in East and worked in West, so took bus from side to side at least twice daily. It was a great post, almost as good as CCK.

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I was at Tachikawa in 64 to 66 asst. Crew Chief on 55-0002, First trip in Country was 65 to CRB.

That was a 24Mos. tour. It was a good assisment.

Wondering if you were at Tachi in early 66 when an A model was being refueled after being in phase docks, left wing cracked leaking fuel onto ramp, right wing went heavy and tipped aircraft wing into ramp, cracking it and leaking more fuel. Fire trucks hosed down the area for a long time and I heard they were worried about Tachi city blowing up if fire hit the fuel in the sewers. I think I may have a picture of the aircraft in a hanger with the left wing outboard of #2 engine missing, but aircraft number is not visible. Wing was replaced and aircraft flew again as far as I know.

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Leland,

Check out 3039 in the gallery. There's a photo of 55-0012 from the Stars & Stripes. Is that the one?

Don R.

Don

Thanks for the info. That sure would have to be the aircraft. I just posted my picture of 55-0012 in the hanger in my gallery and the left wing damage looks to be a match. Your eyes are OK, photo is a little out of focus. I was told the accident was caused by the failure to remove masking tape on the tank venting and the pressure built up enough to cause the wing to fail. Hard to believe that masking tape could cause that kind of damage.

Lee

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  • 3 weeks later...
Mt.crewchief said:
I was thinking about old times again the other day, and started wondering why I don't see any posts by guys from Tachikawa!! I used to hang around with some of them when we would meet up at CRB. This is when I was on A Models from Naha 1967-1969. At the time the C-130 inputs were A Models from Tachi and Naha, and B Models from PI.

I don't remember if the Tachi birds left CRB before I left Naha or not! I do know that they and the Naha A Models were not at CRB when I started going back to there from CCK in April 69.

I guess I am probably confusing people with my dumb questions, but I guess the real question is ---are there any Tachi troops here???

Thanks,

Ken

From 1967-1969 the airplanes at Cam Ranh were As from Naha and Tachi and Es from CCK. The B-models operated out of Tan Son Nhut. In the spring of 1969 we (the 463rd) moved to CRB and the As moved to Tan Son Nhut. Then sometime in 1970 the As and Es made another swap, though God knows why. The whole reason given for the B-model move to CRB was that they were parts compatible with the Es, that and that we were starting COMMANDO LAVA. For the record, my first flight into the new field at CRB was in November, 1965 while TDY to Mactan. In February, 1966 after transferring to Naha I was there again on a two-week "shuttle as required" mission. This was before the Cam Ranh Shuttle started - it started a few weeks later in May. I was there from August-August, 1966-67 on shuttles (I was at Ubon May-July, 1966) and again May, 1969 to September, 1970.

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