Mt.crewchief

I am amazed at how much you guys can come up with in regards to C-130 missions! Is there a way to find out specific dates of missions in Viet Nam? For example, on Jan. 1st. 1968, I was flying on my acft. 56-475, and we were shot up at Katum! I was flying as assistant crew-chief, just for the hell of it--for excitement!!! We usually didn\'t go in-country from Cam Rahn Bay with our acft.

Any way, we made it out after plugging bullet holes in the wings(with fuel running down our armpits) etc. and after transferring fuel with the GTC blowing in the spilled fuel!

I am curious if that mission was ever recorded and if so, could the paper-work be recovered.

I am pretty sure the flight-crew got medals for that mission, but us crew-chiefs didn\'t know anything about how to go about getting any recognition! (As in awards and decorations)!!!

It\'s no big deal, but I am just curious!

The other crew-chief with me was Sgt. Lafferty. The main crew-chief was

Sgt. Willard. We were in the 35th TAS at Naha, and I was there from 1967 to to 1969!!!

We had thirteen bullet holes altogether!

Thanks for any info you may have,

Ken

Every year or so about this time of year, I get to thinking about the mission I went on described above! I figure after about a thousand new members since the date I first posted it, maybe somebody would recall this even happening!! I did go the the Maxwell website and got quite a bit of help but finally gave up when the researcher said there were no missions on record to Katum that day involving 56-475!

I do remember a couple of the flight crew members taking pics of the fuel plugging etc. but of course didn't know any of their names!

It was my first flight in-country and man I was excited!!!

Thanks in advance for your help ,

Ken

Not too long after I got to Naha in 67, I remember getting a paycheck for $293.00. As an E-2 I realized that that was more than three months pay so I tried getting it straightened out at the Base Finance office. After standing in line in the hot sun along with other Airmen and Officers, I got in and the clerks informed me that there was nothing I could do but not spend it all at once because I wouldn't be getting another paycheck for several months. Yeh right. with Naminoue calling etc. I was broke in a month! Thanks to the pawn shop out the back gate, I managed to make it somehow!!! Hell, I even learned where the chow-hall was!!!

Ken

I assume your friend 's last flight on the C-133 was to the "boneyard"!!!!!

I worked on them at Dover in late 1970--definately not a "Herk"

Ken

Montana had their first wolf season this year and the quota was filled almost before general hunting season finished. In the area I live in there was a quota of 12 wolves mostly in the high country and they had to close that season early because of the quota being filled!

Probably won't be a season for wolves next year do to lawsuits etc.

Ken

Thanks Ray. Great picture. I know some changes took place after I left in '68. They must have painted the tail codes differently because all the tail codes were white when I was there and each squadron only had two Blindbat birds. I understand they consolidated all the Blindbat birds into the 21st after I left.

Sonny, If I remember right, when I left Naha in Mar. 69, all of the tail codes were still white and just the bottoms were black! Later on when I went to Ubon from CCK, I noticed the Blind Bat birds were painted like the gunships with red where white used to be.

Ken

Appears to be a place where I'm sure many of us spent a lot of time while in Viet Nam. I got to visit Herky Hill at CRB for 33 months. A consecutive overseas tour from Naha to CCK made that possible!!!

I will post a pic of some of the gals that worked there soon.

Ken Carlson

Man, that chow-hall pic sure brings back memories! Mostly "midnight chow" !!!

All the SOS you could eat!!!! It was good too! My favorite was SOS over toast and fried eggs. And of course, all the milk you could drink!

I don't remember seeing any of the girls working there at that time of day though!

Thanks for the picture Will,

Ken

PS I had a pair of those cool black rimmed issue glasses!

I was 17 yrs. old and a Senior in High School! A girl came running into study-hall and broke the news!!

Ken

When I did a tour at Ubon in 1968 as a flare-kicker on a Bat Crew for 90 days, I remember going out to the plane to pre-flight the dual rails and as soon as I got to a plane that had ECM on it, I knew right away as there was an AP watching the plane and the Nav's table had a canvas looking cover on it! Only a few of the planes I flew on had ECM, but when it did, we usually went on a different type of mission/area. If I remember right, one of the hairiest areas was "Barrel-Roll"! I know that was an area that we didn't plan to bail out into!

The E&E (escape and evasion) briefing was usually short!!!

By the way, I was only a volunteer flare-kicker, and when I got back to Naha after that tour I went back to the flight-line and acft. 56-0475!!! Cam Rahn Bay wasn't nearly as exciting as Ubon by the way.

Ken

PS I posted a crew pic of my crew at Ubon, and am still wondering if any of you guys knew any of us!!!!---Especially Chris Carter. He volunteered also!!! The crew pic is in the Blind Bat forum!!! My avatar is a pic of me taken at Ubon beside a black-bellied plane.

I remember 2 numbers from the 60,s.

Mil-7808 and I think there was a

Mil-5606. Was this 5606 hydraulic fluid

or a figment of my old imigination? Did it

even exist?

5606--That's the number I was trying to remember!!!! When I was a flare-kicker on Blind Bat, we sometimes used to take the chute out of the flare cannister and replace it with two cans of 5606 (at least that what I remember). Boy, did that ever make a nice ground-burner!! Or at least that's what we reported to the AC !

donwon, thanks for refreshing my memory,

Ken

Dutch, what year did they start using those letters?

Don

I know they were using the letters and numbers when I got to Naha in 1967!

I was third wiper on YJ 56-0475 35th TAS

Ken

Leon, As far as I know, all of the Blind Bat acft. were A-Models from Naha!

I did a 90 day (40 mission) stint as a flare-kicker at Ubon and all of the ones there were crewed by friends of mine from Naha!

Now, I'm sure somebody will correct me, but I never ever saw one that wasn't from Naha!

I never did see the one that had the bat painted on it though!!! It was either earlier than Sept. 67 or later than Mar. 69 when I was stationed at Naha!!!

Or, my memory has faded some more!!!

Ken

when i was in me and my buddys always joked around about making a c130 into a night club,lol

My friends & I used to do the same! I still think a sort of outdoor cafe on top of the wings would be a nice touch!!! I like the fluorescent overhead lights and the flowers in the cargo compartment kind of make it "homey"!

Ken

Whoa!!! I just hit 100 posts!!! I'm buying all the Taiwan Beer you can drink down at the "Dozen"

Well I will take a pass on the 22 magnum, simply because I bought 12,000 rounds of Russian 22LR a couple of years back.

And canned food is a waste, check this place out and get your quantity long term food

http://beprepared.com/Default.asp?bhcd2=1254037181

Wont say how much I have but I will never run out of food, not with what I have set back and as long as I have a supply of ammo and the supply of piss stain liberals holds out, love that long pork:D

(this was the last family picture I got around to taking, family has grown by about a third since)

[ATTACH]471[/ATTACH]

Dan

Dan, nice looking family! I'll bet you have a bunch of 30-06 ammo put away to feed them!!

I'll bet the two Garands with the fancy stocks aren't issue!!!

I'm glad to see you have a 98 Mauser or two! My personal favorite!! Your family speaks several different languages doesn't it!!

Nice pics by the way,

Ken

Thanks a lot for the great pics! I guess things could or should possibly change since I last set foot in a C-130 39 years ago!! Now, I guess you know, what does the rest of the flight-deck look like? Is there still a Nav's table? How about the bunks? Is there still a gallery and gallery floor? Of course that was on the E-Models I worked on. The A-models weren't quite so modern!!!

Somebody mentioned a sextant awhile back. Do they still carry them? I remember them on the A's, but don't remember messing around with them on the E's. If they still have the sextants, are they still in the nice hardwood box?

Questions, questions, questions! The next time any of you guys happen to be cruising somewhere over Montana, stop by! I would love to take a tour! 40 miles west of Billings and a paved runway--long enough for a Herk!!!

See ya then,

Ken Carlson

I would like to see what everybody has to contribute! I will dig up what I have saved and post them!

Is there a way I can contribute to help pay for this?

Let me know how to do it,

Ken

Whoa!!! I had no idea that is the way it would look now! What's with those seat covers? I used to take the ones off 1804 back to the barracks and wash them! Are all or most or a lot of the C-130's upgraded to the modern style pictured or is that done on a select few? I'm amazed! It almost doesn't seem right!!!

I need to see some more pics of the flight deck in the daylight. Maybe that will help me get used to the difference.

I know hardly any of the planes look quite the same on the exterior anymore what with all of those protruding humps and bumps, but man what a difference inside!!

Show me more!!!

Thanks,

Ken

Thanks, Casey to the rescue--one more time!!!

Ken Carlson

I just realized I posted this in technical! Well technically they are nice views!! I was looking at flight deck pics and came across these of the clouds and approaching Taegu Korea (I think). I would move them to General or Historical, but don't know how!

Thanks for looking,

Ken

I have been reading the posts about which planes had the digital gauges etc. I didn't know the flight decks could look any different than this! (see below) !!!

If any of you have pics of the new modernized flight decks, post some pics if you have them please!

Thanks,

Ken

Nice pic Tiny, I have already forwarded it to some of my friends!!!

That's one of her best pics!

Ken

Wil, Just in case, I posted a couple pics in the CCK Alumni Post, I am waiting to see some of yours! Here is one of some of the guys sitting outside of barracks #336 or 338 (the one with the beer machine).

Ken

Do you guys remember the place we called Bar Town? It was on the way to the Dirty Dozen! It was kind of hard to get past it sometimes! Enclosed is a pic of some of Taya's finest!!

I probably have the name wrong but I think it was Taya Villiage and I just happened to wander by the local Fire Dept.

Thanks for looking,

Ken Carlson

Yes, there were many good times in Taiwan!!! Here is one for your memories. I used to spend a lot of time at the Bamboo Club. I thought I was in love at the time!!! What memories!!!

Ken

Awhile back, I was telling a friend (non Air Force crew-chief type) about all of the flashlights we went through and the ones that you could hold in your mouth while using both hands for work! Then I had a memory flash of the impact lights that were on the E-Models at CCK when I got there in Mar. 1969. I think by the time I left there in 1970 they were no longer in use--at least there were none left on any of the planes I worked on especially 1804!

Does anybody remember how many were supposed to be in place, and where? I do remember they were safety wired (copper) to their positions or at least the handle was! I do know that they made a decent flashlight! What do you supposed ever happened to them?

Does anybody have a picture of one?

I think they would make good souvenirs.

Ken Carlson