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Larry, really fantastic details about the B-11's. Thanks for that. Bob, I've been looking up details of the 556th Recon Sqdn since you told me about it and am I right in noting that it didn't get C-130B-11's until after these photos were taken, which was January 1963? Contemporary records also seem to show that the 6091st had the C-130A-11's not the B's as they were all with Larry's outfit, the 7406th at Rhein-Main. However you've shown me that these are B models and my negatives show that the aircraft were in Singapore in 1963. I can only assume that B-11's filtered into the Far East at that time. Well at least one, as '70483' is presumably standard B model that's along as a backup aircraft, as it has doesn't have the large slipper tanks. Are there similar comprehensive histories about C-130B-11's like Dutch gave me for the A-11's? David www.focalplanes.co.uk

Bob, Thanks for that info. After looking into this some more, I think you're correct in supposing that these aircraft were on missions near Indonesia, as Singapore would be the best place to do that from. A few months later a US Navy A3 Skywarrior photo recce version showed up at Singapore and flew a few missions and I was convinced that he was looking at Indonesia as well. Us Brits did a bit of electronic surveillance at that time, firstly over Borneo in December '62 and a year later aiming at Indonesia. The aircraft was a Comet 2R of 51 Sqdn and flew Singapore to Darwin so as to position along the coast. The Comet's looked like standard RAF Transport Command aircraft, having all their aerials hidden in the skin of the aircraft (American equipment infact at that time). Alas that rendered them only partially pressurised....so damn cold inside at operating altitude. Another question though; 70483 seen at Changi, doesn't carry the large underwing pods or even have pylons for them fitted. Would those electronics pods be easily demountable? Did the operators just sit in the cargo area or were B-11's heavily modified inside? Reading this website's listings I can see that some B-11's were re-instated as cargo carriers again later. Also the pods weren't 'ECM' then, so no 'jamming' just 'listening'? Thanks again for the fascinating insight you guys have given me...you can learn so much from the internet, even 50 years on. David www.focalplanes.co.uk

Bob, what do you mean by '556 B-11's'? I don't really see why a unit would put false serials on planes back then. Obviously a C-130 didn't look like an electronic surveillance aircraft as it only had the extra large pods and no give away radomes or aerials. Giving it false serials, particularly from an earlier model of the aircraft doesn't seem necessary. The WV-2 however made no attempt at concealment. ...not that there was much that could be concealed on that! David www.focalplanes.co.uk

Here's my photo of 70483 from the rear. The serial does perhaps look strange, I agree. Not perhaps so much it's size but it's very 'thick and black' compared with other USAF C-130's that visited. So that's obviously the 6091st guys getting a bit ham-fisted when they put on the false number. I took a few of the WV-2 and so here's one with 50041's tail in the shot. The earlier pic of the 4-bladed props was on 70483 by the way. David www.focalplanes.co.uk

Thanks for proving that it's a C-130B-11....but I didn't realise that it could have been carrying the tail nos of an A model. So the other C-130 in at that time 70483 was also 'in disquise', see below for photo of it's engines. How often would ELINT USAF C-130's be working with a US Navy electronics plane, like the 'Willie Victor', that it was with, I wonder and would the WV-2 135749's tail code of 'KR-2' be false as US Navy Squadron VQ-1 carried 'PR' normally I believe? On whom would they have been snooping in early 1963? Vietnam hadn't yet caught fire, The US, Aussie and Brit jets had returned from their detachments in Thailand and Laos was only just getting interesting. I guess the later one, unless the US was showing interest in Indonesia. Sukarno there was pissed off with the newly formed Malay Federation and was shortly to lead them into 'Confrontation' with the Brits. He also was getting lots of Russian jets, including 'Badgers' so perhaps the US was showing an interest in those. However the US politicians were still backing Sukarno at that time. Here's 70483, obviously not an C-130A model as that serial suggests: David Taylor www.focalplanes.co.uk -aircraft photos from the Far East in the early '60s.

C-130A 50041 c/n [cn]3068[/cn] visited one of the Royal Air Force bases in Singapore, RAF Changi (now Singapore Airport) in January 1963. It was accompanying a US Navy WV-2Q 135749 which at the time was carrying a tailcode of 'KR2'. This 'Willie Victor' was later shot down whilst serving with VQ-1 in 1969 by North Korean Mig-17's as it was carrying out a patrol along the North Korean coast. The 31 crew all perished. The C-130A 50041 at the time looked like a C-130B-II version, although I see your records still show it as a standard C-130A. It had Hamilton Standard 4 bladed props, the extra large underwing tanks (ECM pods) and had a radio aerial from mid-fuselage to tail. All these fittings were I believe on the C-130B-II's. Another C-130A 70483 came in a day or so before 50041 and the WV-2 and it also had 4 bladed props, but no underwing tanks at all. All the previous Hercs, both USAF and Aussie that I'd seen had been normal C-130A's with the 3 bladed Aero Product props. Was 50041 possibly operating with the 6091st Reconnaissance Squadron at Yokota, which used the C-130B-II in the ECM role? By the way this was the second time that a US Air Force C-130 had accompanied a US Navy WV-2 into RAF Changi. The earlier occasion had been when WV-2 145926 from the Pacific Missile Range, NAS Point Mugu, had come in with C-130A 50037...but they had been tracking Cmdr.John Glenn's splashdown in 'Freedom 7' (Feb '62) Here's one of my photos of 50041 with it's Navy friend: David Taylor Dorset UK Visit www.focalplanes.co.uk to see hundreds of aircraft photos from Singapore 1961-1964.