gizzard

Hey, Sparks, I think most of us are glad you found this site, too. Seems like we are all just about alike. Sorta makes ya feel sorry for those who never had the 130 experience doesn't it?????????? I bet none of us would have ever predicted this, forty years or so ago...It is just a good thing that Al Gore invented the world wide web so we can connect once again. Giz

You might like this........when my daughter was in nursin' school, she worked as a cashier at the local Lowe's store, and sometimes she got to work in t he garden center and so on, as well. One day this guy bought somethin', I can't remember what it was, but it was big and bulky and he had this little car, wanted to tie the thing on the roof. my daughter says' oh that will fit inside." He says" No It won't." Erin, bein the determined hard-headed Irish-German she is, says 'Listen, my dad once put a bulldozer into a C-130. I KNOW I can get this in your car."" and she DID""""""" Maybe bein a trash hauler is genetically transferred sometimes??? Giz

I don't have grandkids, probably never will, but my daughter calls the C-130 "poppa's plane", and my wife understands that I have a mistress that is over 50 years old, ugly as hell, weighs probably 50 tons empty, and makes a lot of noise. They both shared my life at the same time, and what more can I say. And what is more baffling, I think that 4 years I had as a loady means more to me, in many ways, than my 26 years as a firefighter. Go figure! Giz

common story, i guess. I had a camera bag and probably eight rolls of exposed film "liberated' by one of our "comrades" while I was tryin' to get a damn howitzer out the back of the plane so they could defend THEIR country. It was hangin' on the upper seat support, left side, just forward of the paratroop door. That was my ridin' position most times.......boy I woulda busted a check ride for that!!!!!!!!!Anyway, I didn't realize it until we got back to NKP. Didn't get another camera, etc, for what ever reason, i don't know. Sure as hell wish I did.......That's why it is so good to see what some of the rest of you post. Giz

Tusker, you and I are cut from the same cloth. It sure would be great to have one last ride on that pig, wouldn't it????? Just think, maybe thirty years or so in the future, some commemorative outfit will be flyin' one, like the Collings foundation or CAF does, and people will say "man, how did those things fly."""" and we all were a part of it...........just like the guys from WWII and their bombers and such......... load clear Giz

caricatures, ya mean? there was a great one that they used in the flight safety newsletter TAC put out in the early 70's. ya old guys remember that?? giz

Maker sure the fans are turnin', too

This got me to thinkin', a dangerous pursuit at best. but here it is. Was there any specific pattern, percentage of colors, etc that were applicable to the paint jobs on our old Nam era Herks? Personally, I don't think they should have ever been painted any other way, but guess I am prejudiced to that time period. I do remember seein' some rather subtle and creative patterns on some of the Pope birds, such as the Playboy rabbit, a cloverleaf, I think even a form of the 'mud-flap" chick,on the engine nacelles. Just curious. Giz

Jerry,that's a hell of an idea. where do i send my check????? Tusker, never admit to bein' old, just chronologically advanced!!!!!!!!! Giz

OLD GUYS!!!!!!!!! OLD GUYS?????????????Hey, contemperaries, this guy is callin' us old!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Uhhh, just a minute, yeah maybe he is right!!!!!!!!!!!! But like Jerry Mitchell said at the 316th reunion, look in our eyes.........the youth this still there. I, too, thought my machine was goin' nuts. glad we are backup runnin'!!!!!!!!!! ROTFLMAO!!!!! Giz

Man, I wish we would have had digital video stuff back in my time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a fun record of life in the fast lane that woulda been. good to see ya postin' again, too, Dan. Hang in and get well!!!!!!!! Giz

Mt/chief, sounds like you are makin' progress. i got a letter from the maryland dept. of veteran's affairs sayin' they were 'working" on my application. Well, I'll tell'em one thing, I ain't gonna die before they finish it. I haven't had my hearing test or any of that yet. Course anybody familiar with the peoples republick of maryland can understand. they are figgerin' out a way to tax me for it!!!!!!!!!!! My wife tells me some of the treatments for Dan's issues are pretty nasty, too, so I think all of us need to give him a thought and whatever else your beliefs and inclinations are ever once in a while. That's the least we can do, and you can bet he would do the same for us. SEMPER POPULUS HERCULIAS!!!! Giz

Dan, you learned a bitter lesson, and am glad you are passin' it on to others. Hope they see what can happen. The current breathing apparatus worn by firefighters weighs about 25-30 pounds, more or less.It is awkward, bulky and a pain in the ass, BUT when you consider what all is in the smoke, dust and so on at a house fire, it is a small price to pay for protection. i was religious about usin' the damn thing, but there were times when maybe I should should have kept it on longer,. You never know. Sure hope you are successful with your treatment. Please keep us all posted. You probably have quite a struggle on your hands, but, brother, you have a lot of people out here rootin' for ya! Right guys?????????????????????? Giz

tinwhistle, it seems to me that many of us young pups were exposed to some really great older NCO's and did not realize, at least at the time, just what great lessons they were teaching us. Beyond a doubt, the best man I ever worked for, besides my dad, was CMS CHarles Regi. It was many years down the rod before I realized just what all I had gained from my AF experience giz

I can remember doin' a preflight with my FE 'cause we had no crew chief with us, but some damn good CC and Fe folks had taught me what to do, even watchin' the props stop at the different positions......No CC's were flyin' with us in-country, much, at the time. had to shut down an engine for some reason, I think we went to Ubon or udorn or some place' like that.All I can remember was that there was metal in the oil of the engine, not all of it,as I recall,I think we had sheared a starter and had to get a buddy start from a marine Herk, forget the dirt strip we were on......We flew quite a bit without a crew chief on-board, but we had many great ones that did. As for the deriggin' and clean-up, I think one of the last items on the LM checklist was to insure the cargo compartment was clean,and all the stuff stowed away. I know I always tried to do it. I can remember those red butt cans hangin' on the seat rails that hadn't been emptied in what seemed a month's worth. I remember one time, early in my career, haulin' a forklift, and all kinds of junk back to Forbes, I think it was, after one of the bare base operations. Must have been two in the morning, when we got there. had a bunch of aerial port guys on board, dead on their ass. You can imagine how many chains, devices, etc there were.The TSGT in charge of them wanted to have them stay and clean all of it up. I said "No, just hook it to places so it don't flop around and I'll put it away goin' home." I still remember the looks on those guys faces and how glad they were they could deedee mau out of there. Musta taken me an hour to get it all put back and in order, probably wasn't in full compliance with any checklist or TO. but it was the right thing to do. And I know damn well I got that back ten fold............that is what we did back then, nearly all of us. and that's who we are to this day. I wonder if they do stuff like that now?????????? Load clear Giz

Well, i don't think Don was the first FE, mine from SEA HAD to be. I believe he held a groundline for the Montgolfier brothers. His name was Bob Maloney, and he became the 36th first shirt, at least for a while, when we came back from our summer tour in '72. He was , I think, almost 48 years old then. Great guy, though, taught me a lot about the airplane that he didn't need to. He passed away about seven or eight years ago. Check set, Bob Giz

never shot it from the aircraft, somewhere else, welllll maybe! Oh yeah once in survival school and it sure as hell did kick............. Giz

Long way from the loady ridin' in the paratroop doors with a flare gun loaded with, if I remember right, a green flare. Is that right???? Did we REALLY do that stuff?????????? I think our arch-enemy was the SA-7 Strella. Some where here in my box of memories I have a "SA-7 Flight Examiner patch. remember those??????????????????? Giz

An old loadmaster finally retires, moves to a farm that once was in his family, in West Virginia. Does pretty well,keeping things working. One day a stranger comes walkin' up the road to the barn and asks if he could stay the night. The loady/farmer, always looking to make a buck, asks "can you pay anything?" Well the guy says "No, but i can make your animals talk and tell you what they need to make their life better." The loady/farmer says fine, not knowing the stranger is a ventriloquist. So he goes to the guy's horse, and the horse "says" I just wish he would get a new harness. this old one hurts my back and shoulders." The chickens 'say," We just want some more feed to lay more eggs." The cow "says ", " I wish he would warm his hands before he milks me." The old loady/farmer tursn to the stranger and says' Don't listen to them damn sheep, they'll lie to ya."

Ya better be there, Keith..........if not we WILL come lookin' for ya. Speakin' from my own experience this year, you will be so glad you went, and as Jerry Mitchell says, you will get right back into the '70's....... Giz

Rolled????? They gotta be flippin'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Giz

Naw, I didn't feel anything of course i was in my woodshop all day so I could have just even noticed......... Some people around here say they did though, of course after the fact. sorta like the psychic predicting Kennedy's assassination on November 23. hell I'm too old for my world to get rocked anyway...... Giz

Just got an email from my sister who lives in Richmond, Va they had an earthquake down there not long ago, Yeah an earthquake, bet they felt it at dear old Langley Airplane Patch. Maybe if you have any relatives, etc in that area you might want to check on them Giz

Ah, yes , Colorada, Rocky mountain High, Robert Redford etc, etc. NOW I understand............ Giz