Fleagle

Can't speak to those years, SLCS & PEFTC were still taught when I re-trained `93. Those were both on the way "out" so nomenclature and rigging were still evaluation questions. The "Wedge" was also in the mix - last one I saw was on the parking ramp adjacent to the assault zone at KDYS. For the time I crewed Herks the only airdrop requiring the aft anchor cable supports to be lowered after the ramp and door were "open" would be as RavenFE states. BREAK RavenFE! Don't forget "tailgate" = "SLOWDOWN CHECKLIST", B. Tailgate Exit (1) Jumpmaster Alerted (2) Helmet Visor - Lowered (3) Ramp and Door - "CLEAR TO OPEN" (LM) (4) Aft Anchor Cable Supports - Lowered (If Required) (5) Cargo Ramp and Door Control - Assumed by Jumpmaster/Safety (6) "SLOWDOWN CHECKLIST COMPLETE" (LM,E)

5K straps lateral to sidewall tie down rings?

Man! I thought it was just me! You ever hear the line "it's time for you to go tdy!" or maybe "Isn't there a Pope trip coming up?"? (I was at Dyess at the time)... gads. Mt.crewchief - good to know I'm not alone stepping outside to look up - no mistaking the sound of a Herk! Rare here (KLOZ) but on occasion we'll sight one passing over. We do see a lot of 135 activity dragging t-tails, even spotted the ABCCC refueling last summer - but I'll take a Herk sighting anyday! Rowdy

Glad You got that thing back on the ground!

I was stationed there for 7 1/2years, jogged past the "A" more than just a few times. Never saw the interior - at the time the 40th was responsible for the Albatross - keys to the padlock kept at the duty desk. Albatross interior was in good shape aside from some overhead panels that needed attention. SO! Calling all stations - in one photo of the "A" there appears to be a handpump on the right side of the co-pilots seat - what the heck is that thing? Bert

Dan W.! When I arrived my first squadron (40 AS) we'd a 141 LM who'd retrained to the Herk after his first enlistment. He had one story where (I've no idea of the mechanics of it all) his aircraft was being serviced and something either failed or wasn't accomplished correctly. He said one of the service troops wound up soaked in "stuff" and the ramp a spiffy new brown stain..... glad I wasn't there! Greatest of days to all!

Dang! Never got to fly on anything other than honeybucket haulers - double up the garbage bags! No fleet where we're going! (and even when the occasion where fleet was avail - the herders either ignored the call or delayed a good bit) Then came the day when one of the LM's pulled the bag out (fleet said they weren't certified) knotted the top shut then dropped into the herder truck..... I had to "exit" stage left when the first hellfire call came back into the squadron - DO was pissed and I couldn't stop laughing! Beer, its your friend! Bert

Pat, I carry tinnitus 10% as well - not too sure how the "math" got "crunched" but when my med-claims were calculated by the VA the tinnitus was not in the final total for % disability. Good Luck ta' Ya! Break! rw605! I still wanna' copy of that patch! LOL! Fleagle aka Rowdy

Interesting looking "ramp" stand in - any idea what they may still be doing with the aircraft? Still some `cannibal components maybe?

Well - I only know what was going on one particular flight - Sarajevo bound, purge in progress. I was in the left troop door (we'd an ISU 90 in pallet posit five) leaning back against the thing while the purge on the right side was being called by that loadmaster. Felt the pressure in the ears and found myself bumpin' off the ISU. Nav was standing at the base of the crew ladder, made the call "whats that banging noise". Recovered and pressed on. I was later told we were on the edge of a fin stall - didn't sound all to spiffy a condition to be in.

While "racked and stacked" at the Kohbar Towers we always made it a point to swipe the crew truck and head over to "Lucky Base". For some reason the buncha' trailer doobers they pushed together at the towers was bargain basement stuff, sometimes safer to just live with the MRE's (those days what I wouldn't give for a C-Rat!). Last few years in the "war" I spent some time at Hurlburt - man was that really Grade A grub. Fleagle Oh yeah! Who's still got their P-38!?

Tiny, Our sincerest to you and family, we will keep you in our thoughts and prayers. Bert

Hey all! Once upon a "dash one", somewhere between Op Sups (post crow magnon, more like late Mesoic Era - we did have digital watches!) in the EP's for Emergeny Operation of the Ramp and Door using the Manual Control Knob there were a few words wedged inbetween the positions - "Deplete Pressure". We were of the understanding that turn to Posit # (lets just say posit one to retract the locks), aux pump "ON", (locks retract) aux pump "OFF", "Deplete Pressure" then rotate to the next positon, aux pump "ON" (ramp opens), aux pump "OFF" "Deplete Pressure" The whole "deplete pressure" thing occured as you rotated the knob to the next position - just listen for the hiss' as you rotate the knob. At the time I was on the KDYS H-1's. Don't even recall which dash one change deleted that out. Nothing like a new dash one OS & SS free! Rowdy (aka Fleagle)

Hey Ya'll! I spent my first 14yrs in the cops (Security side) - had to take a remote to get a BOP (instead of getting sent back to Grand Forks). Finally landed up at DM circa 1992. The Law Enforcement side "worked" the gates to the AMARC/boneyard. On weekends (AMARC was closed) I'd vol' to "take" the AMARC post - a full eight hour tour as far as I was concerned. They still had quite the count on the B-52D's ("Big Belly") waiting for the final chop. There were a few Herk's but not in lines - scattered about. The one problem we had was the furthest point of the AMARC from the gates were a good distance out and had a smattering of 707's from different airlines (no idea why - can' them for parts?) At any rate it was not uncommon to find homeless folks had set up a homestead, usually in the old airliners. Years later, after the retrain I had a chance to see the back 40 again - they'd cleared out most of the BUFF's and airliners...... I did post the pic of the Coast G. 130 on the old page, not sure if it's still accessable. Fleagle

Hey! There was nothing better than stepping to an aircraft that was in good order. Yup! I noticed it and later days I carried the "line" I'd gotten from my instructors: "There are trend-setters and there are [_______ ______] I'll let Ya fill in the blanks. You bettcha' it was noticed, at sign in when we'd see the tail # you knew what to expect from the DCC of that aircraft. Tango Mike for the hard work! Fleagle

Guys, My first into Teguch' the day prior in crew rest planning phase we had to head over to the sim to watch the computer sim (CVR/DFDR) of the mishap. I think it was just about over a year after the crash. Our frag had us into Norfolk (from KDYS) for RON then early wake up for first Belieze, then San Salvador/El Salvador and finally into teguch for the night. Had two other LM's aboard so I sat on the crew bunk for the landing. All very tired and one hell of an approach. It seemed to take forever to get the pallets off - they'd parked us on the "military ramp" (nice collection of old Herks and other aircraft that didn't seem that they were in flying order) The rep' told us all he had was a single forklift for the offload so one pallet at a time the lift made its approx 30min trip to the other side and back. Dang glad I had a 30pak in the cargo door, nice and cold - way better than the local stuff. I agree - thats one hell of a slope on that runway. Our driver to the hotel showed us where the mishap Herk came to a stop. What I recall from the "prep" video was after the first go around the checklist seemed non-existant - I wonder just how much rest the crew had before making the approach. My bad for the poor spelling - bloody got to dependent on spell check! LOL! Fleagle

Standing by for just what "TAD" is - don't recall that between the `79 - `05 window. I do like that "traveling around drunk" as well as "Alcoholics Moving Cargo" I'd pay for that patch! Fleagle

Here's one to snicker about - Brand new LM and at my first assignment KDYS. Was lined up for a Day-Tac with the typical training airdrop load (1 HE and 1 CDS). While we were signing in the conversation at the duty desk was about a Night-Tac the previous evening that put an HE somewhere on the installation but nowhere near to the DZ. That's the morning I first heard the phrase "bad bomb board" - my secondary filled me in on the way out to the aircraft about the whole un-fun process. Off we go, HE goes out first then after the next low level we work our way through the checklist with the advisories. "See and Hear" "Green light!", gate cuts, good roll and it's load clear. I started aft to clear R & D for closing when I glance back aft - there was this "weird" looking blob cargo `chute doing its own thing- drift'n where ever the wind took it. Got my harness clipped in and made it aft just in time to see the bundle hit - any other time I'd laugh..... We got closed up and took the aircraft back to parking where the riot squad was waiting for us - for a serious moment I considered not opening up to put the chocks out - That lil' problem wound up being one of four connecting points (not a rigger - help me out here) had not been attached and the other three just snapped. I spent more than a few days over at AD watching the rigging process and getting the nomenclature down. Another time while off station (we heard about this when we got back), the fire department guys were enjoying some TV time in the trailer that sat some distance from the assault strip to be ready when the assault trainer started bending aluminum. The schedule had one formation HE drop before the trainer began - here's the fun part `cause nobody got hurt - one of the HE's hit the trailer and cut it wide open - FCB write in, call for the fire department when ready for assault training......bettcha' those guys had to "dig" their way out of their britches!

Scoobie! If you leave that cover over the galley "sink" anybody aside from Crewdogs and Maint folks won't have a clue and won't press to test. - It's up to you buddy, if it's a long haul, take care of your cargo/pax - if its just a short hop (not sure what "Fleet" is dragging out these days just let them know your time down at arrival ICAO. Once flew a "pile" of PAX for a 45min shuttle, never knew I'd get to see the launch pad for the shuttle. Headed down-range one of the PAX made it clear that she'd need the bucket. Trash mover that we were (spent all our time airdrop training) we'd either have the "modesty" curtian tied back or just clean of the overhead and stowed in a door container. History now - and it was a great break to find out one of the "PAX" was a LM so we had the curtian up in short order. After that, lets just leave it to crewdog parlance `cause it was pure amazing what a great lookin' gal "created" - kinda' like a tidal wave - had to improvise as there was no EP for this - dumped the bottle of that windex (mil version) into the bucket, tied a knot then double bagged that doober and put it in the cargo door - The Lord was on our side that day, the bag froze in short order. Still can't believe that stunning crew-lady churned out those toxins. I'll quit here - the story is "sanatized" cause there was way more drama to the day - Fleagle

Congrat's on the FE slot! Now you need to start working on FE to CP (or other crew member lingo) One of the great FE's I flew with (I was LM) had a strong tolerance for flight deck buffoonery - one off station the CP (seemed like once an hour) would ask this FE where the "brick" was. It took a few days before the needle crept into the red - we were taxing back in (YPG/HALO school) when the CP asked the question one last time - I kept my piehole shut while the FE let loose (I'll "sanatize" what he said - you can fill in the blank's: "If it was up your A_ _ kicking footballs you'd know where it was" The following silence from the flight deck was great - I was laughing so damn hard I had to sit down for a sec. Best of Luck at Ya! Bert "Rowdy" Piper aka Fleagle

Dan! That pic Rocks! - I was still in the skycops 1992 at a remote in Turkey (Pirnclik AB). I believe Provide Comfort 1 was wrapping up and Provide Comfort II was under way. Naturally remotes where the Kurds and Turks aren't "Happy" with each other made the location one of those great "Garden Spots" to be in. My second week on station I was headed over to the cop shop when I heard a "drone" - sure enough it was a Turkish AC-47 (if thats what they called them) headed south to make trouble with the PKK/DevSol crowd. What amazed me most was how l o n g it took to pass beyond visual range. Dang remote was like an airshow anyway - F-104's, F-100's, F-4C's and D's. BUT! the one highlight we'd all hang on for was the day the T-Trot brought in grub and mail. Then the wait for the flag to go up at the post office! Fleagle

Guys! You might want to back-track this mishap - during my tenure on the early site and todays I've seen this mishap up as a subject repeatedly. From my standpoint - first base, skycops, just got into CSC after change over when the secondary net came up with the first news we had a problem. What I do remember was what first came over the net was "lost radar and radio contact, eighteen souls on board" I spent the next day and a 1/2 (security troop, we were teamed with a Crash/Recovery officer) out slogging through the mud trying to keep the local's from the mud hut town nearby from grabbing the few aircraft parts and worse yet the damn dog's that came in that first night - I've no idea what the dogs were after but there were only two reasons why. Next morning we'd an area with remains quartered. I will not speak to the conditions of the remains - That belongs in that time in history. Through my 26yrs in service, last half a Loadmaster on C-130's I flew with the 40th. My original orders were to the 773rd but while in re-train tech shool the merged the three squadrons into two = 39th and the 40th. Somewhere on this site there is one heck of a long thread about this very mishap. Beware of perceptions - unless you were there or were in direct conduct of the recovery I'm sure you'll hear "stories". From where I stood before going into CSC we had one heck of a lightning storm going on. DECCA wouldn't allow for us to take our weapons off base so in the case of the dogs/mutts I do recall using what I know now was part of a fuel system line as a baseball bat on the dogs. Again, check (search) the threads, I know this has been a common question about what happened - we were told it was lightning. Don't know the "math" on that because while flying into Sarajevo, Tuzla and a few other "garden spots" that we were struck a few times, saw St Elmo going round the flight deck window panels - best bet would be freedom of information act to get the numbers right. VR Bert "Rowdy" Piper, MSgt, USAF (ret) C-130 Evaluator Loadmaster

What the "sam hill" were they using the thing for? Took our overhead a buncha headache to get us a "load trainer" - one fine evening a trailing herk in a HE airdrop formation wound up with the HE extraction chute' and clevis (sp?) embed itself just inboard the #4. Investigation complete the load trainer (aka the "pull toy") went missing. Next thing we knew it was back on the ramp over on X-ray row with a "pet rock" in pallet position 1 and we couldn't use it for training anymore.........the mishap aircraft was back on line about the same time the pull toy got shoved into the flightline "corner" VR Fleagle aka Rowdy

Well'p Only suggestion I submitted was at RAF Upper Heyford early 80's - I felt like the only duck in sight during season. I do know of one suggestion that one kid made some good bucks off. North Dakota (I was still in the skycops then) there were different squadrons and sections to provide security when the silo was opened for maint. This skycop kid was assigned to be on site with the maint folks (part of that whole split knowledge stuff) While the maint troops where opening the "lid" (it was on rails, center rail was cogged so it could manually pumped open after the lid "locks" inside were disengaged. I'm sure most of Ya'll have seen what the old minuteman sites looked like, maybe even seen the old footage where the lid was activated and goes leaping off the rails end for quite some distance. So here's lil' Johnny skycop, sitting topside working on his box nasty when he notices that the chain link fence line in the path of the lid should it be activated would tangle in the chan link possibly dragging the fence along with it over the silo. His suggestion was to put two fence poles at the critical point so they'd flatten out instead of a tangle-mess getting in the way of the missile. Don't know what the amount was he got but the rumor mill (of course) was it was a sizeable amount. Fleagle

Coffee - well, when I re-trained out of the skycops (there was always one of those larger coffee pot doobers going) I was told by one instrutor when I re-trained (a former 141 LM) to treat any space A PAX as if they were family. I tried my level best. One fine drone (I was with the 40th at the time) we had picked up a few space A's for the last leg to AK. Need one of you FE's to 'splaine this a bit better - no underfloor heat and very little from the overhead. There was an elderly couple aboard that was turning "blue", I offered them some coffee and gave them my winter weight jacket to help. Told the pilot I'd be off interphone for a few then went forward to get the coffee - I know I can't cuss (on the board) and in all truth I don't know what language I was speaking when I went to fill the first cup the whole danged spigot departed the main container and I was getting scalded fast. Nothing near by to plug it with aside from my digits, had to yell up to the FE to pull the trash container out far enough so the coffee would drain into it. I did manage to get two cups from the "flow" before it went dry I wonder if I was being punished for something - LOL Bert aka Rowdy aka Fleagle