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DC10FE

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Everything posted by DC10FE

  1. From Wikipedia: Tibbets returned to the United States in February 1943 to help with the development of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress. In September 1944, he was appointed the commander of the 509th Composite Group, which would conduct the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Don R.
  2. DC10FE

    AC-130U

    Thanks, CTII. Don R.
  3. This has been around for quite some time, but it;s still fun to read -- and sadly it's 100% true. Don R. The Age of the 707 (Go to the overrun and suck the gear up) Those were the good ole days. Pilots back then were men that didn't want to be women or girly men. Pilots all knew who Jimmy Doolittle was. Pilots drank coffee, whiskey, smoked cigars and didn't wear digital watches. They carried their own suitcases and brain bags, like the real men they were. Pilots didn't bend over into the crash position multiple times each day in front of the passengers at security so that some Gov't agent could probe for tweezers or fingernail clippers or too much toothpaste. Pilots did not go through the terminal impersonating a caddy pulling a bunch of golf clubs, computers, guitars, and feed bags full of tofu and granola on a sissy-trailer with no hat and granny glasses hanging on a pink string around their pencil neck while talking to their personal trainer on the cell phone!!! Being an airline Captain was as good as being the King in a Mel Brooks movie. All the Stewardesses (aka. Flight Attendants ) were young, attractive, single women that were proud to be combatants in the sexual revolution. They didn't have to turn sideways, grease up and suck it in to get through the cockpit door. They would blush, and say thank you, when told that they looked good, instead of filing a sexual harassment claim. Junior Stewardesses shared a room and talked about men.... with no thoughts of substitution. Passengers wore nice clothes and were polite; they could speak AND understand English. They didn't speak gibberish or listen to loud gangsta rap on their IPods. They bathed and didn't smell like a rotting pile of garbage in a jogging suit and flip-flops. Children didn't travel alone, commuting between trailer parks. There were no Biggest Losers asking for a seatbelt extension or a Scotch and grapefruit juice cocktail with a twist. If the Captain wanted to throw some offensive, ranting jerk off the airplane, it was done without any worries of a lawsuit or getting fired. Axial flow engines crackled with the sound of freedom and left an impressive black smoke trail like a locomotive burning soft coal. Jet fuel was cheap and once the throttles were pushed up they were left there. After all, it was the jet age and the idea was to go fast (run like a lizard on a hardwood floor). "Economy cruise" was something in the performance book, but no one knew why or where it was. When the clacker went off, no one got all tight and scared because Boeing built it out of iron. Nothing was going to fall off and that sound had the same effect on real pilots then, as Viagra does now for these new age guys. There was very little plastic and no composites on the airplanes (or the Stewardesses' pectoral regions). Airplanes and women had eye-pleasing symmetrical curves, not a bunch of ugly vortex generators, ventral fins, winglets, flow diverters, tattoos, rings in their nose, tongues and eyebrows. Airlines were run by men like C.R. Smith, Juan Trippe, and Bob Six, who had built their companies virtually from scratch, knew most of their employees by name, and were lifetime airline employees themselves.. ..not pseudo financiers and bean counters who flit from one occupation to another for a few bucks, a better parachute or a fancier title, while fervently believing that they are a class of beings unto themselves. And so it was back then....and never will be again! Damn!
  4. I was concerned that they were going to cut it up so that it was just going to sit during the non-fire season. Glad they can also haul cargo -- what a commercial Herc is supposed to do! Don R.
  5. DC10FE

    AC-130U

    The photo I posted is of 89-1054. Don R.
  6. Thanks, Casey. I guess it's just called "resistance to change." I know I'll figger it all out. Keep up the good work. Don R.
  7. DC10FE

    AC-130U

    Thanks, Bob, I got it. Now, what does it do? I'm sure it's some defensive array. Don R.
  8. Casey, I'm not sure if I like this new format. Like a lot of other members here, I'm an old fart and was very comfortable wandering around the old format. I'll probably get used to it over time. It's still the best aviation site on the Internet. Maybe I'm missing it, but one of my favorite things to do just before logging out was to check any new member's profile, if there was one. Also, no more signature? Don R.
  9. DC10FE

    AC-130U

    Speaking of the AC-130U, can any of you gunship guys tell me what those 2 tubes are for below the empennage? Don R.
  10. Does anyone know what the new designation is? It used to be a USMC KC-130R. Is it a C-130H now?Don R.
  11. Thanks, Bob. You have made me feel very old. Don R.
  12. Your profile doesn't tell me much about who you are or why you want them. Military C-130's or commercial L-100's? Don R.
  13. For all you old round engine guys. Don R.
  14. This subject may have been discussed on this forum before, but my CRS has been getting worse, so here it is again. What's the difference between the USAF T56-15 engine and the USN T56-16 engine? Don R.
  15. Interesting, Mark. I went to Rescue school at Hill in 1973 or 74 with orders back to Korat. They got canceled, though. Really enjoyed the Bat 60 trips. All daytime flying to all paved runways. When the 37th opened up at RM, they tied up that USMTM mini-rote. Don R.
  16. I've been out for quite some time, but I've never heard the phrase "cross-switch rotations." Was I living under a rock all those years? Don R.
  17. Yep, I was a B-52H crew chief at K. I. Sawyer AFB in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Never been so cold in my life! Hated it. Went from there to Norton AFB, CA. Paradise! Don R.
  18. Hey, its, did you check Amazon.com like I suggested? Don R.
  19. I don't think anyone would want to part with one of his books. I know I wouldn't. You can find some used ones on Amazon.com, but they're not cheap nor very up to date. Good luck. Don R.
  20. Thanks Fritz. I was in Transient Alert when I was there. Had my paperwork in to go to the 1198th when I got orders for Korat RTAFB, Thailand. The 1198th was no more by the time I got back. Did you happen to make it to the Jet Bar by the main gate? A real dump. Don R.
  21. I know this is pretty hard to believe, but it's true. Flying from Jedda to Dhahran in a brand new 1974 H-model, we got almost to 44,000 feet when a turbine overheat light came on. I must've gulped down a liter of LOX. I can't remember the AC's name, but, after getting out, he built a cement boat and sailed it to Hawaii. Don R.
  22. Fritz, just out of curiousity, are you referring to the far east end of the main ramp or the east end of the ramp by the end of runway 24? The reason I ask is because the east ramp by rwy 24 is where the Heavy Chain C-130's were parked when I was stationed there in 1971. Don R.
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