Spectre623

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

Good question. Those WW II, Korea guys made a lot of history and are dying off at a very fast rate. I think I read somewhere that WW II vets are dying somewhere around 1000 per day. I dont know if that is a correct number, but the US is losing a lot of it's history. It is good to share with other vets some of the stories we all have.

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

Welllll maybe your very own C-130....... Bill

The C-133 didn't do much AD. It did however make many drop tests of the Apollo Command Service Module from 1963-1969 from 30,000 ft. at El Centro Ca. Bill

There was/is an aeromed outfit at MacDill we used to support with a weekend Herk from Dobbins. On Sat. it took the aeromeds up for 4 hours and they played doctor while flying mostly in circles. Don't know about the A-10 though, might'a been lost, ha ha. Always enjoyed that TDY and ate breakfast at Pop's and son and lunch at the Cuban Cafe then OD'ed on crab legs for dinner all on Dale Mabry blvd.. Bill

Saw a listing of the active duty C-130's today and saw where they have one each TC-130H. Was or is that the same Herk with the roto dome on it. It landed at Dobbins several years ago and I haven't seen nor heard of it since. Bob...anybody?? Bill

Well said US HERK! I went inside this acft a couple of times when it was still on the Lockheed flightline back in the mid 80's, it was like seeing a piece of AF history, which it is! It most certainly should be preserved. Bill

Version number is painted on cab nose (first painted on while in cab jig being built) is nothing more than the build code. It refers back to the desires of the buyer. It tells the production builder what to put on the airframe and what blueprint to pull and use to put the customers options on ie. mud flaps, radio, whiteside wall tires, cruise control etc. If you ever worked the production line at Lockheed and been through an auto factory they are very similar such as the way the line is layed out and the way the build code is used on both. As an OJT ( that is Lockheeds title for a person who has various lousy little jobs) when a worker had a problem that I was suppose to help figure out, it usually was because he was using the wrong blueprint. We were on a 7 day move and we moved the line on swing shift every 7th night and some dayshift guys wouldn't notice it the next morning and using yesterdays print (which he didn't turn in at the end of his shift) he would have problems trying to build an 18B with a set of 44E prints. First thing I would say is " let me see your prints" This was in the mid 80's and we were building H's. It was a great experience to have worked there.. BUT...wouldn't want to go back, ha ha. Bill :)

Good fer you Bob. Maybe you can get on Howard and when you get back give us old rotaters a SITREP on how it looks now, and happy b'day too Bob. Bill

YOU are the man Casey...thanks for adding my pics. Bill

Thanks Bob. Nice to know. Funny thing about the 183TAS, we (Dobbins) were on rotation with them on their last Panama Rote and I had consigned a bunch of C-130 stuff from the Lockheed gift shop to take down and sell, well wouldn't you know it they were getting 141's and didn't want no stinkin' C-130 stuff, ha ha . The next group behind us sure wanted that 130 stuff!. It was one of many fun rotes to Panama. Bill :)

Hey Bob your post caused an odd thought to float up to the top, that begs for an answer....several years ago an early H2 model, I think a 79 model, landed at Dobbins. I went out to greet the CC and noticed it didn't have SKE and a few other late model mods. I ask the CC where they were from ( maybe Alabama,don't remember) but he said they flew support for ANG fighter units. Is this what the OSA Herks are used for and what happened to the H that landed at the DARB... did it get sucked into the" I want all the newer H's for the active duty" thing ? It was not an ex rescue/weather bird. Thanks Bill

Ha Ha he will know it when he has to pull 19.6 to get it to the blocks. Bill :)