Wil Sanchez

Tonight, my wife and I were at the Summit (a new Senior Activity center that Gand Prairie just built) hanging out in the pool. We were talking to some friends when I looked over and saw a man I had talked to in the locker room awhile earlier struggling to stay on top of the water. I took a quick look and swam the 20ft to where he was at. Just as I got there he came up and called out for help. I grabbed him just as the lifeguard saw what was happening. The lifeguard ran over to the edge close to where we were at and jumped in. I passed him off to the lifeguard who then took him into water that he could stand up in. He was ok and swallowed only a little water. He and his wife thanked me for helng him out, she mentioned he was 90 years old and not a very good swimmer. He and his wife left the pool soon after and headed for the lockers rooms. About 20 minutes later I headed for the locker room to clean up and head home. I saw him sitting on a bench putting on one of his socks . I asked him if he was all right. He said he was and thanked me again. That is when I saw his ball cap. He is a WW11 and Korean veteran.

We have far too few WW11 vets left and every one is a precious resource. I am sorry I didn't get his name but I will update you when I do. I eat lunch at the Summit most days and I sit with another WW11 and Korean vet by the name of Roy Hill. He was at the Battle of the Bulge and at Pusan in Korea. He is 88 and his mind is sharp as a tack. I feel privileged to be around these heroes. Sorry I made this so long.

Wil

Jim, I took quite a few pictures of C-130's in private junkyards. I was very sad to see them in various states of disassembly. I never posted any of the pics because I didn't want to start a bunch of people on this board crying. I too Love the Herk and didn't want to think about any of them being scrapped. I was hoping they could all keep flying forever. It also points to our being put into retirement. We did our job and provided our country with the support it needed during a difficult time n our history. Take care and thanks for your service and to all who visit this site.

Wil

Ah Yes, the milk run. Every morning the Maintenance truck would go to each Herk to find out what they were hauling. We had Bananas and Oranges one morning. We kept an extra box of each. We ate a complete box of Bananas in 4 days. Oranges lasted a while longer. Yes, the Donut Dollies were a welcome sight.

Here's a couple more CRB pics if anyone is interested.

Wil

Ken, how about these 2 pics? I took pics of the Herks on the side of the road and these are the pics I have. I have a few more that are different angles but pretty much the same. I also included a shot of 544 in a revetment.

does anybody remember the cookouts. They would take several cases of steaks off the plane before it launched and then that evening they would have a cookout. It cost $2 bucks but included Coca Colas and Beer. That is me on the left without the shirt.

Wil

Ken, I just looked trough my slides and found about 8 or 9 of the Herks you might be looking for. Look at these and let me know if this is the one. I used an HP Scanjet 3570c to scan these.

CFisher, thanks for reminding us of the great web site we are all a part of. I want tothank all of you for the great info and entertainment provided here. Before Herkybirds I hadn't thought much about my time in service. You guys have triggered a lot of memories some painful but many more that were great. I know that all of you that spent time at CCK remember the time there fondly.

Wil

Tiny, we are so sorry to hear about your loss. you know that all of your Herk Brothers have you in their prayers.

Wil

Weasel Pilot and Jeffysan, how are you guys? OK I need more info. I just read Volant Solo, Commando Solo, Rivet Rider and Rivet Hunter. Since I haven't been involved with Herks for about 40 years I'm lost. The only EC-130E variant I know of is the ABtripleC aircraft I was on in 1967. It was # 62-1809 which ended up in the desert in Iran.

Wil

Dan, sorry to hear about the rough year you are having. What ever happened to they come in threes? Hopefully you will now have a long stretch of smooth sailing.

Wil

PS Fraulein, here's hoping you get a great job real soon.

Bob, thanks for updating us on the return of the Blind Bat Crew. These Heroes did a fantastic job for all of us and should be welcomed back by all of America. I wish I could attend all of their funerals personnally and thank their families. Thanks to all of my Herky Bird brethren for your service and sacrifice.

Wil

Thanks to all who sacrificed their lives to give us the freedom to be the best nation in the world. May we never forget their gift.

thanks to all of you who gave of your time to also give us the same gift. You should be thanked every day. We have many heros that did not die but gave of themselves. I would especially like to thank my fellow Viet Nam friends because you didn't receive the heros welcome you deserved.

wil

Trev

Thanks for bringing one of our beloved Herks back to life. You are the man!

Wil :)

Sorry try this one.

Wil

Fenmonster, there is 1 more photo of a c-141 at Pima. Enjoy.

Wil

Dan, since you like planes with shark mouths tkae a look at this one. also talk about ugly birds, look at these photos.

Wil. :eek:

Looking back over the photos I noticed that B00 is flanked by a YC-14 on the right and a YC-15 on the left. They were both supposed to replace the Herk. I'm glad they didn't because the Herk is my kind of plane. Even the name is great "Hercules".

Wil

Donwon, not sure what a Zantop is but here is the info on the plate in front.

Wil

Topboltsto400, you are welcome. The following 2 photos show the last C-141 at D-M. They scrapped out 200 just before we were there in late April.

Here are some more photos from D-M AFB.

The 1st is lots of Herks.

The 2nd is below the Pilots window and shows the CC. This is 1 of 2 Herks at the Pima Air and Space Museum.

The 3rd is a YC-14 supposed to be a replacement for the Herk.

The 4th and 5th are of a Stainless Steel plane called a Conestoga which is welded instead of riveted.

My wife and I recently made a trip to Davis Monthan AFB near Tucson Arizona. I felt the need to visit some of the planes I have worked on that are no longer in use and can be found only in Museums. I took 547 photos of planes in the Private Junkyards near the base, on the bus tour of the Boneyard and the Pima Air and Space Museum. I am posting some of the Herks I saw on the trip.

I was also amazed at the number of planes I have never seen before.

The 1st photo was taken while we were at one of the private junkyards. It was doing touch and goes and I decided to take a photo of it. My Wife made a comment about the Shark's mouth painted on it. I informed her that they didn't paint Shark Mouths on Herks. (don't I feel stupid after viewing the photo).

The 2nd photo is 64-0502. The 3rd photo is 62-1864. The 4th photo is BOO. The 5th photo is a Silver Herk.

Enjoy Wil

Skip, I just saw the update on the 3 Combat Talons going to Davis-Monthan. I was just there about 2 weeks ago. I told he bus driver they would be getting some special Herks soon. I took about 500 photos of the planes at 3 places. 1. AMARG, 2. PimaAir and Space Museum and 3. The private junk yards that had aircraft in them. I would have taken more but the battery and me were both about to expire. The bus tour at the Boneyard was about 1 1/2 hours and we didn't get to see the entire boneyard.

I was amazed at the number of planes I have never seen before. I also got to see some aircraft I might have serviced while at Travis. would like to go back some day for another look. I will post some photos soon. Take care.

Wil

Welcome to a great resource and some fun folks. I was also stationed at CCK in 1967 and again in 1969 and 1970. I was a Crew chief on the Herks. They too have a warm spot in my heart.

Wil

Sawhock, thanks for setting me straight on the origin of the 2 Herks that did the fly over. I Realize now that I was derelict in my duties by not taking my camera with me. I know they have some Herks at Carswell. I saw 4 of them a few years back when I was teaching the Air Force reservists Windows Server 2003. I made the assumption that they were sent from Carswell. Thank you so much forthe use of your Herks in paying respects to the Major.

Wil

Ed, concerning travel pay. You have to fall into 1 of 2 categories. You must either have at least 30% service connected disability or make less than something like $12,000.00 per year. If you fall into 1 of those caegories then apply for your travel pay.

Wil

Bob was the crash at Guam in Dec. 1972 aircraft # 64-0505? If so that was my plane from

july 1969 to July 1970. Great plane.

Wil