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Post by olroy2044 on Jan 4, 2008 16:06:02 GMT -5
Walker, you know aircraft are going to catch my eye! Very nice shot of an interesting aircraft. I really like the one of Cassie too. I keep saying that I want to shoot some b&w, but somehow never do. Must be one of those "round tuit" things Roy
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Post by doubs43 on Jan 4, 2008 16:40:39 GMT -5
C141 Transport. Back in 1966 I was going through Army Basic Training at Ft. Lewis, Washington. All day long C-141s would fly over us while we were marching and I kept wishing I was on one of the planes. THEN I found out where the transposts were going!. Years later I flew from Idaho to Norway on one. That's a long flight in an aluminum tube with no windows. Wayne, in 1966 we were just getting our first C-141A aircraft (the early un-stretched models) at McChord. I began my tour there in February, 1966, and we had 48 C-124's - "Old Shakey". The 141's began arriving in about September as I recall. When I left in May, 1968, we had about equal numbers of each aircraft. I immagine that you saw a lot of the first training flights as we made the transition to the C-141. I maintained the navigation systems including the Radar, Loran, VOR, Tacan, ADF etc. We flew alot of 4th ID soldiers to 'Nam. They trained the whole division at Ft. Lewis before shipping them out. A lot of equipment went by boat out of Puget Sound and a lot of the soldiers were flown from McChord. I recall one soldier who bolted at the last minute and went running across the tarmac with two big MP's hot on his heels. They caught him, threw him bodily onto the plane and the door was closed immediately. I made a few trips across the Pacific on 141's myself, including one as a Special Courier from Japan to McChord. I was issued a .45 Automatic Pistol, two mags with cartridges and a web belt/holster. A Lt. signed for it. I wasn't asked if I knew how to use it or even load it. (I did..... could have field stripped it and put it back together if need be.) I did my first qualification with the M-16 at Ft. Lewis on a 1000 inch range. When I did basic at Lackland, I qualified on the M-1 Carbine as the M-16 hadn't been issued in quantity in early 1965. It was demonstrated for us and I wasn't impressed. Never have liked it. Walker
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Post by doubs43 on Jan 4, 2008 16:57:10 GMT -5
Walker, you know aircraft are going to catch my eye! Very nice shot of an interesting aircraft. I really like the one of Cassie too. I keep saying that I want to shoot some b&w, but somehow never do. Must be one of those "round tuit" things Roy Thank you, Roy. You'd enjoy the local Air Museum here in Warner Robins, GA. It's right beside of Robins AFB and a lot of the volunteers who donate their time and skills to maintaining the display AC are either active duty or retired Air Force. You could easily spend a full day at the museum viewing the exhibits. Until his death a couple of years back, General Robert Scott of "God is my Co-Pilot" fame was a huge mentor of the museum, giving freely of his time and using his name to help them. He was a classy gentleman. Not long ago the living members of the Enola Gay crew were here and before his death Col. (later General) Paul Tibbetts had also visited. Other notable groups and individuals visit each year. Walker
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Post by kiev4a on Jan 4, 2008 17:17:30 GMT -5
Walker:
Yeah as I remember the 141 was a brand new aircraft then. It was the 4th ID shipping out toward the end of my stay at Ft. Lewis (Nov. 1966) They were on main post and we were on North Fort but we passed through there sometimes on the way to the field. Seems like they were just about gone by the time I left in November but my memory may be faulty. We trained with M-14s. If you were issued M-16s for A.I.T you knew you were Vietnam bound.
The early M16s jammed often--especially in the tropics. They eventually solved the problem by chroming the chamber. Even though they were heavier I always preferred the M1 or M14 to the M16. They were heavy enough that if you ran out ofr shells you could do some serious damage by rapping you opponent in the head with the stock. The M1 would fire under just about any condition.
I had a buddy that was a military courier between the states and VN and the Phillipines. His job was to ride shotgun on the latest cypher keys being sent to HQs over there. Said the nearest he came to being killed was when several guards were in a vault at the Presido in S.F.. One guy way playing with his .45 auto and it went off. My buddy said they all thought that bullet was never going to stop bouncing off the vault walls!!!
The 141 I went to Norway in was going to be "stretched" right after our trip. That was in 1979, I believe. One of the crew members said the engines were plenty powerful already and the pilots had to be careful applying power as if they used too much it could damage the engine mounts and/or wings.
Wayne
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Post by doubs43 on Jan 4, 2008 21:02:04 GMT -5
Wayne, the C-141 depot maintenance was performed at Robins AFB, GA. Only two of the original version (un-stretched) C-141's remained and they were being used by NASA who didn't require the larger version. I don't know if any are still flying now but I think all have been retired. I could be wrong about that though as I really haven't kept up with them.
My son carried the M-16A2 while in the 82nd Airborne and didn't have much faith in it, especially when he was in Gulf War One. His had the M-40 grenade launcher. He was also qualified on the M-240 machinegun and the Dragon anti-tank launcher.
It's interesting that the M-1 Garand proved to be more reliable than even the '03 Springfield according to a veteran of Guadalcanal who observed both in extensive use. If something broke on the '03, it was usually kaput while the failures with the M-1 were normally with the gas/rod mechanism. The bolt on the M-1 could be worked very quickly by hand and still function. The account is in a book by a Lt.Col. George called "Shots Fired in Anger".
Walker
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Post by kiev4a on Jan 4, 2008 22:28:46 GMT -5
One of my true regrets is that back in the late '60s I owned a mint Garand (paid $100 for it) and for some forgotten reason I sold it. The M1 and the Colt 45 Automatic were two of the most reliable weapons ever made.
The M-14 had a larger capacity magazine than the M1 and allegedly could be fired full auto. But we used them in Basic and had to be careful not to bend the flash suppressor on the end of the barrel. Also,you wouldn't want to try to shoot it full auto without a bipod because the .308 caliber (7.62 NATO) had a pretty good kick to it. I've seen M1s that had been run over by tracked vehicles that would still shoot.
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