JamesCade

I filled out three suggestions during my time on C-130’s and got one approved. That one was a new tool to install the old Doppler radome (“pre-SCNS†mod) on the belly. When I was first shown how to install the radome, the procedure was to shove a screwdriver in the fastener receptacle, then turn it counterclockwise(?) to “load†the receptacle. Of course, once you FINALLY got the damn thing installed, there was always a couple of fasteners on the leading edge that wouldn’t tighten down so you had to drop the thing and start all over. What I suggested was to have a new radome fastener itself welded onto a standard apex holder, then use that attached to a speed handle to “preload†the fastener. Using the fastener kept you from damaging the receptacle, and you could get all of them preloaded much faster than using a screwdriver. It was also more consistent in the amount of force you used. It helped that I actually had a fastener welded to an apex holder and sent it in with the suggestion as a show and tell. This was submitted in the 1991- 1992 timeframe, and it was approved, but according to my squadron commander it was only “because it’s a good idea, if you had submitted it 10 years ago before SCNS, you’d have made a ton of cash. However, with the new SCNS Doppler radome, it isn’t needed.†Sad part is, I first thought this up back in 1980. Moral of the story: Don’t put off a good idea. I did make $100 off the deal, and still have the tool in my desk drawer. James

I did more of those SAAM preps than I care to think about, talk about an over engineered process. It has always blown my mind that the AF in its infinite wisdom, thought that Dyess was be a good place for those three Super-Es. Wouldn't the Rock have been a MUCH more intelligent choice? James

Maybe a Shorts Belfast? Looks like a C-130, but the props are standard four bladed.

I was in Athens when we heard on the radio (Paul Harvey, oddly enough) about the first crash in 1980. The crew chief, Keith Watkins, was from Big Springs Texas. My home town was Rotan Texas, about 65 miles NE of Dyess. My dad almost had a stroke when the news came over the TV about the crash, the whole town (all 2,000 of them) was calling him asking if I was ok. Seemed to take me forever to get a darn phone line to call home and tell him I was ok. We heard the same rumors, it was shot down, lightning hit it. Seems like one of the more bizarre rumours for one of the crashes was that the plane had landed safely out in a field, but then the terrorists who had shot it down caught up to it and killed everyone and destroyed the plane. James