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Don't ask me where these came form, but they just popped into my head today. #1. anybody remember hearin' of a Herk, I think maybe a "B", but ain't certain, somewhere in SEA, Philippines perhaps, that had a fuel tank explosion caused, later investigation stated, by some bacteria or whatever gettin' I the tank? #2. I recall hearing about a piece of skin, possibly off a wing, that someone drew a circle in lead pencil on and corrosion caused it to disintegrate and fall out. Now I know I was juiced up yesterday with Fenegrin for an EGD, but I surely didn't dream this did I" load clear ( I think) Giz

My instructor in CTF, TSGT Prewitt, taught me the pilot-co-pilot thing because he said there was the possibility that there were people on either end of the bus that didn't know their right from their left!!!!!LMAO!!! I wonder what became of him. he did a hellof a job with me, I know that. Kinda related, I know some of you may not believe what I am gonna tell, but it is true>>>> At the end of my enlistment the 36th was on rote to Moldyhole, so I flew with 37 and 38 crews. We were settin' out for five hours around the flag pole, buttoned up, started to taxi, co-pilot calls clear right, and we start turnin LEFT!!!! Somebody, I think the FE said 'The other way", and still we turned more left instead of right. Went forward maybe twenty feet and stopped, called the fix-it guys and shut her down right there. Turned out the nose wheel steering was rigged backwards. Dunno how, but that is what was wrong....... I don't know if it was something the FE could have seen on his pre-flight or what,. I had developed a habit, due to another story, of checkin' the nose gear to see if the lock pin had been pulled before I got on board.. There was nothin' there wrong that I would have known what to look for.

Just another one of those real fun duties that a loadmaster had on the 130. Always neat to do it when there were people around not expectin' it. Did it once leavin' Warsaw, Poland. I don't recall if we HAD to do it or not, but my AC at the time, one of the best I ever flew with had us do it anyway. I can still see people wavin' their arms and running over to the rail at the terminal to watch it. I would not have been surprised if we had taxied all the way to the runway backwards............... Another fun memory brought back from the cobwebs of time. "straight back, straight back, a little to the copilot side, straight, clear all around, a little to the pilot's side, that's enough, straight back.' Didn't you have to move forward a bit, before taxiing, to align the main gear again? I recall something to that effect. Giz.

Hey, Bill, 'bout half an hour after I sent my post, i remembered just what you said. Of course the damn stuff was there. But I Do remember that write-up in the 781. I'm correct about that, I hope?????????? Now where the hell did I leave my shoes????LOL!!!!!! Giz

Went from Blue tail flies to BRUISED Tail flies perhaps? LOL Giz

Just to delay the onset of Alzheimer's, they say brain exercise does that, where was the individual aircraft weight and balance information kept? i was reading these replies and got to thinkin' i can't remember if it was in the 731 stuff or was it part of the W&B. maybe a number like 365 somethin? I can recall the metal folder with the Form F and all, I think the W&B was in it. I once was on a flight out of CCK to the garden party, and there was none of that available. I wrote it up and I THINK I made it a red "X'. I had been taught no W$B stuff, no flyee airplane. Am I all messed up, more than usual??? Giz

Alan, I'll send out an email to the guys on the 316th reunion list. Many of them were pilots. If they don't have one, I bet somebody on that list will know someone who does. May take a couple days or so, but we will see what turns up. Giz

I have the tad. Alan. I think it was the current one we used in '72. Damn sorry I can't help out. I want to see every one of our guys accounted for, and applaud any efforts bein' expended to do so. If I knew what I could do to help out, I definitely would. let's all make sure the motto:" YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN" does not ring hollow. Without gettin' too political, it seems to me that the accounting for all these folks was supposed to be part of the of the Paris peace Accords. Somebody forget somethin'? Giz

I have the tad. Alan. I think it was the current one we used in '72. Damn sorry I can't help out. I want to see every one of our guys accounted for, and applaud any efforts bein' expended to do so. If I knew what I could do to help out, I definitely would. let's all make sure the motto:" YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN" does not ring hollow. Without gettin' too political, it seems to me that the accounting for all these folks was supposed to be part of the of the Paris peace Accords. Somebody forget somethin'? Giz

Hey, yeah, Rudi, glad you signed on..................... Giz

Damn, all I have is the yellow one. If it would be any help at all, I'd be more than glad to offer it to you. I'd do 'bout anything to help bring some folks home. Giz

Alan you talkin' about those yellow covered jobs??? I have one here somewhere, from I think that I rescued form a trash can when the crew chief put in new ones. I'm talkin' about the pubs that were in the canvas holder there in the flight deck. If that is in fact what you want I will make a concerted effort to dig it up............... Giz

Yeah, GALLEY FLOOR that is what I was tryin' to remember. Thanks again for bringin' back another little tidbit of my life so long ago. That is what I like most about this site Giz

Oh, yeah that's what I remember, too. I can almost smell them %$@#*. One question, Jim, is the picture with the prisoners reversed?? Looks the floor at the crew entrance door is on the right instead of the left. or maybe it's an english C-130?? LOL Giz

kinda related i guess, i was on a trip once, I think from Langley to pope to maybe benning, somethin like that. had a bunch of brass on board, maybe from TAC Hq, I can't recall, Anyway went out to start engines, they called engine three it started turning,just about the time the blades went to full blurr( not a technical term) the panel above the prop stood straight up. I called a stop start, which they did. told 'em why, the AC, a major I can't remember his name was just all over me for doin' such a good quick job. You woulda thought I had saved his kids or something. Maintanence was called, they , apparenty, tightened the panel locks or whatever was loose and away we went. I just did what I thought was the right thing, just like anybody else woulda, but never did find out why it decided that was a good time to pop up. That was probably our third engine start of the day, too. I can still see that thing poppin' up like a 'gator's mouth. Giz

I once had 245 Vietnamese civilians on board loaded like that. Hauled much lower numbers of troops as well, all vietnamese. I can still smell that damn Buddha juice or whatever it was...................... Once had a load of Vietnamese 'Tigers' I can't remember the number, but anyway, we were bouncin and floppin' all over the sky, and one of them threw up. Now, I am certain many of you out there are parents, and have changed many a nasty diaper, but this was WAY worse. Of course, i don't have my nose-hose on. Well this is runnin down his shirt, onto the pallet, down onto the floor. How that little @#%^& ate that much i have no idea. anyway, one of their senior NCO's says '' NO worry, I take care of." he goes over, slapped the puker about the head and shoulders about a dozen times, yanks his cap off, makes him rake all the crap up in it and put it back on his head. It starts drippin' down his face, I'm almost up to the ramp and door joint, tryin not to laugh, and this other dude beside him, starts laughin' at him too, and this NCO beats the crap out of him. Had to have the FD come wash out the plane, it was that bad and that much on the cargo floor. Real true story................. load clear Giz

and maybe, just MAYBE, a touch of Jerry??????????????????????????? LOL!!!!! Giz

You are so right, GVS.. One of those things would sure saved my back a few injuries over the years. I think we had another name for it as well, but I can't remember for sure, was it 'Toothpick?" I dunno. That's the problem with this site, so much wonderful old stuff comes along, my frazzled mind won't let me recall all of it, but keep it up, guys. A mind is a terrible thing to lose!!!!!!! Giz

That would be it, can't believe they hadn't replaced that thing, put the wrong parts of your anatomy in the way of the thing, it is gonna hurt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They actually came from the old cargo handling on the railroads, in the old box cars and such, maybe even longshoreman work, from what I remember. Giz

donwon, hate to sound dumb, but what's a"J-Bar"? We had a pry bar we called a 'Johnson bar", but that's as close as i can come. On the E's we didn't have slick floors, unless a bunch of troops puked all over that is giz

Hey, Runner, did you guys ever just put down pallets on the main floor, lock'em in, put 5,000# straps across them, maybe four or so, #can't remember, and use that as "high density seating?' If ya left the straps loose, sometimes they were smart enough to put their legs under and hang on, sometimes, well that's what ya get for flyin' trash-hauler airlines. I always made'em face backwards, so I could sit on the ramp, often with the smell so bad, my O2 mask on, and let'em see, at my AC's standin' order, my 38 was loaded. Guess that just made it heavier if I threw it at them. I don't ever remember doin' this kind of loading except engine-running, I would not have wanted to put them in there and then go out and start engines. One funny to all this, it used to crack me up when we would button up, and my FE would crank the air conditoning so low you could freeze beer,and the vapor would come out of the overhead ducts. they must have thought it was nerve gas or somethin'. Giz

I can remember many times that was the case, and I remember many times, too, the crew chief throwin' in as well. They didn't have to, nobody asked, it just happened. Just about any challenge got taken care of, like the time my crew chief and I, truth be known more him, figured out a way to connect a 120V AC incubator to aircraft power, to take a premature baby from Kinetra, Morrocco to I think it was Ramstein. Short story, we ended up swipin' an extension cord from somewhere, cuttin' the plug off, strippin' the wires and connecting it to the prongs on one of the hot cup locations. I used rigging tape to secure it to the prongs and down and under the flight deck steps. It sure as hell was not in the -9 or whatever, and probably violated ten safety issues, but it needed to be done. It worked, but the baby died almost on downwind at Ramstein. There was a very sad crew got off thatplane that night, I cantell ya. Giz

here is my final take on all this..........each of you yourself know what ya did. Almost everyone, somewhere along the line, did something very extraordinary, above the required, etc, etc, and did not ever get a "trophy' for it. the real decoration is the one in your heart that knows who you are and what ya did. Yeah it would be nice, perhaps, to have a ribbon or whatever that others can see that says "hey, this guy did this.' But, even if you don't, that still does not diminish whatever you did, it never will. What is so disturbing to me, in the modern military, is that it seems they are cheapening the importance and relevance of military decorations. More candy for the kiddies perhaps. I spent 26 years as a firefighter and I did things that most of you could never understand why a person would do it, just doin' what the taxpayers paid me to do, as part of a team, and only once or twice ever received any "attention". it was always considered doin' our job. BUT, I still remember those 'special" calls, and the successes and the heart-breakin' failures. No plaque, medal, trophy, certificate, or commendation could match how I feel inside. I am damn lucky, I got to do, in my lifetime, two jobs that required very special skills, in very special conditions, working with very special men. I will die with that a part of me, and my greatest "medal" of all is to be able say I was a part of two 'Bands of Brothers." enough from me.............. Aboard closed and checked Giz

Loadmasters perfected "multi-tasking" as they call it to day. I am certain my brother loadies out there will agree with this staement-"We just did what we had to do." Like everybody else. One example, Try hangin' an extraction chute bouncin' around all over the place. yeah there was supposed to be a step for that, I just used my 'Mark 1-A" Ass jack. In country PAX briefing, at least to those who spoke English ' Sit down, shut, and don't S*** in my chain boxes." Those will be enough to get things started I think..........Does anyone out there remember the loady who shot a village chief's cow, water buffalo, whatever when he tried to take it on board during an evac mission? I don't know if it is true or not, but one hell of a funny story. How about havin' the fire department wash the cargo compartment out? Ken, I think you would a made a great loadie, just from the sound of your posts........ load clear giz

I have heard the same about the UAV gamers. What combat hazards are they lookin' at, drivin' to work??? I think I saw somewhere that their wings are different than the regular ass-in-the seat pilot wings, but I also saw somewhere that they have the same ones as a regular pilot because they all go to the same primary flight program. Now here is a suggestion, if all ya gotta do is play with a video, why the hell do they have to be commisioned? get some of these lard ass kids who have mega-thumbs from playin' x-box and all and let them do it....One other thing,and i guess it is pretty petty, on my part in a way, but how come Air Cav grunts, from Nam, can qualify for air medals and some air force crew members, myself included, didn't????? Please, please, i am not takin' anything away from them, they did a bitchin' job, but does that make sense????? Now if they can find a way to load airplanes, do engine starts,and do air drops from a comfy cubicle, sign me up!!!!!!!!!!!!!! load clear Giz