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JimH

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    SEA

    in C-130 General

    Posted

    No Naha crew and no A-model crew was ever awarded the Air Force Cross. Shortly after we started operating out of Cam Ranh, the Air Force established a major base at Tuy Hoa complete with a hard-surface runway and a wing of F-100s. Tuy Hoa was on the coast and was hardly a forward area. ARRS had HC-130s there and for a time in '68 there was a C-130 operating location there. A couple of HC-130s were knocked out there by rockets during Tet '68. Before the new base opened we used the short runway that had been built by the French or Japanese. John Butterfield ran off the end of it when one of his props hung up on the low-pitch stop. That was the one that was towed with tanks and chains, but it was by Army troops, not Marines. Binh Tuy was down in the Delta and was an around the clock base with a lighted runway. We went in and out of there at night all the time. They had a couple of squadrons of A-1s there.

    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

    Okay, I have a question

    in C-130 General

    Posted

    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

    Intersting loads?

    in C-130 General

    Posted

    Nice lookin' Mimi, Jim. Still have it?

    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!!

    Intersting loads?

    in C-130 General

    Posted

    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...

    For all veterans with a service connected disability: (or if disabled)

    in C-130 Community Announcements & Promotions

    Posted

    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!!!

    For all veterans with a service connected disability: (or if disabled)

    in C-130 Community Announcements & Promotions

    Posted

    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

    Start-up Checklist

    in C-130 Technical

    Posted

    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)...

    Cck

    in C-130 General

    Posted

    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..

    Gary Speer LM on 63-7886

    in C-130 General

    Posted

    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...

    USAF Personnel Records

    in C-130 General

    Posted

    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...

    Hurricane Hunters

    in C-130 General

    Posted

    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!!

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