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Post by nikonbob on Oct 10, 2006 13:30:35 GMT -5
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Post by John Parry on Oct 10, 2006 14:20:26 GMT -5
Bob - I like the Hercules too. Actually I rather like Lockheeds in general, and in my 'regular flyer' days, always preferred the Tristar to the Jumbo. Nowadays, of course, I prefer the Airbus..... (TIC).
But what impressed me was that there was a flight of C130s based at Jeddah, and they managed to survive everything that the RSAF could throw at them!
Regards - John
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Post by kiev4a on Oct 10, 2006 14:48:18 GMT -5
The C-130 has been around for decades in one form or another. The is a local National Guard unit with several.
Back in the 1970s I was working near the local Air Guard facility. This was shortly after the Israeli raid on Entebbe. For a month or more there were several black C-130s doing "touch-and-goes" on the airport runway --usually just after dawn or just prior to dusk. The planes didn't have any visible military markings. They weren't doing normal approaches. They would come in quite high. slow down to a stall and then literally drop out of the sky from maybe 25-50 feet up, landing with a heck of a jolt but only rolling a couple of hundred feet after touchdown. Later I was told the planes were from a base back east and were part of the newly organized "Delta" anti terrorist force. The pilots were practicing the type of assault landings that had been so successful in the Entebbe operation. The beating those Hercs got were a testament to their design.
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Post by doubs43 on Oct 10, 2006 16:15:18 GMT -5
But what impressed me was that there was a flight of C130s based at Jeddah, and they managed to survive everything that the RSAF could throw at them! Regards - John John, it doesn't hurt that Lockheed is there to support them. I spent most of August and September, 1990, at the Prince Abdula RSAF Base. First on the main side where Lockheed had their hangars and then at the Hadj on the other side of the runways. My impression from what I saw of the facilities, planes, small arms weapons etc. was that the Saudis bought first class stuff. For military airlift support within theater, the C-130 "Herky Pig" is an outstanding aircraft. I spent a lot of years working on them; From the A models through the E models and some of the more modified versions on occassion. Walker |
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Post by John Parry on Oct 10, 2006 17:41:06 GMT -5
Walker - you joined as I left!
The most clinical canteen I've ever eaten in though!
Regards - John
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Post by Randy on Oct 10, 2006 21:13:20 GMT -5
There was a Russian plane in Erie a few years ago bigger than the C-130. They used it to take a new locomotive to Switzerland.
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Post by nikonbob on Oct 10, 2006 21:26:36 GMT -5
Randy
The 50 year old Herc design is not very large by today's standards. I am kind of thinking that the plane used to transport that locomotive might have been a Russian An 225.
Bob
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Post by doubs43 on Oct 11, 2006 0:35:44 GMT -5
Walker - you joined as I left! The most clinical canteen I've ever eaten in though! Regards - John John, I was a senior NCO with the 19th Air Refueling Wing out of Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. We were among the first of the US military contingents to reach Saudi after the invasion of Kuwait. Our planes were KC-135R models. My eldest son with the 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment (AIR), 82nd Airborne Division, was with the first US Infantry to reach Saudi and arrived about 36 hours prior.... but completely on the other side of the country. I retired in 1992 with over 24 years active service, having originally gone in at the beginning of 1965. My field was Airborne Navigation Equipment repair; Radar, Tacan, VOR, altimeters and such. I spent a lot of years on cargo aircraft (trash haulers) of all kinds and more years on fighters, choppers and tankers. My six years in your beautiful country was on A-10's. It was an interesting career and enabled me to see a lot of places around the world; some beautiful and nice and some I'd just as soon not have gone to see. But, when the Brass says "Go", you go. This picture was taken while I was on our shooting range about 14 months ago. I used a Spotmatic II and a 135mm lens (IIRC). This is full frame and I doubt that they were over 150 feet high when it passed. They were doing some sort of low-level practice runs with a second plane. The top of the pine you see isn't all that tall!  Walker |
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