Mt.crewchief

Sarg, Thanks for the reply. I think will probably pass on the book. I flew 40 missions in 1968 as a load master/flare kicker and I never saw any of the guys up front come to the back of the airplane unless it was to take a pee! I guess maybe somebody would come back to look at something cool we spotted through the scope ! I know none of those guys never wore their chutes. (chest packs). We in the back, hardly ever wore ours but knew where they were at all of the time. Like you said, maybe the mission was done differently in the early years of Blind Bat!! Thanks for you input--also thanks for saving me the money!! Ken

The book is called/named "Blind Bat C130 Night FAC over the Ho Chi Minh Trail" By Frederick NYC, III It is on E-Bay for $49.95 + shipping. It was published in 2004. Do any of you know of this author or book? Ken

Bill, Are you in that group picture? Or any of the other pics? If so, point yourself out!!!! I envy you and your chance to do something like that. Are all of the other guys ex C-130 troops? If they are, sign em up! Ken

THESE ARE ACTUAL COMPLAINTS RECEIVED BY THOMAS COOK VACATIONS FROM DISSATISFIED CUSTOMERS : 1. "I think it should be explained in the brochure that the local convenience store does not sell proper biscuits like custard creams or ginger nuts." 2. "It's lazy of the local shopkeepers in Puerto Vallarta to close in the afternoons. I often needed to buy things during 'siesta' time -- this should be banned." 3. "On my holiday to Goa in India , I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry. I don't like spicy food." 4. "We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our own swimsuits and towels. We assumed it would be included in the price" 5. "The beach was too sandy. We had to clean everything when we returned to our room." 6. "We found the sand was not like the sand in the brochure. Your brochure shows the sand as white but it was more yellow." 7. "They should not allow topless sunbathing on the beach. It was very distracting for my husband who just wanted to relax." 8. "No-one told us there would be fish in the water. The children were scared." 9. "Although the brochure said that there was a fully equipped kitchen, there was no egg-slicer in the drawers." 10. "We went on holiday to Spain and had a problem with the taxi drivers as they were all Spanish." 11. "The roads were uneven and bumpy, so we could not read the local guide book during the bus ride to the resort. Because of this, we were unaware of many things that would have made our holiday more fun." 12. "It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England . It took the Americans only three hours to get home. This seems unfair." 13. "I compared the size of our one-bedroom suite to our friends' three-bedroom and ours was significantly smaller." 14. "The brochure stated: 'No hairdressers at the resort'. We're trainee hairdressers and we think they knew and made us wait longer for service." 15. "There were too many Spanish people there. The receptionist spoke Spanish, the food was Spanish. No one told us that there would be so many foreigners." 16. "We had to line up outside to catch the boat and there was no air-conditioning." 17. "It is your duty as a tour operator to advise us of noisy or unruly guests before we travel." 18. "I was bitten by a mosquito. The brochure did not mention mosquitoes." 19. "My fiance and I requested twin-beds when we booked, but instead we were placed in a room with a king bed. We now hold you responsible and want to be re-reimbursed for the fact that I became pregnant. This would not have happened if you had put us in the room that we booked." ----- End forwarded message -----

I've received many remarkable nature photographs over the years but this photo of a nesting Falcon is perhaps the most remarkable Nature shot that I've ever seen. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Nature is truly breath-taking! A FALCON NESTING IN A TREE

Damn Giz, you really know your stuff!! I already knew all of that---I was just checking to see if you knew! Ken

Sonny, Keep up the good work!! Ken

mongo, Have you gone on your road trip yet? According to the map, the closest one to me would be in Wyoming. I would drive several hundred miles just to look at one & take pics of it! Ken

Was halon the ingredients in those little brass fire extinguisher bottles that were on my planes in the late 60's and early 70's? I remember on Jan 1st. 1968 in Katum I stood by with one of those little farts while we started the GTC right on top of a lake of JP-4. I was thinking "yeh right" . No fire got started and I didn't have to use the extinguisher. Would it have done any good? I know I was planning on doing what NATOPS1 said!!!! I'll never forget the good old days, Ken

Thanks for sharing that with us Giz, Sparks, I am keeping your son and your family in my thoughts and hoping that every thing comes out okay! Like Giz said, "you ain't alone" Ken

Thanks 696574CC, That is just the stuff I was looking for! I just knew the C-130 would have seen action in that war!!! Did any of you guys ever spend any time on the ground in Bosnia? It's kind of funny, but I just finished reading a book about a guy that bicycled from London to Brindisi. Now I get an idea what it looks like there! Thanks, Ken

This Really Exists: Giant Concrete Arrows That Point a Way Across America. Cement Arrows, Transcontinental Air Mail Route Courtesy of Aviation Archaeological Investigation & Research Every so often, usually in the vast deserts of the American Southwest, a hiker or a backpacker will run across something puzzling: a concrete arrow, as much as seventy feet in length, just sitting in the middle of scrub-covered nowhere. What are these giant arrows? Some kind of surveying mark? Landing beacons for flying saucers? Earth's turn signals? No, it's. The Transcontinental Air Mail Route http://www.cntraveler.com/dam/daily-traveler/2013/06/transconti A re-creation of a 1920s map showing the route of airmail planes; the dots are intermediate stops along the course. On August 20, 1920, the United States opened its first coast-to-coast airmail delivery route, just 60 years after the Pony Express closed up shop. There were no good aviation charts in those days, so pilots had to eyeball their way across the country using landmarks. This meant that flying in bad weather was difficult, and night flying was just about impossible. The Postal Service solved the problem with the worlds first ground-based civilian navigation system: a series of lit beacons that would extend from New York to San Francisco. Every ten miles, pilots would pass a bright yellow concrete arrow. Each arrow would be surmounted by a 51-foot steel tower and lit by a million-candlepower rotating beacon. (A generator shed at the tail of each arrow powered the beacon). Now mail could get from the Atlantic to the Pacific not in a matter of weeks, but in just 30 hours or so. Even the dumbest of air mail pilots, it seems, could follow a series of bright yellow arrows straight out of a Tex Avery cartoon. By 1924, just a year after Congress funded it, the line of giant concrete markers stretched from Rock Springs, Wyoming to Cleveland, Ohio. The next summer, it reached all the way to New York, and by 1929 it spanned the continent uninterrupted, the envy of postal systems worldwide. Radio and radar are, of course, infinitely less cool than a concrete Yellow Brick Road from sea to shining sea, but I think we all know how this story ends. New advances in communication and navigation technology made the big arrows obsolete, and the Commerce Department decommissioned the beacons in the 1940s. The steel towers were torn down and went to the war effort. But the hundreds of arrows remain. Their yellow paint is gone, their concrete cracks a little more with every winter frost, and no one crosses their path much, except for coyotes and tumbleweeds. But they âre still out there.

When Chris (tinwhistle) and I and our wives went to Yellowstone recently Chris showed a DAV card and we got in free. Also the ranger lady thanked Chris for his service! Posted this just in case you didn't know about this service of the US Govt. By the way Chris, thanks!! You saved me 1000 NT (I think) Wasn't 40 NT= $1 US dollar??-----I re-figured this and I think it would have been 625 NT Now, after editing this twice I am still not sure what I am talking about-- Help, I think am having a Math attack!! Along with a bout of CRS Ken

One time at Naha, one of our A-Models was grounded due to the flight crew seeing a rat on the plane. So, out came the rat extermination crew. An old papa san went inside and sprayed the whole thing with some kind of poison and the doors were closed and taped shut. Th plane sat there for several days and one day I saw the tape removed and the crew door open so I went in and saw the write-up had been cleared and signed off. It said "saw rat leaving the aircraft" . I guess "papa san wasn't needed after all!!! Never saw a birds nest, but saw and smelled plenty of feathers and guts in the intakes!!!! Ken

‘I Forgot My Glasses’ Yesterday my daughter again asked why I didn't do something useful with my time in retirement. Talking about my "doing something useful" seemed to be her favorite topic of conversation in many of our conversations. She was "only thinking of me" and suggested I go down to the senior center and hang out with the guys. I did this and when I got home last night I decided to teach her a lesson about staying out of my business. I told her that I had joined a parachute club. She said, "Are you nuts? You’re 75 years old and you're going to start jumping out of airplanes?" I proudly showed her that I even got a membership card. She said to me, "Good grief, where are your glasses! This is a membership to a Prostitute Club, not a Parachute Club." "I'm in trouble again, and I don't know what to do... I signed up for five jumps a week," I told her. She fainted. Life as a senior citizen is not getting any easier, but sometimes it really can be fun... l Just Love It… No virus found in this message.Checked No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com/ Version: 2013.0.3349 / Virus Database: 3204/6483 - Release Date: 07/11/13 ____________________________________________________________

As an old crew chief, how hard is the system to keep clean? You know, human feces etc. In Viet Nam, the rail system, at the end of a day "in-country" could contain anything from grenades to people poop and who knows what else!!! just asking, Ken

Oops I think I may have stuck my foot in my mouth!!! Don't you think our Super 8 here in Sheep Dip (I mean Columbus) is big enough to handle all of the attendees??

Good one Sonny!!!!

I assume the reunion you guys were planning on attending a few weeks ago was a good one!!! Am I right? Did any of you fine young gentlemen (you too Giz) happen to take your camera along? If so did any of you take any pictures that the rest of us would enjoy? I am sure a lot (most) of us would like to see them---especially the ones that are here on the forum! It would be like seeing some of you guys in "real life" !!! Thanks, Ken I still think it would be cool to have a C-130 Hercules Forum reunion in the near future! I will go out on a limb and volunteer Chris(tinwhistle) as the host!!!!! :D

As long as I have been a member of this forum, I don't remember any mention of the war in Bosnia. My question is, did any C-130's take part in the conflict? If so, I think it would be very interesting to hear some of your stories about what part you guys played. Also, if any of you have any pictures of your trips in and out and especially any base or off-base pictures would be great!! Also, was there any medal or commendation made for your participation? I would find it hard to believe that the mighty Herk wasn't involved! I remember watching the news when it looked like the first plane into Baghdad was a C-130!!! Thanks in advance for your input and pictures, Ken

Chris, I just got word that I am eligible. But, I have bad news for you!!! It seems you are almost exactly a year too old!!! Better luck next time!! Giz, I also checked if they could use you. You make the correct age bracket, but you live too far away!! They are a little short on "travel pay" money!! Sorry guys, Ken

Do you suppose they would hire "old farts" ????

Going wireless? After having dug to a depth of 10 feet last year outside of New York City , New York scientists found traces of copper cable dating back 100 years. They came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 100 years ago. Not to be outdone by the New Yorkers, in the weeks that followed, a Los Angeles ,California archaeologist dug to a depth of 20 feet somewhere just outside Oceanside. Shortly after, a story in the LA Times read: " California archaeologists report a finding of 200 year old copper cable, have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech communications network a hundred years earlier than the New Yorkers." One week later, a local newspaper in Dillon, Montana reported the following: "After digging down about 30 feet deep in his pasture near the community of Twin Bridges, Montana, Jacob, a self-taught archaeologist and cattleman, reported that he found absolutely nothing. Jacob has therefore concluded that 300 years ago, Montana had already gone wireless". Just makes a person proud to be from Montana doesn't it?

Herky Lurker, a reunion to beat all reunions!!! Would have to be at least a week long event. I have enough of my own (most true) to last most of a week. Of course the best part of these stories would be waiting for someone to call a "bullshit" on one or two of them!!!! I'm sure Gizz could supply some of his "early American tongue lube"!! Now I have to figure out how I can beat some of my travel phobia. Chris knows what I mean!! I wouldn't be surprised to see faces I know but have no name for!! Ken

Yep, that about sums it up!! :)