New Plane for Gil

[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....

[Terry Carraway]

[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.

[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]

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

[B.Butler]

J-model. completely different airplane.

[Scott Dyer DXR/CT]

Hey Ray, I see these puppies a lot at MSP.

[Russell Holton]

I assume the likely buyer would be a museum. What's the options for moving it since it's not airworthy? Can it be trucked?

[Ray Tackett]

All the Hercs I saw in VN had four-blade props. The one on sale must be an early one.

On my first ride in a Herc (wilth seats along each side ala C-47s for paratroopers), we were still parked, engines off, when the A/C entered the cabin from the flight deck. He took each man's firearm(s), dropped the clips, locked the actions to the rear, and set the safeties. After he finished with the last man, he turned to us and said, "I've been shot down from the inside -- twice."

One side of the "world's largest" helipad at An Khe was a not-so-long dirt runway. It was at the end of the trip mentioned above. Pilot and plane did their excellent short-field stuff, no problem. Two guys got airsick (groundsick?) between touchdown and stop.

[Gil Buettner]

We ride combat load. We doan need no steenkin' seats!

(My last "domestic" flight in VN was combat load in a C-123 with added jet engines.)

Two turning, two burning. Never flew in a C-123, and I regard that as good luck.

We always rigged seats for US troops, but with combat loading (straps across the floor of the cargo compartment) we once had almost 150 Vietnamese refugees in an airplane designed for a maximum of 110 passengers.

This was a flight from DaNang to Pleiku, and right after takeoff we heard the tell-tale intercom message: "Loadmaster's going on oxygen." Someone had vomited, and the rest soon followed.

After we landed and they got off, we called the fire department to come and hose down the inside of the airplane. They refused. "You don't have a fire hazard."

The loadmaster took a can of hydraulic fluid and poked a hole in it with a screwdriver. "Sir, we have a fire hazard." The Army firefighters were not amused, but they did wash out the airplane.

[Ray Tackett]

Complete set of troop seats (96) including complete set of stanchions for litters

We ride combat load. We doan need no steenkin' seats!

(My last "domestic" flight in VN was combat load in a C-123 with added jet engines.)

[Gil Buettner]

What would it burn per hour?

I don't remember. I think we could carry more than 50,000 pounds of JP-4 and burn about 4,000 pounds per hour.

[B.Butler]

Next AvSIG GIG IN the plane!

so...we're all meeting in Marana, Arizona?

[Terry Carraway]

Can I borrow your credit card for fuel?

What would it burn per hour?

[John O'Shaughnessy [FCM]]

Next AvSIG GIG IN the plane!