Spectre623

Do you have a date on that TCTO Tiny? Spent 3 years on the A at Sewart AFB TN and only remember the term synchronizer.

A Model gunship blades were painted black for a while but paint wore off pretty fast. Went back to bare metal after a while.

We had 10 Rescue birds at Hill AFB Ut. in 1971 when we stood up The 1550 ATTW. Had H. N and P models and all of them had the ODS rails. And as stated before we used the winch on the ODS to lift the end of the 1800gal. tanks and drag them to the end of the ramp. We also removed the Fulton booms on the nose at Hill as they made too much noise and no one was qualified on the system anymore.  Some tails, 971 and 851 and 224 I think. Been so many years ago. We crew chiefs were trained on the IFR pods also, what a mess when the hose unwound inside the pod. Max hacksaw time.

I was stationed at Sewart from 63 to 66. Was assigned to either the 61st or 62nd ,don't remember which,for about 2 months on B models then the 18th was formed with A models and I being a newbe was transferred to the 18th. Didn't take me but a day to realize the A models were a baaaaad deal. I survived 18 months and 2, 60 day rotes to Clark and TDY in country to VN on the A models. Found out about Scanner openings on brand new E models in the 4442/4446 CCTW down the flight line and jumped at the chance to be a crew member and a full time flying job. Did that till I left Sewart in Nov.66. Great job. Anybody know Joe Tidwell or Clyde Cook at Sewart? 61st or 62nd. Worked with Clyde as an ART for many years.

Up until about 5 years ago you could still see the outline of the barracks foundation on Herky Hill CRB, on google earth. Seems like a million years ago I was there...oh wait it was. Ha ha.

Good reason Ken. Just thought it odd as that was the only "E" I ever saw in Vietnam with the tanks off.

Ken if he went to Hill in the spring of 1971 he was with us but I don't remember him. He may have been in the phase dock in Hgr. 1. I do remember the dock chief shot and killed himself. A really nice guy(RIP). Hill was the most fun base I was ever stationed at, hunting, skiing, fishing, Jeeping and camping...you know since you live in Montana ha ha. Were you in the hanger at Dover when we hoisted one of the guys up on the overhead crane and the sq. commander came in and stood there talking to us and never looked up to see the guy on the hook above us. Man we thought we were toast! Lots of goof off time there as we were junking out the 133's.

Nice pictures Ken. When you guys and your E's CRB we came in with the B's from Clark. I see you don't have any external tanks  but see where they were. What's with that? Also I remember you from Dover when we bone yarded the C-133's. That was a hoot. I went to Hill AFB Ut. when the 133's left. Did you stay at Dover or get out? Bill

Excellent article Mr. hehe and yes it does confirm my forth post on this subject that all new center wings are built to the "J" model specs except for a few different holes brackets etc. as required for the different models they are used on. No it is baited and you took it. Have a nice day Mr. hehe. 😄 Bill

Wow...I wait with baited breath Mr. hehe. Bill

Hi there Mr. hehe. If you reread my post you will see that I said the FIRST all new CARGO C-130H was built in 1974. Also EVERYONE knows that all HC-130H's had -15 engines except the 11 H-7's we built as I describe in the above posts..

Also you posted the wrong tail number it is 64-14852 not 64-4852. Have a nice day. 😑

Hello Ken, haven't heard from you on the site for a while. Hope all is well. To answer your question, yes War Lord was an "A" model, 54-1625 and was shot down over the Trail on April 21,1970. All crew 10 crew members lost. Thank God it didn't have all 14 crew members on board. I have the crew list but don't want to print it on the site.

As for the E model gun ships at first they had the same armament as the "A" model. 2, 20mm, 2 ,7.62mm and 2, 40mm cannons. All the E.s had the 105mm cannon by Feb. 1972. Bill

I just did a brief search on the above subject and found the so called "H" model wings ( actually no such thing as an H model wing per se, just a part number) being built and refitted to most all C-130's flying today are the same as the J model wings except for a few odd and end holes and brackets. The center wing box is the big deal on the C-130 as it takes the full load and stresses during flight. Also read an old post from this site where the " E/H" model Spectre gunship noted above C/N 6576 didn't get it's first "H" model center wing till April 1992, 24 years after it got the -15 engines, says the crew chief of 6576. As far as the outer wings go we got the so called 1039 wings (TCTO 1039) for our 81 H models in the 1990's. These were great cause we could change the fuel probes from the top of the wing without going into the tank. Bottom line -7 and -15 will interchange. Bill

During the Vietnam war,11 E model gunships (69-6567thru 69-6577) had -15 engines installed and deployed to Ubon,Thailand on Oct. 25, 1971 and were called Super E's then later called H's only because of the engine change. The all new cargo H models weren't built till 1974. I used to put Chevy engines in Jeep's even though they didn't have a Chevy frame. 😮Bill

Also as stated in the above post , the max torque on -7 and -15 engines is 19600 inch pounds. The above statement is not an official approval, just my experience. Bill

In 1983 while working at Lockheed we built 9, H models for the U.S. Coast Guard and they were known as C-130 H-7's because the Coast Guard couldn't afford -15 engines, they sent us used GFE -7 engines to be installed. The plan was to upgrade later( which they did ) when money became available. The used -7 were put into new nacelles and hung on the wings and sent on their way. These were prior to the oil cooler augmented engines. Lars book shows first one as C/N 4947. Also while deployed to Germany for Operation Provide Promise in 1993 the engine Queen Bee shop sent a -7 to Split and it was hung on a Maxwell H model aircraft by mistake. ( I described this incident in a post here a few years back) The aircraft engines were ran up and low and behold no 1083 degrees. Engine troops were NOT happy. So unless you are putting an engine with  an augmented oil cooler on a  -7 wing it will fit. Starter button must be held in as hold in circuit is not there on -15 starter system. Bill

WOW I'm getting old....I remember when these were brand new😟

We lived on Herky Hill as early as 1969 in Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam. It's nickname was Herky bird at Sewart AFB Tn. when I first got there in 1963. We also stayed in the Herky bird Hotel many times in the 60's as we called it when we got stuck working on the Herk till it was too late to find quarters or a motel. Bill

Would like to see the inside. Does it have litters and or seats and what is the electrical requirements. Does it plug into the old iron lung outlets? Porta potty ? Just wondering about more details. When they become surplus...in a year ,I might like to buy one as a hunting cabin. 😁 Bill

Once you have a taste of the old C-130...nothing else will satisfy. Proven time and time again! Bill

Lost my uncle, Pfc Lewis Radcliffe on June 17, 1944 KIA during this invasion. Was able to visit Normandy in 1995 and find his grave which no family member had ever visited. I was there with my C-130 unit to honor D Day and ten of my maint.  troops went with me to his grave. They were all in uniform and in formation and we had a ceremony where we refolded his flag over his grave. Very sober moment. Bill

OK Alan, just reread your post I see it was an H model not a tanker at that time.We had 65-971,973 and 987 H's bast as I can tell.

Hi Alan, I was a crew chief / expediter (Hotel 2), at Hill in the 1550th at that time. Do you remember the tail number or if it was an H ,P or N model? Best tour of my career there,Twice!

Thanks Sonny. I see in Lars book it has -15 engines and strengthened wings and yep it is still in the South Africa AF. I'll bet that sucker is a real hot rod!  The B model was my favorite of all the Herks I worked on.

Do you know the Lockheed SN or AF tail # ?  I crewed B models at Clark 69-70.