aircommando130
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Posts posted by aircommando130
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Having 2000 hours on the C-130E/MC-130P and building a few Herk...the prop warning line falls in the same place on the model as the real airplane. The "E" had -7 engines and the "H" had -15 engines...same cowling for both. The "E" had a GTC and the "H" had an APU and all C-130's up to the first few E models had a side door on the left front side of the cargo compartment to load cargo (just aft of the crew entry door). Depending on which country you are building your airplane there may be some other changes as well. Enjoy building your model of "The four fans of freedom". Anytime/Anyplace...Ron
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Joel, I was going to add in my first post that Col. Uttarro (then a Major) was the pilot of the EC-130E fuel bladder bird that was sitting next to the EC-130E fuel bird that got hit by the 53. Those guys were from the 8th SOS, MC-130E crews but needed air re-fuelable C-130's to get the job done since all the MC-130's had not been modified yet. He waited till all the Delta guys and the survivors of the crew of the burning airplane were on board till he left. The radio operator was burned pretty bad and the loadmaster "Banzi" Jim McClane broke his back in a couple of places and didn't know it till months later. Col Uttarro went on to be the co-pilot of the "Credible Sport" YMC-130H rocket power augmented airplane that would of been used in the next raid. It crashed at Duke Field,Florida when the forward firing rockets all fired before landing, breaking off the right wing and ending the project. Anytime/Anyplace...Ron
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I have seen pictures of the phantoms that would have participated in the raid with yellow and black "invasion stripes" painted on the wings for air identification since the Iranians also operated F-4's. The 26th anniversary of the raid is the 25th of April. I hauled 2 of the 53's that were used in the raid from Norfolk NAS to Diego Garcia...made for a couple of long crew duty days. When I went to Special Operations in 1989 Col. Jerry Uttarro was my squadron commander and now working here at Kirtland training Special Operations MC-130 crews there are 2 guys I work with who flew the raid..Lt Col's (retired) Russ Tharp and Sam Galloway. Great guys still serving their country...Ron
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I am going to build my 32nd F-15C into 73-100 from Luke AFB, AZ. It's the one with the yellow stripes on the tail and wings. I've got pictures of both sides of the airplane but can't tell if the yellow stripes are on the underside of the wings. I've got "A" model rims and instrument panel, Revell nozzels with turkey feathers and a Escapac seat. I've got to add the speedbrake stiffiner, no problem there. Those early eagles had the same size pods on top the tails and I had read that they did not have the Internal Countermeasures Sets installed in bay 5 when they were delivered. The pictures I have are from the March 1976 timeframe. I think it would be a colorful eagle in the old Compass Ghost Gray paint with yellow ACM stripes outlined in black, white tail codes and tail numbers and a Air Superiority Blue external tank and a training AIM-9. The good old days of Tactical Air Command! 555th TFTS...The largest distributor of MIG parts in Southeast Asia when in F-4's!
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I did not know the T-37 was on it's last days. Maybe some will make their way to the airshow circuit. Another workhorse is soon to be no more...the C-141 Starlifter will make it's final flight in May. I remember seeing the first one arrive at Edwards as a kid...then I got several hours "deadheading" on the 141 when I was a C-5 guy. The workhorse of the Military Airlift Command...the T-tailed, subsonic bugsucker is soon to be gone to the boneyard.
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I climbed in a CV-22 test bird that was here from Edwards a few months back...banged my head on the cabin ceiling when I stood up...and I'm 5' 9"...seating was cramped with the sidewall seats and it will not hold any current made military vehicles. I've got a couple hours flying in the full motion sim and when you get it in "airplane mode" it is fun to fly. Being a "fixed wing" guy...that hover thing took a while to get down. However...looking at the current issue of the Air Force Times, Secretary Rumsfeld says he is leaning toward the HH-47 as the CSAR-X helicopter and...is also considering doing away with the AF as a seperate service and moving them back to the Army as the AAF again. So...some changes are on the table for the future.
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I flew a few missions that we had to sign "non-disclosure" statements...different call signs and late night departures...only to read about the whole operation later in Aviation Leak and Space Technology!
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There is also a rumor going around that AFSOC will be dissolved and all SOF assets will go back to AMC as a numbered AF to reduce the number of major commands. That's how we were years ago...MAC, 23rd AF. I'm glad I'm retired and don't have to deal with that...Ron...alumni of 23rd AF and AFSOC...currently Lockheed Martin VTRAT/ MC-130P loadmaster instructor.
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Gussets are triangle pieces of metal to stiffen up the angle so it won't bend with the weight of the ODS sliding dolly on it.
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By the time I was flying these planes they were SOFI modded "MC"s but looking at pictures they were set up like the first set in your above request and they had gusset's every couple of feet up the door.
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The HC-130 was built from the factory with the -15 engines...externally you can't tell them from a -7 though. The ODS rails were on the upper cargo door and mounted flush against the skin. You can use styrene "L" to make them. The flare tubes went between the ODS rails...again, 2 rows of 5 and if you look at the drawings provided by Larry you will see that they are at an angle so the flare will slide straight out of the tube. That way the flare could be deployed with the airplane still pressurized and the the doors closed with no reduction in airspeed due to limitations of the door being open.
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Don't forget the big scanner windows up front left and right...you can use any C-130 kit to build it...other than the gunship kits because they have the holes in the fuselage for the guns!
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Those are nice drawings Larry...they should help him out a bunch. Another thing about these airframes...even though they carry the "H" designator, they are actually "super E's"...having -15 engines and H-model outer wing panels to allow them to hang the refueling hose pod. The also had the GTC of the "E"...not the later APU. The air condition sucked but it was a good flying airplane as a Combat Shadow!!
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5 months at Altus...I spent 9 years there (May 1980 to Sept 1989)...3 years in the C-5 school and 6 years in the ALCE (now known as TALCE). Was there when the tornados came thru and tore the base up 11 May 82...from there I went to a JSOC assignment...then the fun really began!!!
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Those "walls" you mention are ramp air deflectors to keep the wind off the ramp during airdrop operations.
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The HC-130's started way back with MATS...which later became MAC. Then in the mid 80's they lumped all the non-airlift airplanes into 23rd AF (special operations, rescue, weather and aero med) where they all became the neglicted MAC assets. In 1990 when AFSOC became a seperate command (which I am an initial member) only the SOF assets made the move. Later on TAC (now ACC) wanted control of the rescue assets so they left AMC and went to ACC. Last year they moved again to AFSOC for parts and airframe commonality. They are still RESCUE units but their mission is slowly becoming SOF capable....they do not have all the SOFI mods and with the bensen tanks or tank installed they are mission limited as to the "customer" or equipment they can airlift or airdrop. The MC-130P has air refueling capability with a KC-135/KC-10 and no bensen tanks gives it a unobstructed cargo compartment. I can say first hand that if you spend 18 non stop hours in a C-130, when you land your ready to stand on something that doesn't vibrate for awhile!!
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Go to "google images" and put in HC-130...there will be pictures of airplanes showing most of the stuff I mentioned. The fouling lines would be hard to see but they run from the wingtip to the "hognose"...just behind the wiskers. That would be easy to duplicate with nylon thread. HTH...Ron
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The old HC-130N/P carried a radio operator on the flight deck so there was no bunk like on the C-130E. On top the airplane there was a cook tracker dome that would home on the ELT beacon from a downed flyer's parachute or the PRC-90 survival radio. Those airplanes also carried an ODS (overhead delivery system)...rails at the top of the cargo compartment for multiple MA-1 rescue kit delivery...The rails extended the length of the cargo door so it could drop free and clear the airplane. The door also contained a 10 tube flare launcher (2 rows of 5) so the crew could drop illumination flares to help the Jolly Green's find the guy at night or illuminate a ship at sea or whatever else was needed. The fuselage had two side hatches because the standard right side hatch was covered by the PJ's rescue bin...so Lockheed added another hatch on the left side. They carried 2 Bensen tanks in the cargo compartment and they had a catwalk with a ladder that went between them. They also had big scanner windows on the left and right forward sides with big seats for the scanner and tracker dome operator to sit in. They carried fouling lines from the "hog nose" to the wing tips when the Fulton system was going to be used...they kept the lift line out of the props if the pilot missed the yoke! HTH...Ron
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We have been telling the 15th SOS crews that come to Kirtland for Sim refresher to start looking for houses in Clovis for several months now. A lot of laughs at the time...but some long faces now! We will see now if folks really want to fly the special operations mission or just be stationed in Florida and DNIF with mystery ailments to stay off deployments. Look for a rush at the retirement section when it's formally announced!!
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The HC-130P fleet was gained by AFSOC from ACC a year or so ago. Since they were not fighters...ACC didn't spend any money on them. When the airframe reaches 38,000 flight hours severe restrictions are imposed on the airframe...to prevent another firebomber episode (remember the one that shed it's wings) and at 43,000 hours it's red X'ed and grounded. Those airframes have never had the center wing box's replaced sinced being built in the mid 60's at the Lockheed factory. The MC-130P fleet had their center wing box's replaced as part of the SOFI (special operations forces improvement) modification and are good to go. The "J" model herk does not have a flight engineer or navigator...in the low level enviroment you really need a flight engineer to keep a good eye on the systems and in the MC-130P we carried 2 navigators and a radio operator and 2 loadmasters as part of the basic crew. Believe me...flying low, blacked out with your wing tip 60 feet or so off a mountain side and the radar altimiter showing below 100 feet and your moving along at 200 knots in weather...it is a good feeling to have all those extra eyes lookin out and monitoring the systems. The next airframes to come up for wing box change...MC-130H and AC-130U...both of those are approaching 20 years of service and the heavyweight (over 155,000 lbs) flights and low level flying are taking their toll. Something does need to be done though...the SOF force has been neglected for a lot of years and now the extended jobs they do is accelerating their fatigue. Anytime...Anyplace...Ron
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When I was a C-5 guy I hauled two of those 53's to Diego Garcia...a long day...Travis to Norfolk NAS...upload two 53's...A/R to Andersen AFB, Guam...crew change and the airplane kept going. I came back out and crew changed with another crew that landed behind us and we took that jet to Diego...downloaded and went to Clark, AB where we got 72 hours off. The 53's were put back together and flown out to the Kitty Hawk and painted brown. They later transferred to the Nimitz and the rest is history. I work with several guys who flew into Desert 1 on the MC-130E's and the EC-130's that tankered the fuel. Proir to that incident I had flown several missions to Tehran and Shiraz hauling F-5E's, AH-1J's and UH-1's to the IIAF and IIAA. As things heated up we were pulling people out of the country right up to the time the embassy fell. Lots of "MAC waivers" for crew rest and flying time.
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That may be so but here at the school house (Kirtland AFB) there are no pave low gunner class's till March and the other crew positions are cutting back as well. The 53 guys that work for Lockheed Martin are scrambling for other jobs...CV-22, HH-60 and Huey before their jobs go away. The US-101 has been out here a couple of times and they say the "J" model will only be here three more years and the school will shut down here. Not for me to worry about though...the MC-130 will be around for a long time. Ron
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You will only be "safe" for a few more years...then the Pave Low will be sitting in the desert at DM!!
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Hey Jeff...wait till you get to do a NVG, comm out, night A/R with a MC-130...just receptacle illumination lights (on dim) and maybe the leading edge lights so you can see the props! It was as hair raising for us as it will be for you! "Standing by in pre-contact"...Ron
Herc ??
in Props
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If it's a current C-130E it may have missile warning sensors on the fuselage and flare/chaff dispensers on the pylon tank pylons (aft side) and up under the wing root on each side and just behind the forward gear doors. They still have the SKE dome on top just aft of the forward overhead escape hatch and the HF radio antennas that go from the forward fuselage to the vertical stabilizer. Drill the hole in the end of the prop dome...that is to hook up a duct to heat the prop oil in cold weather. On the flight deck there is a bunk on the wall at FS 245 (lower and upper) it go's all the way across to the Nav station. If you have a picture of a particular tail number go with that. With the wing crack problem that was discovered last year...it may be headed to the boneyard in the near future. Ron