New Plane for Gil

[Bruce Gorrell]

C-130A had 3 blade props. C-130 had the short nose.

I think that nose is a special mission thing.

[Terry Carraway]

No, the original planes did not seem to have the radome.

If you check out the TV show Steve Canyon, available on Peacock or Amazon Prime, you can see a very early one in one episode. The TV show as 58-59, so WAY before the Special Ops versions.

It seems only the early C-130As were like this.

[Terry Carraway]

[Gil Buettner]

Did I already tell this story? The A models had a horrible reputation for prop beat problems. When I graduated from UPT, I was ranked number 20 in my class. Number 19 was a guy named Ron Burt. As we went down the selections, there were a few C-130E models and then some A models.

In 1969, the only A models were based in Okinawa or were in the Guard and Reserve. When it was Ron's turn to pick, there was one E model left, and he turned to me and said he would take the A model because he was married, and Okinawa was an accompanied tour. I was single and might be sent right to Taiwan for the Vietnam missions, and Taiwan was not an accompanied tour. Ron was playing it safe for himself and his marriage.

A week or two later, the orders were cut. Ron was going to Okinawa. With his bride. I got orders for Topeka, Kansas.

That was 1969. Two years later, after volunteering, I did get sent to Taiwan and left my wife behind in Wisconsin. But that is another story....