C-130 News: Moody’s airpark gains retired C-130

[casey]

6/12/2015 - MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- Airmen from the 71st Aircraft Maintenance Unit paired with the 23d Civil Engineering Squadron to transport a retired HC-130P Combat King from the flightline to the President George W. Bush Airpark on May 14, here.

After multiple deployments with the 71st Rescue Squadron, the C-130 with tail number 65-988 joined seven fighter aircraft in the airpark.

"This aircraft was an important part of what we do here at Moody for a lot of years and it's ties to our history run pretty deep," said Kenneth Sloat, 23d Wing historian. "Tail number 988 has been a part of eight different rescue squadrons over the years. It probably participated in most major conflicts since the Air Force accepted it in July 1966, including being deployed to Cam Ranh Bay Air Base, Vietnam in the late 1960s. The aircraft is a powerful addition to our airpark and has definitely earned it's position there."

This C-130 was initially modified to conduct search and rescue missions and carry out in-flight refueling of helicopters and has a rich history in the 71st Rescue Squadron and will help represent another part of Moody's mission alongside the other aircraft in the airpark.

"The C-130 will keep the rescue side of the mission alive," said Staff Sgt. Jordan Keller, 23d Wing airpark custodian. "Right now all the planes out there are from the fighter side."

Plans to put the Combat King in the airpark with the fighter aircraft started after it was grounded March 25, 2013, but it took time and conquering a couple challenges before it moved to it's new home.

"The C-130 was originally scheduled to be placed in the airpark right after it retired in 2013," added Keller. "The wings needed to be replaced and painted, but the base was short on operational wings. It took six months to get replacements."

Another challenge in moving the aicraft was finding funding to complete the project.

"The original cost to place it [in the airpark] was so high," said Tech. Sgt. David Poe, 71st AMU C-130 crew chief. "It was about $180,000 to get the aircraft painted and get everything put in place. We didn't have the funding to get it done. [As a result] there was a lot of work done in house. One way we brought the cost down was taking off any parts we could and sent them out to get fixed. After a lot of help from the corrosion shop, the original asking price went down to $30,000."

Once the financial burdens were resolved and the plane was repainted, 23d CES assisted with the move to the airpark.

"The Civil Engineering Squadron had to come out and cut back some trees in order for the move to run smoothly," said Poe. "We started at 7 p.m., so we didn't have to close any roads. It was a lot of work, but we got it done. It was worth it."

The whole process, from lowering the cost, fixing the plane and getting it to the airpark, took a lot of time and was a collaboration between the entire wing, added Poe.

"We've had guys put in countless man-hours to organize this," said Poe. "The Civil Engineering Squadron was a huge help because they provided the equipment we needed [such as], crane operators and forklifts. We couldn't have done it without their support."

Planning stages have begun for an HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter to join the historic aircraft in the airpark sometime between 2017-2018.

View original article and additional images: http://www.moody.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123450823

 

 

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[casey]

As far as historical accuracy goes, I'm not a big fan of the gloss paint. However, judging from the image, that is a pretty slick looking paint job.