nascarpop

I don't remember ice tires either. On a side note, this is how we worked, down on your knees and it didn't matter how dirty or dusty it was. No nice clean spaces. And you worked until the aircraft was ready to fly. Sometimes that was a day or two if you had no relief.

Old thread:

As far as I remember the ones I crewed and flew on were pressurized!

The plane I went to Ubon on was painted all black. It was an "A" model, early 55-003 - 55-027, somewhere in that range of numbers. As said only made two flights the time I was with it when it got hit. If I remember correctly the plane left at dusk/dark and returned early early morning. I have photos somewhere of the repair job. I will post them when I come across them. FOUND THEM. Seems the refueling line wasn't drained completely and that is why it caught fire.

I was at Ubon in 1967. The plane flew two missions. It was all black. The second mission it took a 37mm in the right wheelwell. Took about a week to get it flyable and went back to Naha. Never had the opportunity to go again. I was with the 41st TAS. I flew once with the crew and helped with flares.

That's what I'm thinking. I graduated high school in 1964 also, but I was six months ahead because I was born in December. I am 72 now. RIP Bob, this board will miss you!!

A great loss. Does anyone know his age at passing?

Flew a ton of hours on the bird. Never worked on anything else. Straight out of basic at Amarillo to Shepard for tech school. Then on to Naha on A models and CRB. Then to Pope E models. Lots of flight miles. Also makes me look up when I hear one. 45 years later!

My older brother was a Captain in the Navy. He was also an aviator. He flew A4's. He sent this to me. I thought it was share worthy. He flew many missions over NVN and Cambodia. AIRCRAFT LOSSES OF THE VIETNAM WAR.pdf

I went to the local VA office here in Bakersfield California about four months ago. I had travel vouchers and hospital records from CRB hospital. I must have went there for a cold or something, I don't remember. I also requested to have Viet Nam service added to my DD214. Agent that helped me said the addition to my DD214 could take a couple years as it was low priority. I received letter for medical appointments for three different places. About three months after the appointments I received a check from the VA and the next day I received a letter explaining I had received 30% disability for exposure to agent orange and tinnitus. My hearing loss is only 6% so they denied hearing loss. I now receive a check each month from the VA. I still have nothing on my DD214, but that will take time. I was stationed at Naha for eighteen months and spent at least 70% of that time at Ubon and CRB. I just wish I had done this sooner. As a side note, I will be 72 in December this year and am in reasonably good health except for the tinnitus and type 2 diabetes. The system works better when you have the help of your local VA office. They know the ins and outs.

I have been putting this off for a long time. I am one of those from Naha Okinawa who spent great amounts of time in CRB and it never showed on my DD214. I finally went to the local VA assistance office and the counselor help me put in a claim for disability and to get my DD214 changed to show my Viet Nam service time. I happen to have old travel vouchers and hospital records showing I went to sick call while in CRB. I don't even remember going to sick call while there. Why I kept these old travel vouchers I will never know. The VA contacted me for some tests, with which I complied. They even paid mileage for my car. About three months later I get a letter from the VA stating I get disability for diabetes type 2 and tinnitus. I was given 30% disability. The counselor said this would take about three to six months. As for my DD214 being changed, he said that could take a couple of years as it was not high priority. There is a process in place, just let your local VA office help you with this process. They know the in and outs. I hope this helps someone else to process their claim. I am currently 71 1/2 years old, just for information.

Interesting: Easy to watch!

Awesome plane!!

Here

I remember the steak cookouts on Herky Hill.

That was me in my younger days. Battle damage had something to do with alcohol, the army and the Airmans club at CRB. The photo of me in the flight suit was taken at Tempelhof, Berlin Germany.

These are some photos that I had posted several years ago. I believe they were lost during some transition from site to site. These are mostly from CRB during 1967-68. The ones of the damaged wheel well are from blind bat in Ubon Thailand. The plane took a round in the right wheel well and landed back at Ubon on fire. We repaired it enough to fly back to Naha, Okinawa. Some of the other photos are of Herky Hill at CRB. The totaled airframe was along side a taxiway at CRB. It had a problem during a low level air drop at Khe Sanh.

I was TDY to CRB from Naha for most of my 18 month tour at Naha. I have no Viet Nam time on my DD214. I do have travel voucher copies, if I ever need them. I always rotated with my plane. Sometimes I flew in country with it, but most of the time that is when I got some sleep, while it was gone. We were working a minimum 12 hour days. I would be back at Naha for a week or two, then go back to CRB for three month tours.

Very sad for this crew. That is why not deviating from check lists and standard protocol is so important. The memory tends to forget important things unless concentrated on them.

All the C-130's I crewed in the 41 TAS at Naha, 68-69, had three bladed props. We flew to CRB and back many times, Just real noisy, but I was young and dumb and didn't mind the noise. As far as I can remember, we had very few prop write-ups. It could just be old age though!!!

Maybe the case of the FE or the A/C or Co-Pilot?

I flew on one blind bat mission out of Ubon. The next night my assistant flew with the plane. They took a 37MM shell in the right wheel well. We repaired it enough to return to Naha. I don't remember the tail number. That was my only experience with blind bat.

Great explanation, Lkuest!!!!

The rest of the story: A renowned Air Force officer shared her experiences in modern warfare with more than 700 veterans during the American Legion’s Washington Conference in the nation’s capital on March 22. Maj. Allison Black, the first female AC-130H Spectre navigator to open fire in combat operations and the first female Air Force Combat Action Medal recipient, gave an account of how she earned the moniker, “The Angel of Death,” in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Currently the Secretary of the Air Force public affairs operations communications team chief, then-evaluator navigator Major Black, flew into Northern Afghanistan’s insurgent territory in 2001 while assigned to the 16th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Fla. A former survival, evasion resistance and escape instructor at Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash., Major Black had only a call sign, a radio frequency and a longitude and latitude upon which to rely during the daunting task of helping the Northern Alliance get a stronghold on the territory. “The AC-130 gunship is designed to put bullets where bombs can’t go,” Black said. “It also uses a high-powered laser pointer that assists with target identification.” As the AC-130 crew unloaded 400 40-millimeter rounds and 100 105-millimeter rounds onto the enemy in the targeted area, a northern alliance general working with a U.S. team on the ground saw the gunship’s infrared laser and asked the team, “Is that a death ray?” Ground team members replied, “As a matter of fact it is.” The general called the enemy by radio and said tauntingly that American women were there to thwart Al Qaeda, adding, “The ‘Angel of Death’ is reigning destruction, so surrender now.” Not only did the insurgents quickly succumb, but the general later used the success of that mission as a teaching point to Afghan women during a ceremony. “Look what America allows their women to do,” the general said. “One day our country will have similar freedoms.” Air Force women serve in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan alongside their male peers in a range of combat aviation roles. It’s a direct contrast to the common misperception that women aren’t in the fight. “Although the enemy doesn’t think that women are supposed to be there,” Black said, “they shot at us anyway.” Black is a senior navigator with more than 1,500 flying hours. She has flown more than 540 combat hours during Operation Enduring Freedom. - See more at: http://www.legion.org/washingtonconference/98498/they-called-her-angel-death#sthash.PoIfa4eH.dpuf