patrick29

I was lucky enough to be assigned to the 318th SOS at Pope AFB. We started with 5 "Black Birds" but lost one to a midair collision with a fighter during a night EWO Pro mission in Dec, '72. Back then, I was a prop man on flying status and flew with a bunch of outstanding crew members. I really enjoyed picking up "Sam" and "George" and the night TF missions. Flying with them is what initially made me decide to become a flight engineer. The 318th eventually moved to Hurlburt, and became the 8th SOS. Now they fly CV-22s.

I didn't want to be drafted, so I joined the Air Force when I was 19, in 1968. I wanted to go to Viet Nam because, even though there were those who thought it was an unjust war, I lived in the US and would do whatever was needed for my country. Sure, I was spit on and called a baby killer by my ex "friends" when I came home, but I still believed I was doing what my country needed me to do. I never thought of deserting, but didn't care if others decided to. What bothered me was the people who deserted this great land of ours who came back after the war, and received priority in getting jobs over the Vets. To me, if you want to leave, that's fine. In fact, if you want to leave, maybe you should. Just don't bother to come back. I think you'll find a patriotic feeling from those who answer on this site, after all, we're military!

It appears General PK Carleton's wish of getting all the enlisteds off the flight deck is finally coming to pass. With the C-17 replacing the C-141 and the J model replacing the older C-130s, the flight engineer is going the way of the horse and buggy. I hate to see that, because the FE is an invaluable resource. When this first started happening, all the pilots I talked to hated it because, at some point, they're not going to be able to turn around and say "hey, engineer, what do you think?"

I heard from some Lockheed people that they sent in a team to inspect the crash site and found that it had been caused by 37mm "lightning." I don't know if it's true.

The TN politicians also ticked off Johnson. The cover story was that Percy Priest lake was undermining the runways.

I remember some good rotations out of Sewart AFB!

We did a max power run one time at Pope, and blew one of the yokes off when we went to reverse. Another time, we had a birdstrike right in the middle of the sky anchor. The bird was still there when we landed. A lot of memories with those blackbirds!

I could sure use some pictures. I was with the 318th at Pope until we moved to Hurlburt and the squadron became the 8th. At the time, I was a prop tech on non-crew status, so I had a chance to fly bunches of interesting sorties! After we went to Hurlburt, maintainers were transferred out of the squadron. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures, other than what I can get off the internet. We had the "whisker" birds, so I would prefer any pictures of those. Sadly, I was at Pope when we lost 0558. Thanks!

Hey, Jon, I was an E-Flight propeller technician while assigned to Clark AB from 75-78. I'm trying to find any declassified info out there, so I can finally tell my wife what we did whenever we would disappear for a week. I checked out the Air America website, but couldn't find the C-130 E-Flight section. I, too, was proud to wear that little cobra! My TS helped me get my SCI, and that got me an assignment to a new ESC unit for a couple years.

I just happened upon this thread. I was in the 318 SOS at Pope AFB from 72-74 (we moved to Hurlburt in 74) and could use some pictures if anyone has any. Our birds had the "whiskers" and I could use pictures of those models. My e-mail address is [email protected]. Thanks.

I was at Sewart AFB from June 69 to Feb 70. I was assigned to 62 TAS as a prop man. I was on the advance team that went to Little Rock Feb 70, and transitioned the base from B-58s to C-130s. I left 62 TAS Nov 70. I remember when we received our new planes, 10934-10951. Same ones I flew later, as a 62nd FE, when I returned to LRAFB in 1982.