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Latest Update on RC-130A 57-0520 (Tanker 88)


jflimbach
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Some good news. After years of rumors that 57-0520 (ex-Tanker 88, ex-N138FF) c/n 3227 was to be scrapped, I'm pleased to report that after more than a year of hard work and flight prep, it's just about in shape for a ferry flight from Coolidge, AZ (P08) to its home at Williams-Gateway Airport (KIWA) for painting and installation of avionics and the A/A32H-4A Cargo Handling System (Dual Rails), etc. It now has the FAA registration N119TG.

 

For the past 20 years or more, it's been the property of International Air Response (IAR) and has been pretty much derelict. With increasing work available in oil spill dispersal spraying, IAR made the decision to make another aircraft flight ready, looked over the back lot and decided that Tanker 88, 57-0520 was in the best shape. i.e., had a good center wing box. The rest of the boneyard fleet (N133HP, N131FF, and N131HP) contributed parts, including two outer wings from N131HP (56-0534).

 

One of the major tasks was removing the built-in fire retardant tank and rebuilding the underfloor structure, then fairing over the drop doors on the belly. Of course after 20+ years of sitting in the AZ sun, all the wiring and hydraulics had to be ripped out and replaced.

 

I was walking around in it today and it's really close to flight ready. There are two more floor panels to be reinstalled. All four engines have been run but one had to be removed and has not yet been replaced.

 

Some pictures taken today follow.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]13001[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]13002[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]13003[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]13004[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]13005[/ATTACH]

Edited by Casey
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John,

You are a lucky guy, getting to hang around those old A-models. Hell you even get to fly in them!!

I suppose you expect to get paid too!!!!

Thanks for keeping us up to date with fresh & current pics of the old gals!!

Ken,

PS Just in case you haven't been back to Billings in awhile, we had a smoke free day a couple days ago!!! Didn't last long--several new fires in the last two days!!

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John,

Your comment about 57-0520 getting 56-534s outer wings caught my eye. I was the crew chief on 534 from the summer of 62 to mid year 66. Good to know it is still contributing. Am wondering if the the outer wings are orginial. As I recall the airframe would have been very high time. Sometime around 1964/65 the 322 AD had a big celebration as several of their acft. had reached 3,000 hours. At that time our acft. were approaching 6,000 hours. Our outfit was flying a classified mission so, of course, we couldn't beat our chest publicly.

In any case, it's good to see old war birds still hacking the mission.

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John,

Can tell you for sure that 534 was/is a FrankenHerc of the first order. What surprises me is the bird is still more or less in one piece. Would have thought that after 50 plus years it would have long ago ended up as something usefull such as beer cans.

For example, there was an AC generator on all four engines. The engine oil tanks were oversize. The crew oxygen system was liquid oxygen. There were two nav positions. The ramp and door had no actuators and in fact was only opened at PDM. The air conditioning system was one of kind. It had a tube type APN 99 doppler. Remember the freq. tracker has guite large and heavy. It was a difficult two man task getting it in and out of the under flight deck mount. All A II act. had two aux. fuel tanks in pretty much the same position as the B/E acft. However, they could not be fueled by single point. Had to pull the fuel nozzle over the leading edge of the wing much like a Goony Bird. This could be a touch and go situation when the wing was slippery. The acft. was equipted was an ECM system, don't remember which one. As is the case with all highly modified acft. none of our acft. were the same and the E Systems tech data was poor. So maintenance was often by trial and error. The one big advantage we had was our acft. were under the Big Safire (sic) Program, thus spares were not a problem.

The old units web site is www.7406 Support Squadron.com.

BTY, am impressed with your companys maintenance capability. Undertaking a major rebuild such as 520 is not something just anyone could accomplish. Further, in looking at photos of the company acft. it seems to me they receive a lot of tlc.

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BTY, am impressed with your companys maintenance capability. Undertaking a major rebuild such as 520 is not something just anyone could accomplish. Further, in looking at photos of the company acft. it seems to me they receive a lot of tlc.

They sure do get a lot of TLC and that is important to we flight crew! Particularly with some of the work we do with them.

This is at least the third aircraft built up from the scrap pile in the past 10 years. 57-0512 was first, followed a few years later by 56-0511 (N121TG, sometimes known as the "Bat Plane".) 56-0511 was built up for a test program flown mostly at China Lake and subsequently came into the airdrop fleet where its now the primary aircraft used on airdrop testing at YPG. When it first showed up 6 or so years ago and I walked up the ramp for the first time, I was amazed. It looked and even smelled like a brand new airplane. Of course I've managed to dirty it up a good bit since then, but its still our best flyer.

Interesting comments about 534. I'll have to take a closer look at it the next time I'm in Coolidge. Maybe later this week after we finish at YPG.

Edited by jflimbach
misspelling
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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 4 months later...
  • 1 year later...

Jim

Could you give us an update on IAR's current fleet?

Here is what I had.

N-Number Serial Number Name STATUS

117TG 54-1631 INTERNATIONAL AIR RESPONSE INC Operational

120TG 55-0008 INTERNATIONAL AIR RESPONSE INC Operational

121TG 56-0511 INTERNATIONAL AIR RESPONSE INC Operational

125TG 56-0530 INTERNATIONAL AIR RESPONSE INC STD at Coolidge AZ No Engines Still 131FF

126TG 56-0534 INTERNATIONAL AIR RESPONSE INC STD at Coolidge AZ No Engines No wings Still N131HP

133HP 57-0482 INTERNATIONAL AIR RESPONSE INC STD at Coolidge AZ

118TG 57-0512 INTERNATIONAL AIR RESPONSE INC Operational

119TG 57-0520 INTERNATIONAL AIR RESPONSE INC Operational

are 119TG and 120TG flying?

Thanks

Bob

I just saw that 125TG 56-0530 registration was cancelled this month.

Edited by bobdaley
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Larry:

No telling how original the wings were. Most of the IAR birds average around 14,000 - 15,000 airframe hours. Most of them are "FrankenHercs" to some extent.

The Photo Mappers have a good website with lots of info on the old birds at www.1370th.org

Thanks for the link. I sent a note to Jim as I have a need in my business to utilize old aerial imagery to locate plugged and abandoned oil wells. There is a lot of USGS and WPA imagery, but I have had very little luck finding old military imagery and I know there is a ton of it stored away and probably a lot which isn't classified any more. Sorry for the slight hijack of the thread.

Glad to see any of the old birds still flight worthy. Its my wish that I go before they all go. Its a tight race:-)

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

Keep an eye on Top Gear (USA). In January we filmed a segment for them at Coolidge, AZ using 57-0520 (N119TG, Tanker 88, et al). The plot premise was that these guys had been racing their cars across the USA to LA. They were running late so were going to be airlifted the last leg to get there in time. Only problem was that the aircraft had a HARD takeoff time. They weren't there so we began the takeoff roll. While we were rolling down the runway, they showed up so we lowered the ramp and they drove three cars onboard while we were whizzing (at 20 Kts) down the runway.

We did at least seven rehearsal runs and five or six actual drive ons.

Went slicker than a whistle because we gave a lot of thought about how to do it safely, and the maintenance guys did a great job of modifying the ground loading ramps to prevent damage. Oh yeah, we used four ground loading ramps so the drivers had a bigger target to aim at. Didn't want a wheel dropping off halfway on.

If anyone sees this episode air, please let me know. We'd like to see how it looked from outside the cargo compartment too.

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  • 1 month later...

Keep an eye on Top Gear (USA). In January we filmed a segment for them at Coolidge, AZ using 57-0520 (N119TG, Tanker 88, et al).

The show is airing this month on the History Channel. Top Gear USA, Season 5, Episode 2, "Desert Trailblazers". The last two minutes are what you're interested in. Unless you're a real nut on off road 4-wheeling of course.

Edited by jflimbach
correction
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  • 1 year later...

Tanker 88/57-0520/N119TG

She was the platform for filming the new NVIDIA commercial "Rule The Living Room From 10,000 Feet".  Shot last month and airing now.

Here's the link to the video on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZcQNb8_j0s&feature=youtu.be

I've dropped a lot of strange stuff over the past 52+ years, but this was my first "living room".

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