Spectre623

And what did everybody holler when the film broke or he put on the wrong reel.......wait for it...."ATTA BOY LUTHER" as loud as we could. Bill:)

Yep Ken, you are right on all points. Funny how stuff slowly creeps back from long, long ago, right? Bill

Ken the crew chief shack was a 2 story building close to job control. Bottom floor was a lartine for the area and top floor was a flop house for crew chiefs waiting for their bird to land and the unassigned (55 day rotaters) APG's waiting to be snagged for rigging and other jobs. There may have been some spec. who hung out there too, don't remember. It had ac and a crappy TV that got Armed Forces TV shows and some ragged out chairs, sofas, etc. Not a fun place. Bill

Neat pic of the bunker Sonny, I sure didn't know about it in 69-70. What part of the F/L was it on? That was a big ramp at CRB. For some reason my bird was always parked on the far row near the taxiway fatherest from the crew chief shack. Bill

Hate to make you guys feel bad, but living here near Dobbins ARB / Lockheed, I can OD on sights and sounds of the Herk anytime I need a Herk Fix!! Bill

Hello Col. Good to see you posting again. How you doing? Bill

Never saw an Iron lung used on a Herk but I have hooked up several LOX carts and baby sat a few in flight. We carried them when we went into austere airfields while doing ORI and ORE's. Carried two a few times as they were "Tee'ed" together then to the overboard vent. Only did this at Dobbins thru the years. Don't ever remember doing it on active duty. Bill

Been thinking about the greatest adventure of my life lately (i.e. my time in Vietnam as a C-130 CC) and the question bubbled to the top....where did you guys go or hide when we had rocket attacks while you were on the flight line or your plane at Cam Rahn Bay? I don't remember ANY bunkers near the flight line. I know what I did when the rockets were coming in, which was to hug a piece of AGE equipment in the revetment and pray, but wondered about all the rest of the maint and flight crews who were caught on the flight line and what you did to try to protect yourselves. I know about the barracks, maint control and CC shack but what about on the open F/L. By the way that pic to the left of this post is me on my Herk 956 in the revetment at CRB sans bunkers ha ha. Bill

We had 987 at Hill AFB Ut. in the 1550 ATTW (1551st flying sq.) while I was there from 1971-1974. Good flying bird. No major probs as I remember. We had H,P and N models (10 total) and we removed the nose booms on all birds that had them. Pilots said they made to much noise and we didn't use the system then anyway. Bill

I want a table for H model troops only... I ain't sittin with no J model pukes....and you E model guys stay away too you smell like oil has been blowin outta your gaspers fer eight hours. Ha Ha...MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!!!!!!!! Bill

Ahhh yes old Rio Hato, turn left out the Howard front gate and drive 30 minutes down the Panamerican hiway.It goes right across the runway at Rio Hato. I took a tour thru what was left of that base,while on rote to Howard in April after the invasion in December. This was Panamas special forces base. There is a grave of one Panamanian soldier there. Don't know why just one cause from the looks of the base our guys really ripped thru it. I have a floor tile from the base barber shop that took the force of a gernade or some type of exploision...weird impact left on it. Hate to have been getting a trim when that round hit. I have some pics of Rio Hato but haven't figured how to post them. Good job Rick. Bill

Your article in the AF mag was good Sam. I like how you showed the CC as the original LM and how it came full circle to where the CC is helping the LM now. Bill

Here is a little more info on the cause of the HTTB crash on Feb 3, 1993 at Dobbins. In addition to evaluating Vmcg they were also evualuating the new fly by wire rudder actuator they were developing for the upcoming J model. This was the last high speed ground run (out of 7) and the acft became airborne and the pilot decided to fly it instead of trying to put it back on the ground. The acft was at approx. 250 feet and spun into a left decending turn (heading north) and impacted the corner of the Navy clinic. All 7 aboard died including one of our reserve FE's. For the test, the acft had a small paint sprayer on the tail skid and as the acft gained speed the # 1&2 engines were pulled back to flt idle (to simulate engine failure on take off) and the fly by wire actuator was suppose to put in enough rudder to off set the torque from 3&4 engines without any pilot input. The paint sprayed on the runway gave the engineers info on how well the new actuator was holding the acft on centerline. The speed was increased at each run and the last run was so high the acft became airborne. We came back from the desert on 4 Feb and saw the wreckage from the air, still in a burned pile at the corner of the clinic. A sad day indeed. I still remember all the unreal flying the HTTB did prior to the crash. It was like an air show every time they rolled it out and flew it at the DARB. Bill :(

Hey Tinwhistle when was that picture taken that you posted of you loading the 1st ID and what outfit were you in then? Noticed the beaver tail don't have the CPI mod. Been a long time since I saw an older 130 without that mod. Bill

Hey Ken, about the brake upgrade...sure would have been nice if AF had put the multiple disc brakes on the A & B that were on the E model . I always protected my small piece of hex stock we had to use to take the bolts off with. I had fresh outta the box single rotor disc brakes that I sweated and grunted over to to change leak like a stuck hog when I leak checked them...usually at night at CRB. Years later we had brakes on our H models that were almost bullet proof...so to speak. Those were the days. Bill

Ouch!...gettem' bullet.

Well, went to the VA hospital here in Atlanta today to visit a VN vet from our church who just had a valve and 2 bypass operation. I figured what the heck and took my corrected DD214 (called a DD 215) and my copies of my travel vouchers in to see if I could get on the AO register. Suprised me how great the people treated me and everyone else. They helped me fill out the paperwork and even though I didn't have an appointment they gave me a physcial. Paperwork had a question about which Corp I was in, 1,2 or 3 and due to my vouchers she looked on a map she had on the wall and said I was in all 3 of them... for what good that does me. No question at all that I had not been "boots on the ground" in VN. For you guys still looking for proof, as a note, when I got the letter and corrected 214 they showed where my flt chief had shown on an APR for that period that I had been in country for 159 days. I didn't know they had those on record. Write and ask for them! From what I'm seeing, you have to be specific as to what you ask for. Hang in there guys you earned it, you deserve it !! Bill

Hey Giz didn't I see you tying down something in the back of the Wright Flyer just before takeoff ha ha. Bill

It's about time the AF got these kids a 130 that will even remotely look like the ones they will be working on when they get to their PCS base. At least they aren't using B-47's to train 130 mechanics on like when I and several guys on this site used in tech school. What a shocker it was to go straight to 130's after being trained on B-47's...now Giz THAT makes you feel old, ha ha. Bill:)

I agree with Don. R on Joe Dabney's book "Herk Hero Of The Skies". I have a copy signed by Joe on 9-21-85 and Leo Sullivan about 3 years before he died. Don, he signed it on page 100 in the 1979 copy...check out the pic on that page. Both of these guys ARE Mr. C-130! Spoke with both at length and found them to be a bottomless well of C-130 knowledge. They are great men of Lockheed aviation! Bill

They made history cause they weren't hog tied with all the stupid ROE and flight/maint. rules/regs we picked up after Korea. We would have ripped through the VC and NVA and North Vietnam like a dose of salts thru a goose. WE DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' RULES WHEN WE FIGHT A WAR!! There...I feel better. Bill :)

I am speaking only of C-130's in the U.S. Air Force. I knew plenty of recip crew chiefs who taxied their birds, that was normal... something about the 130 being a new fangled propJet that had the AF brass up tight in the middle 1950's. My time started on 130's in April 1963 with a few gaps till I retired on'em in 2003 and like I said, never heard of any legally qualified taxi crew chiefs on 130's. Bill:)

Was stationed at Pope when this happened and the mess it caused when it came time to run engines was something. Was run qualified on all 130's but the A model and NEVER did I hear of any crew chief being legally allowed to taxi a 130 except on qual runs with a pilot in the right seat. That's active duty and Reserves. Just my experience....just sayin'. Bill :)

This whole thread sounds like a C-130 intercom conversation at 25,000 ft. at 2330 hrs inbound to Lajes...or Wake...or Clark...or CCk ....or...or........ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzz Bill ))

Great clip Dan. I shot many a jack rabbit from a low flying dune buggy on the Utah Test range and BLM while stationed at Hill. Great fun but this looks like 100X more fun. Also this guy has some great skills as a shooter...glad he is on our side!! Bill