alanwbaker

Dale Brownell was a loadmaster flying the Danang-to-Khe Sanh shuttle during Lam Son 719. He took these photos of the C-130 destroyed by a rocket at Danang. You may also be interested in Jim Theis's eyewitness account. See http://vietnamairlift.com/apsheroes.html

Enjoy,

Alan Baker

A landing in 1971 that was so bad that the flight engineer refused to fly out with the AC...

http://vietnamairlift.com/badlanding.html

Alan

Alan,

The aircraft you mentioned was 63-7824. I still have all my blanket orders with the crew chiefs, assistants and tail numbers.

Ray

Thanks, Ray. I'm also looking for info on other tail numbers--please see today's related post in this area for the specific tail numbers.

Regards,

Alan

Can anyone tell me the full tail numbers for the following CCK birds? If so, I can tell you some places they went.

Regards,

Alan

Tail #

000

500

742

777

786

794

796

797

802

811

812

813

817

819

834

835

840

841

842

844

848

852

855

859

863

864

865

I worked on 62-1804 we received it new at Sewart AFB Tenn in the 4442nd. Didn't know it followed me to CCK later. I left CCK in Feb of 1967 and the only one we had at that time was 62-1824 The remainder of the 62's listed must have been received as replacements after I left. From what I remember most of the 62's we had at the time were higher numbers like 1831, 1849, 1853 and 1854. Thanks! Ron

A few more pieces of the puzzle. Thanks, Ron!

Alan

We got (130th AS/ WVANG) 62-1784,62-1787,62-1788, 62-1790, 62-1795, 62-1798, 62-1804, and 62-1824 were 8 of them that were CCK birds.

Thanks, Dave!

Alan

I have the tad. Alan. I think it was the current one we used in '72. Damn sorry I can't help out. I want to see every one of our guys accounted for, and applaud any efforts bein' expended to do so. If I knew what I could do to help out, I definitely would. let's all make sure the motto:" YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN" does not ring hollow. Without gettin' too political, it seems to me that the accounting for all these folks was supposed to be part of the of the Paris peace Accords. Somebody forget somethin'?

Giz

Giz, if you know some pilots from that era, please ask them--they are the most likely to have approach plates.

Alan

Damn, all I have is the yellow one. If it would be any help at all, I'd be more than glad to offer it to you. I'd do 'bout anything to help bring some folks home.

Giz

Yeah, me too. I have the TAD--it looks kinda like this:

but I need the low altitude approach book--it looks kinda like this:

Alan

Anybody out there know where to find a Vietnam low-altitude approach book--especially approaches for Quang Tri? It could help locate an MIA.

To put this in context... Two helicopter pilots were lost in bad weather in 1971. The blue-and-white approach book for South Vietnam will show the prescribed turn points, altitudes, obstacles, and flight path for their approach to Quang Tri.

Alan

Hi Giz, The yellow/brown one is the Tactical Airdrome Directory--it's for visual flight. The blue and white ones also in the canvas holder on the flight deck are for instrument flight. I'm looking for one of those--the South Vietnam Low Altitude Approach book.

Thanks,

Alan

Alan you talkin' about those yellow covered jobs??? I have one here somewhere, from I think that I rescued form a trash can when the crew chief put in new ones. I'm talkin' about the pubs that were in the canvas holder there in the flight deck. If that is in fact what you want I will make a concerted effort to dig it up...............

Giz

Anybody out there know where to find a Vietnam low-altitude approach book--especially approaches for Quang Tri? It could help locate an MIA.

I flew E-models out of CCK in 1970 and 1971. The USAF's individual flight records only give the last 3 digits of the tail number. I checked the tail numbers at http://herkybirds.com/wiki/index.php?title=C-130E and found many I flew, such as 64-0500. But some are unclear. For example, tail number 824 might have been 62-1824, 63-7824, or 64-1824.

Can anyone help me resolve these ambiguities in CCK birds?

Alan Baker

I still have my copy of Poopoo Make Prant Glow--it's a classic. It was always a challenge dodging buffalo carts on Taichung Lu in my 1970 Mitubishi Colt.

Alan

http://vietnamairlift.com

I took a naval aviation squadron to Guantanamo in 1969--what a dog and pony show!

http://vietnamairlift.com/guantanamo.html

Enjoy,

Alan

I flew 130's out of CCK in 1970 and 1971. For each in-country shuttle I signed out a survival vest and a .38--here's the form:

We kept them in a big aluminum box and rarely took them out, but here's a photo of one time I did: :cool:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/0YsEE6s96YcNDtzhHJj5pw?feat=directlink

Alan

Bob Hope did a show at U-Tapao, Thailand in 1971. Unfortunately, some attendees booed him--they were too "sophisticated" or too drunk for his kind of humor.

My crew carried several small USO shows around Vietnam--see http://vietnamairlift.com/awolgcauso.html and http://vietnamairlift.com/quangtri2.html

Alan

Cheema, I did buddy starts and windmill taxi starts routinely in Vietnam. FOD was not a problem.

As for spacing between aircraft, the recommended separation will eventually do the job, assuming you've got time for multiple attempts. On the other hand, if the start has to work the first time, get closer. For places, dates, and details see:

http://vietnamairlift.com/phnompenh.html

http://vietnamairlift.com/mechanical.html

http://vietnamairlift.com/windmilltaxi.html

Alan

My pleasure, JG. It's interesting to see how some of those airfields have almost disappeared while others haven't changed at all.

Alan

Larry, you earned a lifetime membership in the Engineer's Protective Association.

Alan

Wow. My engineers were clever but not THAT clever!

Maintenance problems caused 3 trips to the runway and back. Then when we finally took off we had to shut down that engine and come back to TSN. Couldn't even offer our pax a complimentary drink. ;-)

Enjoy,

Alan

Great story! Welcome home, Bill.

Alan

Do you happen to have any photos of any of our E's that we had when they were in Vietnam? Especially 88 . Any would be great. Thanks again for the info. Bobby

Hi Bobby,

Check out http://vietnamairlift.com/popealerts.html for pix from the Vietnam era. You might be able to use or .

Alan

Flying an empty C-130 around Vietnam and a flight engineer buys the beer.

http://vietnamairlift.com/snafu.html

Enjoy,

Alan

Steve, I couldn't find any reference to Camp Williams. Was it near a town? Could it have a different name? Often the Air Force used a different name for a field adjacent to an army camp.

Alan