INS/Dopplertroop

How about ABDR Aircraft Battle Damage Repair. C-5's had a -39 Tech Order. Robins CLSS unit are the pros on aircraft recovery.

C-130.........T.O. 1C-130A-39 ABDR

AMC C-5's had both an MEL Minimum Equipment Listing and a Battlefield Repair Manual. I remember assisting in updating both for avionics at different times over the years. The MEL was a Major Command document as I recall and the Repair Manual was a Tech order but I don't recall the number right this moment. I imagine C-130's should have something similar. Tiny Clark should know.

Have seen more than one instrument tech clear an internally fogged HSI or ADI with that handy lamp.

On a dark night, good for seeing wire numbers better in a pinch. Had to be careful not to leave it on too long though.

Long, long night. They really suck when your out in the boondocks.

I've seen work around fixes like that just moved to the K until the next PDM input, which could end up being years off.

Scuttlebutt I heard while at Marietta plant (C-5 side) was that they struggled terribly with getting the software right (J and AMP).

Speaking of your Mildenhall ROTE brings an unusual one to mind. On my second TAC Mildenhall rotation (1973), with the Langley 316th, had a post flight writeup for no Doppler RADAR lockon entire flight. Surprised to find both IF cables to the RT-625 just dangling disconnected (easy fix, quick night) ops ck on tester good. Plane flew the next day and came back with a repeat no Doppler lock entire flight. Found same two RT IF cables dangling. This time they had been ripped out of the back of their connectors. No easy task with quarter inch shielded cable. Well, no quick job this time. Curious. Inadvertently catching a combat boot while crawling into the "hell hole" may pull one out, but ripping both out had to have been intentional. Aircraft back on the schedule by morning, took it's scheduled mission to be downrange for awhile. Evidently someone didn't want that aircraft, or their crew, to leave England. Hindsight...either some guy wanted to stay with his girlfriend or maybe some dude was smuggling and wanted the aircraft disabled until they could get to their stash.

The instructors who claimed we wouldn't see what we were taught were mostly the A1C's who went straight from tech school to Academic Instructors School. Some never saw the field. Other Buck Sgts were only in the field a short time. Regardless, it was valuable stuff because WAPS SKT Tests were written from the Tech School course material.

Yeah, they just loved shocking newbies with that capacitor. They'd probably get Article 15's for that today. Not PC. Safety first and all.

You might not believe this but "bit buckets" actually exisited and I cleaned them out regularly.

While an ART in the Dover AFB Computer Shop, I worked the C-5's Inertial Doppler Nav Equip (IDNE) System in-shop. Each Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) had to have a data tape with it's own particular instrument constants for gyro biasing, platform drift rates, etc. This data stayed with the IMU and was loaded into the Nav Computers on the aircraft when installed. The data tape was ten foot or so and was punched on a mylar (metallic) tape. Each whole represented a bit of data. Well, all of the punched bits collected in the test station's "bit bucket" which regularly required cleaning. Word of advice, never get the bits on you cause they're a bit-h to get off.

I was TDY to Lowry in the early/mid 90's for a two month school on the F-16's AIS Computer/Inertial Test Station. Loved the Base and Denver.

Yea 68-69, Gary's cruder version is the resistor color code that got burned into my memory at Alley Hall. And how about those colossal vacuum tube o'scopes most of us saw our very first lissajous waves on?

You know, I returned to Dolan Hall in 85 or 86 for a Delco factory course on their Carousel INS. You know those concrete stairs to the second floor had big worn divits from all of the thousands and thousands of airmen that had climbed them. If you didn't stay in the foot holes you could easily get tripped up. Oh they were throwing another layer of tar on the flat roof though. Fumed us out of class one day. The old WWII open bay barrack (3478th sqdn) I spent 10 months of 1969 in was a basketball court behind the new Muse Manor in 1985.

I can still smell the Magnolia brushes....or maybe that was back bay swamp gas.

Also remember, before maintenance troops finished processing out, we were required to turn in the 50 yards of flightline and two buckets of prop wash that the more senior students sent all newbies after in Tech School.

If GPS is so good, why do we still need the ADF?

Backup.......afraid that Mother-of-All Sun flares will one day occur, knocking out all the orbiting gadgets.

I'd hate to be in the Space Station. Can anyone say "microwaved astronauts".

Geeeeze Tiny! Look what you started! Quickest way to a fight....talk religion or politics. LOL

Best - several actually Stateside Denver, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Atlanta, San Antonio, even Biloxi was fun at times. Offshore Mildenhall, Germany, Torrejon and Panama (both very hot). Even the Azores was great if you're needing some solitude.

Worst - Biloxi during and after a major Hurricane. Wooden WWII open bay barracks and latrines. Funny thing is even though the hurricane destroyed the gulf coast, these barracks barely lost a shingle.

Cam Ranh Bay housed in a closet. Had to shinny between the only furnishings, a standard old metal locker and a matressless bunk bed, Luckily I didn't get a roomy. We wouldn't have fit at the same time. Couldn't even bend over. Locker came with a rank smelling flack jacket and WWII helmet. Showers were open bay right where the house mamasan's washed laundry. I was too hot and tired to care.

I did the same thing when I got to the 316th at Langley. Got the shop on board with pulling all the Doppler Shop LRU's, during every Phase/ISO, for tube tests, power out checks, bench check, alignment, and a good cleaning. The results were really amazing. The very first TAC rotation I took into Mildenhall we had a 16 bird flight that had been through the process. We didn't have a single in-flight writeup until four or five weeks there. I initially had to listen to the Moldyhole regulars bitching about how all their work was on the stateside 130s on rotation and what pigs 130s were. Our rotation shut that talk down. We actually shocked them, so much so they gave me an out-of-cycle 9 APR. Talk about cleaning, on the inital pull the Altimeter and Doppler RTs were caked with dirt. Cleaning them out had to have helped alone.

Yes...Taya Village. About one third of the way from the gate to Taichung. I remember there being a big doglegged turn to the right before the main intersection.

Hey....Your an AFET helping keep the Air Force flying and fighting....that alone is worth the utmost RESPECT!

Tiny,

Wow..that was pretty cruel and unusal. Somewhat potentially lethal as well.

Hey I see you're an AFET at Moody. I knew ACC had a lot of AFETs throughout the "lawn dart community" (fighters), I didn't realize there were any on 130s though. I guess you're mainly with special ops birds?

I was an Avionics AFET on C-5s here at Dover from 1986 until I retired Jan 2007. Loved the job. Miss it actually. While we did travel overseas training and troubleshooting, we never had to deploy to combat areas like you guys. You really have my respect.

J Rice

APN-59 RT-289

Yeah.....that thing. What was the saying? "It'll knock yer d..k in the dirt!"

Gary

I recall someone in RADAR at CCK working an APN-89 RT and getting a hole arced through his shiney metal belt buckle. That's when we started turning them back under whenever we worked a bench.

APN-147 Freq Tracker power supplies used to grab us. It felt as though the damn thing was holding you and didn't want to let go.

I thought Little Rock had some AWADS birds early 70's. I just remember being on a TAC rotation (with the 316th TAW Langley birds) at Mildenhall where they began knocking out hole in Avionics to put a door large enough for the ASN-24 Test Station Little Rock AWADS was bring on the following rotation.

For anyone interested there are several other Taiwan/US Forces related sites:

US Taiwan Defense Command --- ustdc.blogspot.com

Taipei Air Station --- taipeiairstation.blogspot.com

Shulinkou Air Station --- shulinkou.tripod.com

Vintage Formosa --- taipics.com

Terribly sorry for your families loss and long suffering wait to know. But we all are Thankful and grateful to you, your family, and most especially to your Uncle for his unselfish sacrifice.

Jerry Rice

Hey Bobby,

I don't recognize any of the names you're looking for, but would probably know them to see them. I was a Doppler RADAR troop at CCK 69 thru 72. Got there out of Tech school as an A1C, then made buck Sgt, and then SSGT while on leave enroute to PCS late 72.

Maybe you remember SMS Tom Cowper Maint. Control, Charlie Brown. Of course my world was AMS folks. Some AMS names are Russ Wilsey, SSg Tom Hopen, SSg Hoffman, Closman, Anderson, Phillips, TSg Zaroff, MSg Ziegler, TSg Denning QA.

There's also a CCKAB vet group page under member groups above, You may want to see who's there and sign on too. If you've got any old photos or stories you're welcome to load them up.

Anyway, welcome and good luck finding them. I've had some luck with finding cck friends on facebook and classmates.

Later

Jerry Rice

Outstanding and congratulations to daughter and mom and dad. That's the one thing that can surely fix the Force. Good airmen and women decended from good airmen and women, good roots.

Enjoy the "ride"! There will be trials, but they will end up being a part of the fun and fond memories. There's a reason so many great guys and gals stick till retirement. And make the best of wherever you might be stationed. Even a hellhole can have it's good side.

Tiny you were spot-on about basic. If every young person experienced what Basic training taught, this would be a completely different society today.

Thanks for sharing and good luck.

Talk about instant flashbacks...looking at the Nav's station I see an APN-59 RADAR scope. Canadian Marconi APN-147 (washing machine) Doppler Nav RADAR, ASN-35 Nav Computer system, and on the right shelf an SCR-718 High Altitude RADAR scope. All systems I broke-my-teeth on in 1968. Good luck finding parts for those relics. And why would anyone want to anyway. Brand spanking new and yet they outlived their technology and usefullness sitting in the Georgia sun.