JimH

If a movie has any airplanes in it, my wife refuses to watch it with me! She says I spoil the movie by pointing out all the mistakes! The woman has no sense of humor . . .

Sam, The HC130s that were destroyed at Tuy Hoa were hit in June (or July) of '68. I was there on rotation from CCK that night. My FE (who was a tank commander in Korea) woke me up and said to follow him to the bunker - he said he was quite familiar with "incoming" and that's what the noise was! The next morning 2 of the HCs were destroyed. Here are some pictures I took when we taxied out the next day.. also, the C130 Operating Location at Tuy Hoa was there for the whole 13 months I was at CCK (Jan '68 to Feb '69) and was still going when I left (Det 3 (prov) 834 Air Division). Jim Houston

Then Capt. Figgins was the co-pilot on my first crew at Dyess in 1966. Picture was taken at Wheelus AB, Libya while we were on rotation to Mildenhall in October 1966. RIP, Jerry...

Lately I've seen several videos and still photos of Heavy Equipment drops and I have noticed that the anchor cable arms are retracted during the drop. When I was doing this (1966-79) the checklist said to put the arms down as soon as the ramp and door were open... what's up?? - Did they change the procedure? JimH C130 LM/ILM 1966-1979

What got the VA to recognize my "boots on the ground" was the citation that accompanied my DFC -- it said something about "while on the ground at Khe Sanh, RVN ..." That did it for me.. So, Graywolf88 should check the citations with his medals; what he needs could be there...

No, unfortunately -- had to sell it in 1982. Wish I had kept it, it was a blast to drive - of course, I raced one in England in '72, so I'm familiar with fast Minis!!

1 - Picked up 2 155mm Cannon barrels somewhere in RVN in 1968 - had to put them in one with breech fwd and one with breech aft to keep the CG within limits ... 2 - In 1978, I was in the Reserves at Bergstrom and we had a trip to Mildenhall. I was restoring a 1963 Mini at the time, so I picked up some things I needed such as 4 mag wheels, 4 tires, a set of fenders, rocker panels and a couple of seats. Coming back, we had an MD-3 tied down in the cargo compartment - when the customs lady came on board and asked about the wheels and tires, I told her they were spares for the MD-3! Hey, they were 10" wheels so they looked close enough to the right size.. had the fenders and rocker panels up in the strap boxes - We put the ground loading ramps on the cargo floor (needed them there to unload the MD-3) and I put the seats in the door --- which was open when customs came onboard anyway...

Went to Lowes yesterday with the wife. I waited in the car while she went into the garden dept. I told her if she found anything, to call me and I'd come in so we'd get the 10% Military discount. She came out with a cart, and loaded stuff into the car. I asked her why she didn't call me and she said she didn't need to - they took HER DEPENDENT ID CARD and gave her the 10% discount!!! Don't know about any other Lowes, but the one here in Palm Coast has it all together as far as I'm concerned!!!

Seems to me it was something like "Tassles" ???

For Veterans in Florida with a VA disability (I'm 30% and I got one), for $1 you can get a lifetime free pass to all State parks (with a couple of exceptions). From the Florida State Park Website: Free Lifetime Military Entrance Passes for honorably discharged United States veterans who have service-connected disabilities. Proof of identification, service-connected disability, honorable discharge and veteran or retired military status are required. Satisfactory written documentation to prove eligibility includes: Personal identification (i.e.: driver license) and Current official documentation from the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Veterans Affairs or an appropriate branch of one of those agencies, naming the bearer as having sustained a service-related disability, and Most recent DD Form 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, showing the named individual's Character of Service as Honorable, or Other current official documentation from the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Veterans Affairs or an appropriate branch of one of those agencies, naming the bearer as veteran, or retired military, or Florida Department of Motor Vehicles driver license or identification card with a capital "V" designation printed on the card indicating the bearer is a veteran. Here's the website: http://www.floridastateparks.org/thingstoknow/annualpass.cfm Jim Houston

I was a LM, but got some education from FEs I flew with - I seem to remember the starter buttons were held in by a solenoid and were released (popped) at some % or else the AC would pull the button out. Back in '67 we were flying back and forth between Turkey and Germany - started and ended in Turkey - after several trips, the AC said "turning 3", pushed in the starter and I called rotation ... he then pulled the button out and pushed it back in! Rotation stopped, and we got to spend the night in Munich while the CC changed the starter... (I'm pretty sure the statute of limitations has passed by now, besides, the AC passed away back in '95)...

Well, John, you and I and Bob all have the same memory ... at least I'm not going senile!!

Here's a couple of shots of the Hsu Lun motorcycle shop in 1968. They disassembled and packed my Honda 90 so I could mail it home! Notice the custom gas tank, seat, exhaust and handle bars (and lots of chrome)!! Got back to Texas and found out it was dangerous to ride a 90cc bike in the States, so I sold it to my step-brother..

I was in England on rotation with the 346th when the crash occurred. What we heard was the pilot was an ex-B47 pilot who had just transferred to C130s. We heard the B47 trim tab switch is located where the 130 interphone switch is located. The airplane was at a turning point in the route, and the pilot probably was acknowledging the new heading to the nav and he had pushed the trim switch forward to talk on the intercom and the airplane descended into the ground. Don't know if this is any more correct than anything else, but that's what we were told back then...

If you consider that "old, old" stuff, I'm glad I haven't found any of mine!! I went to Sheppard in Jan '66 - so my stuff ('66 to '70) would be ancient!!! Jim

We dropped lots of PLADS for training when I was at Dyess 66-67 - easier than HE ...(If I remember correctly)

Sorry Casey, I should have clarified my statement - Forbes had B models in 1966. I was at Dyess with the 63 E models at the time..

Forbes had B models

Mine's British - 39 years so far!

When I was at CCK in 1968, most (if not all) of the E models there didn't have externals installed.

Just looked through the Inventory, and I found it interesting to see a MIG-15, 2 MIG-17s and a MIG-21 listed! JimH

Break out the acronyms and you can figure out what they did: AWADS - All Weather Aerial Delivery System SKE - Station Keeping Equipment

Giz: As a former LM, I have another flight in a C130 on my bucket list too... my last one was in 1981, just before our AFRES unit traded the 130s for F4Ds... let me know if you figure out a way to get 'er done!! Jim Houston

It hasn't mattered (so far), but I very stupidly tossed out my Form 5 about 8 years ago. Kinda wish I had kept it - might have made proving I was in RVN easier (I did manage to prove it to the VA). Plus I could have looked at the various tail numbers I flew on...... sigh... oh well, it's long gone now...

I worked at the NOAA Aircraft Operations Center (home of the NOAA Hurricane Hunters - they have 2 WP-3Ds) from 1997 until I retired in 2008. I was invited several times to go along for a hurricane penetration. I told them I had plenty of experience puking in the back of a C130 on low levels when I had to fly - I had no desire to voluntarily subject myself to more!!