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DanSachs

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Everything posted by DanSachs

  1. Was this the original ABCCC? The capsule was built it ~90 days for ~$90M back in 1964. That's ~$630M in today's Monopoly $! I, as a lowly A2C Loadmaster, was sent to LTV near Dallas to learn how to load the thing. With their help I wrote the "offishull" loading instructions, which I aSSumed would forever be followed to the letter. I just do not remember the tail no. At the time, the airplane was a Dyess bird, which was sent along with 5 others and 9 combat-ready aircrews to the brand new 4486th Test Squadron, of the also brand new 4485th Test Wing, at Eglin. I only flew a few test rides around Eglin in it, and the capsule was then pulled and set on the ground for some testing. IIRC, I got to sit up on the flight deck on those flights. That ended my association with it. Just remembered, we did fly it to Langley once, to show it to all the TAC brass. It was a fun experience, as TAC officers would come over, look around, and if they were the ranking dude they assumed their role as being in charge of everything. As soon as someone who outranked them arrived, they lost the attitude and just started talking to us aircrew like one of the boys. LTV installed 4 weird looking pods on the outboard wing sections, 2 per side. They had little propellers at the front, for self-contained electrical power (mini RATs). I was told they were to help ground troops communicate, as the dense 'Nam jungle sucked up their radio waves. The pods were supposed to receive, amplify, and retransmit their messages automatically, AM, FM and whatever else was being used. None of this was classified back then, dunno about them after they went to 'Nam. For me, 4 years was enough. I had a bunch of slides of it, but unfortunately lost all of them because of mildew. Wonder if anyone has any good photos of it. [ATTACH=CONFIG]2533[/ATTACH]
  2. Anyone know if this was a Dyess bird at first? I was a LM, and my crew picked up a new E model at Marietta, but I don't remember the tail no.
  3. Here's 4,000 lb. of sand behind an E model back in '64 at Eglin. We were developing LAPES, GPES and PLADS back then. We'd extract 6,000 lb, 3 ea. 2,000 lb plywood boxes. Started with little 15' chutes which took a while to drag the load out. I was a Loadmaster with the 4486th Test Squadron (4485th Test Wing). As per the photo, we'd get the chute out early, no reefing at first. IIRC, I'd pull the Dual Rail release handle on the green light. This pilot wasn't real good at LAPES, came in way too high, did a go-around. Extra speed and all that prop blast finally broke the extraction straps which were around the two lower boxes. Yanked the boxes out from under the top one, and I don't think they even hit the ramp on the way out. The cube box on top was an accelerometer. I took these photos with my first 35MM camera, only had a top shutter speed of 1/250 and no light meter. Used to keep it set for 1/250 and F5.6, just right for old Kodachrome II in the sun way back then. Sorry for the scratches in the first photo--crummy slide projector. [ATTACH=CONFIG]2529[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]2530[/ATTACH]
  4. Way back around '64, during "Swift Strike 3", we had to zip out of our temp. base at Walnut Ridge, Arkansas to avoid the "enemy" fighters. We landed along a road in Pocahontas, waited a while, and then blasted off--w/o JATO. Wish my slides hadn't been ruined by Florida heat and humidity.
  5. Only flew in a few A models (loadmaster). Got spoiled quickly by the much smoother E's.
  6. I was a member of the 345/516 at Dyess from '63 to '64, led by Lt. Col. Raymond Carleton (RIP). Anyone else here?
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