On another note, a few folks have written to me at one point or another
regarding a print of a tired looking crew-dog carrying his B-4 bag and other
flying gear and have asked where they can get a copy.
I put a note in the blog here a few weeks back and asked for help locating the
artist. After a few false leads someone has tracked the artist down and
put me in touch with him. His name is Herbert C. Bailey, and he says the print
is still available. However, at the current time he has no way to take orders
online and would prefer that you not send emails to his work email address.
Regarding the print, he had the following comments:
Although I do not have a website yet, the lithos are for sale, signed and
delivered to your doorstep. The original name for the picture was Top
Floor, Last Room on the Left. Over the years it has attracted other
names. The original photo it was drawn from now hangs in Charlie's Bar
at the Altus AFB O'Club. I took the photo in 1989 but didn't finish the
drawing until 1995. It is a big seller for retirements and such.
Herbert C. Bailey
2078 Emerald Terrace
Mt. Pleasant SC 29464
If you are interested in getting one of these prints send him a note at the address
above and double check to make sure they are still available and to determine the
current price.
He will wait a reasonable time for your check to clear and then send you the
print.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006 10:43 am
Interesting Hobby
If you have ever done a tour of an FAA control center you may recall seeing
those little plastic holders that hold a strip of paper that the console guys
use to track the progress of flights that pass through their airspace. It's
hard to believe that after all these years they are still in use, but some
things are just so perfect that they never change and even in these days of
computers I guess you need a manual backup of what was on that computer screen
before the power went out. If you don't know what I'm talking about, here's a
screen shot from the recent movie "FLIGHT 93". By each controller's right
hand there is a bank of gravity fed strip holders which contains basic info
about each flight they are tracking on their scopes.
I don't know about you, but my wife calls me a packrat (a disease I picked up
from my parents) but here's a note from a former FAA flight controller named
Leon Cleaver. Leon's been saving this stuff since the early 70's and it makes
me feel a lot better!!
As a former Air Traffic Controller - USAF 1960-1964 (tower), FAA 1965-1981
(Cleveland ARTCC) - I took up a strange hobby, you might say, while at
Oberlin. I have had a life-long interest in military aviation (although not
as a military pilot) and began collecting various flight progress strips of
military aircraft going through Cleveland Center airspace. After a 30 day
period, these strips were tossed out as the new month came about. After
reading your article, I looked through the strips and found several C-141's
that had progressed through the Center airspace including one on 66-0177. I
have attached some strip scans for you information.
The strips are dated on the backside (EST), but the times on front are Zulu
time. I thought about taking the 0177 strip to The Air Force Museum, as I
probably will go there soon, but you may enjoy the lot more. I don't know
what you might do with them; maybe fellow Starlifter Pilots would like to
check logbooks to see if they flew that particular C-141 on that flight
& using the strip as a souvenir of sorts. I think there would be no
difficulty on your part in knowing the identifiers in the routing portion
of the stripes.
Leon Cleaver
PS - A fellow controller (1970's) related this to me. He was flown home in
an Air-Evac C-141 with a leg in a cast along with a plane full of wounded
from Vietnam. As they chatted with each other on how they were wounded, my
buddy could not lie and related how he accidentally stepped off the curb in
Saigon and was run over by the base shuttle bus - everyone aboard had a big
laugh!
Here's a few of the strips Leon sent me. These are all from the mid to late
70's and in total there are about 70 of them. One of these days I will get
around to scanning them all and posting them on a separate page.
If you'd like a detailed explanation of what all the numbers on these strips
mean, check this link to a NASA site that
has it all. Just hover your mouse over the individual blocks on the strip
to get it expanded.
Wednesday, November 1, 2006
And I was getting all Tingly Down There!!
Thinking about a flying C-141 (see entry below) was just too damn much
excitement for me. I put out a call for some help and it was only about 20
minutes before I had a good, but of course, very disappointing answer.
The two individuals claiming to have spotted a C-141 over Charleston last
week weren't seeing things. In fact, we had a IL-76 here for about 6 hours.
And it was a gray bird!! For those not familiar with the IL-76, it was
built by the Russians, and still being produced in Uzbekistan today. It
looks much like the ol' workhorse (C-141) we were accustomed to flying.
This is almost certainly what they saw. WikiPedia has a great bunch of
information about the IL-76, including this absolutely fascinating tid-bit:
"On August 29, 2005, the day before the levees of New Orleans gave way to the
forces of Hurricane Katrina, the Russian Federation offered humanitarian aid to
the United States. Two (2) EMERCOM IL-76 aircraft landed at a disaster aid
staging area at Little Rock, Arkansas September 8. This marks the first time
Russia has flown such a mission to North America. A second Emergency Situations
ministry IL-76 first-aid shipment, specially arranged with the U.S. leadership,
departed Russia for Little Rock September 14. India also used an IL-76 to
deliver aid on September 13, 2005 for Katrina victims." Hmmmmm ... FEMA couldn't
get their act together, and the Rooskies are sending relief in a C-141 CLONE
BEFORE the disaster even happened. Go figure.
For all of us who SHOULD know what this a/c looks like, but forgot, here's a
few photos:
USAID plastic sheeting arrives in Nyala. A USAID-chartered Ilyushin-76
airplane lands at an airstrip in Nyala, South Darfur. The plane carried 640
rolls of plastic sheeting to provide shelter for more than 40,000
conflict-affected people.
Airmen from the 15th Airlift Wing wait to board an Indian IL-76 medium cargo
aircraft for a training mission with an Indian aircrew visiting Hickam Air
Force Base, Hawaii, Sept. 20. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Shane A. Cuomo)
An Ilyushin IL-76 loading a medium battle tank.
I "borrowed" a bunch of the shots above from a website called IMCATAERO, which
seems to be at a Scandinavian Cargo Hub at Orebro Airport, the largest cargo
charter airport in Sweeden. There are a lot more photos
you can see at this link.
Wednesday, November 1, 2006
Mystery C-141 Sighting .... Is this possible?
On October 27th, I got the following email from George Miller:
From: George Miller yakimaw7@webtv.net
To: c141heaven@gmail.com
Date: Oct 27, 2006 6:32 AM
Subject: C-141
Yesterday 26 Oct, a light gray C-141 was seen flying over Charleston.
Unknown Tail No. Unknown Origin. It may have something to do with the
President's visit, as other White House aircraft /helicopters were also in
the area. Are there C-141's still at Andrews/other?
I responded:
From: Mike Novack c141heaven@gmail.com
To: George Miller yakimaw7@webtv.net
Date: Oct 27, 2006 7:07 AM
Subject: Re: C-141
I think whoever saw this was hallucinating. The last 141 to fly was 177
on May 6th as far as I know. If you ever get another view of this a/c be
sure to take a picture !!!
166 (the old CincMac plane) was flown to Scott way back in January or
February and has been on display there or is being refurbed for a static
display. It seems like the only possible one that could still be
flown but I don't think they are flying it at all.
Maybe it was a C-17 ? I know they have been using these for all the
presidential missions. I had a guy from Texas report a C-141 flying around
on a presidentail visit to McAllen. Later it was confirmed by someone who knew
what they saw that it was actually a C-17.
George wrote back right away:
From: George Miller yakimaw7@webtv.net
To: Mike Novack c141heaven@gmail.com
Date: Oct 27, 2006 8:06 AM
Subject: Re: C-141
I agree with what you say but being an old l41 person I recognized it
right off. It was so sudden, no chance for photo. What ever it was, it
wasn't a C-17.
It almost slightly resembled a DC-8, very long. But if there are none
flying it must have been a flying Dutchman.
May have been one of Pres. Bush's secret "spy on us stuff"
This morning I got this note from George
From: George Miller yakimaw7@webtv.net
To: c141heaven@gmail.com
Date: Nov 1, 2006 6:31 AM
Subject: Reference C-141 sighting
Confirmed by CMST Darrell Parker retired who claims that he too saw
the C-141. Chief Parker is an former Starliter Eng. with almost 20 years
with the big bird. Where did it come from? Who knows?
If anyone knows anything about this please contact me via email with any details.
Maybe they are flying Cheney around to undisclosed locations in the old CINCMAC
aircraft.
Wednesday, November 1, 2006
Very Interesting Web Site
Bob McKellar contacted me regarding a web site he manages that is devoted to
"Preserved US Military Aircraft". It's got a huge list of
aircraft types and links to museums all across the country where you can see
them.
James Fuller stopped by the AF Museum a few days ago and took some photos of
177. He commented :
"The museum restoration staff did a really nice job repairing the damage caused
by the storm. Still sad to see it sitting out there though. It is kind of cool
to hear what people have to say about it when they stop to check it out. Just
knowing I was a crew member on that plane makes me feel very fortunate indeed."
Monday, October 23, 2006 10:41 am
Two C-141's at Sheppard AFB
I got the following note and photos from Tom Dickerson about a week ago:
Hello, my name is Tom Dickerson. I was a C-141 Engineer at the 15th in Norton
and at Altus in the school house. Now I'm at Sheppard AFB. They have two
C-141's that have been moved to the north ramp to be de-miled and then sold for
scrap.
I commented back to Tom:
Keep 'em coming. Once they start the scrapping it goes very fast. I have a
video from a guy here at the DM boneyard showing the 'pros' chopping up a
C-141 last fall. From start to a pile of 5 foot chunks was about 30
minutes,max. I don't know how proficient your local scrappers will be, but I
bet it won't be that fast. If you can get some photos of the 'final moments'
that would be great.
And he responded:
The last group that did the C-130's were auto alarm installers from Dallas.
They came up with a brand 99 piece set of Craftsman hand tools and putzed
around for about a month and the disappeared. It would had been humorous if
it was not so sad to see a C-130 vandalized like that. We hope for a better,
swifter fate for the C-141's. I instruct in an Avionics maintenance tech
school so we get salvage a few parts for our school.
Monday, October 23, 2006 10:33 am
C-141 Sounds
If you have any 'sound' files you can share with us that would be great. These
could be ground-sounds, like APU start-up, hydraulic pumps running,
engine-start, and so on. Or take-off, fly-by's, intercom checklist chit-chats,
air to ground communications, you name it. Anything you can send along to
share would be great.
Note: If you tried this link earlier (than Friday, October 27, 2006 03:47 pm
PST) there was a typo in it which has been corrected and it now points to the
right place.
Sunday, September 24, 2006 12:01 pm
Crash of 64-0641 in the Olympic Mountains Near McChord
Ray Romero sent this note to me a few days ago:
To this day I still believe that I was some what remotely involved with the
events that happened that fateful day.
I was onboard Navy C-1A BuNo. 146041 preparing to land at King County
Airport in Seattle.
For us Non-Navy Types:Here's what a C-1A looks like
Our pilot kept asking control if that call was for him, as you will
notice the similarities in call numbers. To this day I am certain that
not only we were confused by that similarity but the crew of 0641 as
well.
I remember later on in the evening at home listening to the news about
the crash of the Starlifter in the
Olympics. Further reports at the Air Station in Whidbey Island
confirmed my nagging suspicions that it was the aircraft that was
airborne at the same time we were in that vicinity.
Warm regards,
Ray Romero
Mangaf, Kuwait
Sunday, September 24, 2006 12:01 pm
It was a Bad Day to Fly!
Lee Waters sent in a story about a hair-raising flight involving some
paratroopers and a lot of bad fuel.
Back in the first part of the year Paul Minert asked me to write an article
about the Hanoi Taxi and the C-141 in general for the American Aviation
Historical Society Journal. I did and the fall issue has been released with the
story as the lead article.
Here's a link to a
PDF file containing the full article and related photos.
If you are interested in Aviation History in general, the AAHS is a great
resource. Check out their web site at
this link. Annual memberships are currently about $39 for a year and well
worth it.
Saturday, September 2, 2006 09:19 am
Katrina Video
I ran across this short video on a DOD web site. There's a very brief shot of
the Hanoi Taxi evacuating some survivors.
I'm sure if you weren't a 63rd VET but just love the C-141 you'd be welcome to
join them.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
A few shots of 177 at the NMUSAF
66-0177 was placed on public display a couple of weeks ago at the National
Museum of the AF. People have started to visit and take photos which can be
seen here.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Power Point Patch
To all USAF military personnel: (ensure widest possible dissemination) The USAF
uniform board has just released a new patch for those trapped in HHQ staff
positions and other staff positions who have served above and beyond the call
of duty in making time consuming POWER POINT presentations day after day, week
after week, month after month without recognition. The new "PPT1000" patch,
attached below, is authorized to those who have put in at least 1,000 hours on
PPT presentations. Subsequent awards for 2,500 hrs, 5,000 hrs, and 10,000 hrs
are to follow. Posthumous awards for those putting in over 25,000 hrs. will be
presented to the next of kin, upon request. The patch may be affixed to the
flight suit with Velcro or sewn on the right shoulder of the battle dress
uniform. A special pin version will be developed for the blues and Mr. Rogers
blue sweater. Subdued versions are not authorized at this time. Similar patches
have been authorized in the past for flying combat missions, but since our real
mission today is to beat the other services out of $$$ by creating spectacular
PPT slides, the Board deemed this was absolutely appropriate at this time.
Please submit your request to your commander or servicing MPF for issue.
Saturday, August 26, 2006 07:26 am
Some Gia Lam/POW Release photos
Despite all the hoopla about 177 being the "first into Hanoi" it was actually a
C-130 that went in first. I got a photo in the mail from Lt Col Gene Thompson,
who at the time was C-130 pilot on one of the C-130 missions into Hanoi. He was
able to snap this shot a C-141(*) being loaded for departure at Gia
Lam on 28 March 73. The C-130 crew members escorted the ex-POW's from their
release point to the back of the C-141, carrying their small ditty bag of
possessions.
(*) Note:On 28 March 1973, two aircraft flew into Hanoi and back to Clark:
67-0007 and 66-7944. The photo from which this was scanned was too grainy to
make out the tail number of this aircraft.
By sheer coincidence, on the same day I got Gene's photo in the mail, another
C141Heaven visitor, Brian Gann, ran across a web site with a few photos of the
C-141s on the tarmac at Gia Lam. Here's a link to the "1st Mob/Comm" site.
With permission of the web-master of that site I've posted a few of the shots
below:
The C-130 support/maintenance aircraft Operation Homecoming (POW Release) Gia
Lam Airport, Hanoi, North Vietnam - 1973 - Picture by Tony Kristol
The crew of the support/maintenance aircraft Operation Homecoming (POW Release)
Gia Lam Airport, Hanoi, North Vietnam - 1973 - Picture by Tony Kristol
Picture by Tony Kristol
The 1st Mob was there! The project consisted of 7 trips into Hanoi with a
backup at Da Nang. One Mobster and a AN/MRC-108 radio jeep per location. 1st
trip, TSgt Joseph L. Harvey III - Gia Lam Airport, Hanoi, North Vietnam MSgt
Benjamin Scott - Danang AB, South Vietnam. 2nd trip MSgt Benjamin Scott - Gia
Lam Airport, Hanoi SSgt Tony Kristol - Danang AB. 3rd thru 7th trips SSgt Tony
Kristol - Gia Lam Airport, Hanoi TSgt Joseph L. Harvey III - Danang AB -
picture by Tony Kristol
March 4, 1973
1st US POW released that day, photo by C130 copilot Gia Lam Airport, Hanoi,
North Vietnam - Was on a Herc crew out of UTapao Thailand on March 4, 73 that
was the first US bird into Gia Lam that day dark and rainy morning in support
of Operation HomeComing, second release. LtCol Ed Jackson DO, 777 TAS Pope AFB
NC was the a/c. We stopped at Saigon Tan Son Nhut for an 0'DarkThirty pick up
of the "CHIP" team and various support folks who were to oversee and support
the release of our POWs plus we had some NVs on board also. Bird was a C130E, #
274 I think. As first in that day, we also acted as weather bird for the Star
Lifter, that came in (after the wx cleared out) to bring our men home. Wonder
if that's a picture of our bird on the pock marked ramp at Gia Lam. -
J.R.Repucci, Youngstown, Ohio Picture contributed by J.R.Repucci (C130 copilot)
Sadly, 66-0180 is in the process of being scrapped at Warner-Robbins. Wayne
King stopped by their museum last week and came across the initial stages of
the dismanteling effort. Check out the page for the aircraft at this link.
Saturday, August 19, 2006 07:15 am
C141heaven.infony Cash
Shortly after I returned from the May 6th retirement ceremony of the last C-141
(60177) I created a little video featuring lots of photos of C-141's set to
"I've Been Everywhere" by C141heaven.info Johnny Cash. For me, this was a first attempt at such
a thing and the result was OK but not great. However, through the miracle of
the internet it has spread far and wide and I've received lots of nice comments
about it.
If you missed it can see it at
this link (it's best to
right-click-save-as so you can view it again without having to download it over
and over).
There's 'Travels'
another one I made the same day here.
A few days ago somebody sent me a note reminding me that C141heaven.infony Cash was an Air
Force Man! Actually, for me it was not a reminder, as I never knew that to
begin with. Here's a few details about his days in the AF:
Enlisted in the Air Force on July 7,1950
Basic training at Lackland Air Force Base
Technical training at Brooks Air Force Base
Assigned to U.S. Air Force Security Service unit at Landsberg Air Base,
Gernmany
He was a morse code intercept operator. He later said the rhythm of the
morse code help his music
Bought his first guitar for $5.00 while in Germany and a friend taught
him a few chords
Founded his first band, the "Landsberg Barbarians" while at Landsberg
Discharged from the Air Force On July 3, 1954 with rank of staff
sergeant
Sunday, August 13, 2006
"MATS: The Story of the Military Air Transportation Service"
Another eBay deal: A book published in 1964 just as the C-141 was going
into service. It's a short history of MATS. The book is a masterpiece of PR
boosterism for MATS (not that there's anything wrong with that). The author was
a pilot in the US Army reserve, though in the inside of the dust jacket it
looks like he's standing in front of an F4 .. I didn't know the army had any of
those. He has written many books about aviation and military related history.
This title not particularly rare and widely available from a number of sources
such as Amazon's used book service .. about $20 or so. Just do a Google search
if you want a copy for your own library.
Here's a couple of shots of the dustjacket front and back.
I have been unable to locate any current (past about 2000 or so) information
about the author or publisher. Here's a link to the pages of the book which have
been scanned and converted to HTML for posting on the site: Click Here
Thursday, August 10, 2006 4:38 pm
Old MAC FLYER SAGE BRUSH Cartoons
Bob Faust submitted a bunch of old SAGE BRUSH cartoons which you can see on the
following link: SAGEBRUSH. These are from the late 70's. I don't know if the
current AMC 'management' has a sense of humor and publishes any similar
material today (but for some reason, I doubt it.)
I could not tell from the scans he sent in exactly which issue of the monthly
MAC FLYER they were actually from .. therefore, they are presented in no
particular order. You can click on the +/- buttons to navigate forward and
backwards through the list.
If you have others available please submit them to me so I can add them to these
pages.
Bob also sent a video which is too large to post on the site in its current
form (over 266mb). I will be trying to split it up into smaller pieces for you
to enjoy.
Friday, August 4, 2006 7:49 am
Hanoi Taxi Damaged in Storm
On August 3rd, 2006, at about 3pm local time 60177 was damaged when a very bad
storm blew through the Wright-Patterson area. Check out this link for
details.
Thursday, August 3, 2006 3:14 pm
C-141 Still Flying .... But only in Texas
I set up a news alert on Google some time ago to send me an email whenever the
word "C-141" appears in the news. Since there's not much C-141 news these days,
most of the time it tells me about some AF Colonel who "used to fly C-141's"
and has been promoted to base commander at some AF base.
Imagine my surprise when I got a Google alert today telling me that a C-141
landed at McAllen Airport in Texas as an advance plane carrying GWB's cars
before a visit he recently paid to that sleepy border town down yonder in Texas
to pander to the immigration amnesty crowd. I'm guessing this was a written by
a green-behind-the-ears reporter who thinks a C-17 is a C-141.
Easy enough to confuse (if your head is where the sun don't shine but
that's normal for Texans). PLEASE: That's just a joke, don't write me about it!
I love the great state of Texas, but as far as I know there were never any
(flying) C-141's actually based there so it rates lower on a 1 to 50 scale,
than say, Oklahoma.)
Here's the text of the alert:
PREPARATIONS FOR PRESIDENT'S VISIT CONTINUES
Thursday, August 3, 2006 Posted: 1:16 PM
Thursday, August 3, 2006
MCALLEN - Security preparations are being made for President Bush's arrival
in McAllen. A C-141 Starlifter cargo plane has arrived at
McAllen Miller International Airport. This plane is sent in advance of
every Air Force One flight. It carries the president's motorcade to the
destination.
The bulletproof limousines and vans inside the plane will keep the
president safe on the ground. President Bush will be making his way from
the airport to Anzuldas Park in Mission.
The FAA has notified pilots of restricted airspace for private planes. They
cannot land in McAllen or at the airports in Weslaco or Edinburg during the
President's visit.
The airport says commercial flights will continue as normal, but there may
be some delays during the President's visit. You're advised to check with
your airline to see if your flight is on time.
People interested in seeing Air Force One land won't be able to see much
from the airport's main entrance.
NEWSCHANNEL 5 has learned the best place to watch the landing is Cascade
Park. It's located at the end of 10th street on the southeast side of the
airport.
NEWSCHANNEL 5 will keep monitoring the situation and keep you up to date
with the latest
I don't know how long the link will be active but here it is if you are
interested:
Click Here for NewsChannel5!. There's a link to a video clip. I was hoping
for film of a C-141 landing, but all I could get it to play was commercials.
PS: The headline PREPARATIONS FOR PRESIDENT'S VISIT CONTINUES
is grammatically incorrect. It should be PREPARATIONS FOR PRESIDENT'S
VISIT CONTINUE, but remember, TV news works under very strict
dealines, so proofreading is not part of the time budget (and this was
written in Texas).
Thursday, August 3, 2006 3:14 pm
Nice Patches
Here's a link to some patches created by Don
Spering. There's an email address for him on the page. Contact him there if
you wish to purchase any of these items. These were loaned to me by Paul Minert
so I could scan them for the site. I have no idea what they cost.
Thursday, July 20, 2006 9:11 am
eBay MANIA: Maybe a new record!
From time to time someone writes me and asks where they can get a good model
kit of a C-141. I always suggest eBay. There seems to be a steady supply of
kits available for purchase and until this auction (see below) the prices have
been pretty reasonable.
Yesterday, this one went over the top. Notice that the winning bidder has
zero feedback usually an predictor of someone who is new to eBay and will
get carried away in the final exciting minutes of the auction. More power to
the seller, but a zero feedback buyer is also someone who is less likely to pay
when they realize that paying is not optional and they just spent too much!
However, in this case, another 141 fan/wacko with lots of experience bidding
was right behind him.
People, please! Do the rest of us a favor: Remain calm when bidding on eBay.
$93 would buy a lot of beer.
Saturday, July 15, 2006 2:29 pm
65-0238 In Hanoi
By now, we all know that 66-0177 was the first C-141 to fly into Hanoi and
carry the first batch of POW's to freedom. Did you know that 65-0238 was the
LAST? On 29 March 73 it flew the last 27 POW's from Hanoi to Clark AB, PI.
Larry Sturgill sent in the photo below which he took of 65-0238 on the ramp in
Hanoi as it was preparing to load and leave. He was on one of the C-130 crews
that landed at Hanoi prior to the C-141's which flew the POW's out of Hanoi.
The C-130's provided communications support and the crew members escorted the
POW's from the release point on the tarmac to the waiting C-141's.
Larry flew as a C-141 loadmaster from 1969-71 (between stints on the C-124 and
the C130).
Friday, July 14, 2006 1:36 pm
Nixon in China
The following news clipping showed up in an envelope a few days ago. Don't know
who sent it, but it is from way back in March of 1972. I don't know what
publication it is from, but it looks like it might be a local base paper,
probably at Charleston. I don't know if 644 was one of the aircraft that was
flown to Russia or just one that brought the crew home.
If you recognize any of these folks or have any details about the Russia trip,
please let me know.
Monday, July 10, 2006 7:16 pm
New Video Posted
You might have thought I dropped off the face of the earth since it's been so
long since I've managed to get anything posted here on C141Heaven. Sorry, but
gotta pay the bills and that means work from time to time. I've been very busy
with lots of things and finally got around to posting a video which I received
just last week from the 445th PA office.
After some flailing with my video editing software I managed to extract the
emotional speech given by the director of the National Museum of the AF, Major
General Charles Metcalf just minutes after 177 made its final landing at the
retirement ceremony on May 6th. He details the reason that 177 is the most
famous and special C-141. It was a windy day and the audio is a bit marginal
with the wind on the microphone but you can easily hear the speech without too
much difficulty.
When I get more time I'll extract and post a few more tid-bits from the DVD's
they sent me, including the final landing from a few different angles. All
total there's about 6 hours of video, much of it the same scene from several
vantage points. Some's pretty good, and some's not. I will try to pick the best
for posting on the site.
Friday, June 2, 2006 8:25 am
Nice Story from an Army Officer
Jeff Brown, a former Army officer who was associated with the 62nd MAW at
McChord has submitted a photo and story about his adventures.
Here's almost 200 shots I took of the Final Flight of 66-0177 on May 6th,
2006. You can see them by clicking here. I have not had time to add
caption information yet. These photos are presented in the order taken.
Here's a link to a few additional shots taken by Don Logan, a former POW
who flew on one of the flights on the 5th of May. He promised to send more
later.
Click Here for Don's pictures.
I received a CD from Major Theodore Theopolos at the Public Affairs office
at Wright-Patterson with 74 shots of the POW flights and the final flight.
You can see them by clicking here.
Sunday, May 14, 2006 7:53 am
A few New Tall Tales
C141Heaven's newest Tall Tail teller, David Millican, has submitted a few short
stories for your reading enjoyment.
Another video: This one is very mellow, so have a scotch (or martini) in
hand, watch the sunset and
Travels (YouTube)
view my second masterpiece here (about 7 mb, 5 minutes or so).
NOTE: For some reason, the last few seconds of the music track is chopped off
on this video. I have no idea why but it must be a bug in the software as it
plays fine in the edit mode but it just chops it off when the final output
file is written. I'm looking for a solution/fix. The software was free so I
can't complain too much.
Saturday, May 13, 2006 4:36 pm
Starlifter Wedding
The blessed event took place at the Startlifter Farewell event last week.
Photos can be seen here.
Saturday, May 13, 2006 4:11 pm
Starlifter Farewell Hanger Party Pics
The hanger party was a huge event the evening before the final flight of
66-0177. I took a few photos (not nearly enough). If any of you who were
there have any more (there were about 1200 people there, and at least 600
cameras going nearly full time, so I know there are more) please submit them
for inclusion here on C141Heaven.
For all you video types out there I've got a little challenge. Towards the very
end of the big hanger party last week I saw something on the big video screen
and it inspired me to create one too.
After a lot of fiddling I finally made a short little video you can download here.
use Right-Click / Save-As to download then you can view it over and over without having to download it again and again. Crank up your speakers and enjoy.
It's about 3 minutes long, (6 mb) , and honestly, it took me HOURS to create.
It's got about 200 pictures in it (that was the time consuming part) and it's
not a very polished effort (synching the musing and pictures is a challenge!)
Perhaps someone who has the right tools and time can create a better one
(should not be hard as I'm new at this video stuff) and submit it for all of us
C-141 nuts to enjoy.
Friday, May 12, 2006 5:53 pm
First Batch of Starlifter Farewell Photos
The first batch of 218 photos of the activities related to the C141 Farewell
event. These are of the POW flights conducted on Friday, May 5th, 2006. You can
view them at this link. These are
shown in the order taken.
If you have any photos you can share, please to me send them to me via email or if you have too
many to send that way you can mail me a CD or upload them to C141Heaven via
FTP.
Friday, May 12, 2006 8:25 am
Another Farewell Video
Danny McGahee was at the final landing on Saturday, May 6th and created a nice
video of the final landing. It's got the "teaser" go around, the final landing,
and taxi in, as well as the F-16 Missing Man fly by.
It's got some nice dramatic music added. You can save it to your local drive by
using "Right-Click / Save-As".
Here are a few videos for you to download. The Lockheed one is about 7 minutes
long and is basically the first half of the 2nd video, which was produced by
the 445th in conjunction with a Dayton area TV station.
It took me a while to get these converted to a format that you could download
and view. If you want you can download them to your local drive and watch them
using any player than can show a WMV file. You can save these to your local
drive by using "Right-Click / Save-As".
Today was the last flight of the C-141. C-141 fans by the hundreds were here at
National Museum of the USAF here near Wright-Patterson and witnessed the final
landing at about 9:30 this morning. The crew that put on the Startlifter
Farewell events did a FANTASTIC JOB. Here's a shot of the final roll-out of
66-0177.
I've taken close to a thousand photos over the past couple of days, and will be
posting a large number of them on the site in the next week or so. If you have
more to send me please do so.
It's been a great run for the greatest airlifter ever and now it's over.
C141Heaven is here ... to keep the memory alive.
Tuesday, May 2, 2006 4:25 am
Coffee Cup Info
A few weeks ago I purchased a coffee cup on eBay with the name "Gen Griffin" on
it, and on the other side, a C-141 with propellers.
I asked via this blog if anyone knew anything about it. Sure enough, in less
than a week I got this response :
I'm Dennis Korycinski, a 141 crew dog from the 60s/70s. Thanks for the
great website you launched on the super Starlifter--it has been an
enjoyable experience for me (and obviously many others) to follow the 141's
life on your site.
My first assignment was Norton AFB with the 15th MAS in 1969. I recognized
Brig General Lou Griffin's coffee mug on your 2006 Blog (Re--Coffee Cup: A Strange E-Bay Find). General Griffin was
the 63 MAW Wing Commander from 1968-1970. He passed away in 1996.
The general was attached to the 15th MAS for flying purposes. His coffee
mug hung on a rack in the 15th MAS coffee shack with everyone else's on the
2nd floor of Bldg 763 at Norton.
I think the "Old Shaky" C-124 troops had a hand in designing the mug (and
the squadron patch). The squadron was at Donaldson AFB, SC in 1961/1962,
participating in Operation Deep Freeze (support of the South Pole). Staging
out of Christchurch, New Zealand, they air-dropped supplies and equipment
to those poor souls in the frozen south.
Regarding the "propellers" shown on the mug:
Rumor was that the 124 heritage was not going to be forgotten just because
the squadron got a new bird. Some enterprising individual had the props
added on the 141 engines for the mugs.
The eagle/globe image you see on the mug was the one used for the
squadrons' patch.
The patch was the one issued to crews when I was there (at Norton) and
prominently included the "Deep Freeze 61-62" mission designation.
Monday, May 1, 2006 9:09 am
C-141 Book Review: Heavy Jets by Jim Miller
Jim Miller has released Heavy Jets, a fictional account of the
early days of the C-141 and life in the system. He sent me a review copy which
I read from cover to cover in one sitting. I rarely do that.
Remember that saying "If you remember the 60's, you weren't really there"? If
you flew the line in the 60's and 70's you may not remember all that happened
(at best, just one side of the story). Once the booze kills those brain cells
they are usually gone forever unless regression therapy, which has been widely
proven to be complete bunk, works for you.
Heavy Jets recounts a lot of stories that will surely
resurrect some of those memories ... some good ... some not so good. If you
didn't have the privelege of being one of the early C-141 crew cadre then you
will read about things you will have a hard time believing ever happened. Be
warned, however, that a lot of what is in Heavy Jets is
probably what caused your first marriage to crash and burn, (and maybe the
second if you were foolish enough to remarry and still be flying the MAC line).
Don't let your wife read the book unless the statute of limitations has
expired, but keep in mind, for some crimes, there is no statute of limitations.
So, for all of us old "MAC Animals" let's all resolve to have one story and
stick to it. If "she who must be obeyed" asks if these stories are true or
involved you in any way, just say: "This is a work of fiction! I swear, nothing
like that ever happened to me!" Once the PC police of the '80s and '90s took
control of our lives it was all downhill from there. If flying the line "these
days" is anything like it was in "those days", I'd sign up again in a
heartbeat, but mercifully, for my liver and sanity, that can never happen.
Heavy Jets follows the air force career of a young man named
Jonathan Blant from his first sighting of a jet high in the sky as a boy
through his assignment to a special ops hostage rescue mission. Lots of things
happen to and around Jonathan that will bring back the memories of flying the
line to anyone who ever did. Along the way, Jonathan visits all the old MAC
hangouts, starting in a bar Alaska on his "cherry ride", all around southeast
Asia and countless other destinations that the C-141 flew to or from on a
regular basis. You will surely recognize the cast of characters as your old
best friends.
For those of you that missed the "good old days" described in Heavy
Jets, all that can be said is: "These are your good old days. Enjoy
them to the fullest. And take notes so you'll be able to remember them when you
are old and gray."
Heavy Jets: Remember, it's a work of fiction, and nothing like
it ever happened to you.
Available from iUniverse.com on April 15th
for $15.95. By May 10th, it should be available on Amazon.com and Barnes and
Noble.
Dean Collingwood from Wright-Patterson submitted a bunch of shots of 66-0177
getting a final paint job before the retirement ceremony planned for next
Saturday (May 6th). Except perhaps to the POW's who first saw 177 at Gia Lam
airport in Hanoi on Feb 12th, 1973, she's never looked better.
James Warren, the navigator on the "Homecoming One" (66-0177) flight out of
Hanoi on Feb 12th, 1973, sent me a list of all the flights conducted by C-141's
related to Operation Homecoming, both from Hanoi to Clark and from Clark to the
US. It shows the tail numbers, dates, names of the ex-POW's on each flight, and
the names of the medivac crews. Missing here are the names of the flight crews.
If anyone has that information it would be great to add it to the list.
If you've been checking here recently for updates, you've noticed that I
haven't gotten any news out on the Blog for a few weeks. I've been traveling on
business and catching up on a few things. If you have submitted anything to
me in the last week or two, be patient. It will getting on the site in the next
week or so.
I'll be out of town next week for the Starlifter Farewell event at
Wright-Patterson and will try to get some items posted as events unfold if I
have access to a decent internet connection.
A few weeks ago I posted a note about the planned coins that will be created
for next week's retirement ceremony. They have been minted and are absolutely
gorgeous. Arrangements will be for people of purchase the coins via the
STARLIFTERFAREWELL.COM web site. I don't know when they will be
available for general purchase or how much they will cost. As of today there is
no information there about purchase of the coins, but there will be .... so
you'll just have to keep checking back from time to time until they have gotten
the details on their site.
Here are a few shots of the ones I got in the mail the other day. There are two
coins that were designed.
This is what the front of both coins looks like:
This is the back of the first one.
And this is back of second one. Sorry about the focus on this one. I'm working
on a better image.
Wednesday, April 12, 2006 5:29 pm
66-0177:Request for help and information
I'm writing an article on 66-0177 for the American Aviation Historical Society
Journal and am getting into a serious fact-finding mode right about now.
There's lots of resources but I've found that the visitors to C141Heaven are
a gold-mine of personal knowledge, recollections, details and facts that
can't be matched in any research library. If you have any firsthand knowledge
or recollections about this tail-number, going back to the day it rolled off
the factory line at Lockheed, please share them with me for possible
inclusion in the full story of this great aircraft.
Here's just some of the things I'm looking for:
Key Dates related to 66-0177.. e.g., date built, delivered, stretch
mod dates, etc.
Basing History .. where was has been based starting from Day 1
Key Missions it participated in, (the most obvious being Operation
Homecoming).
Crew Member names on that first Homecoming flight,
including the medical personnel, (who so often are 'out of sight, out
of mind'
Well, it holds coffee, that I can confirm. But what do you make of this?
I found it on eBay, and it doesn't quite add up. First, the front of the cup
has a squadron patch from the 15th MAS, and a 'Deep Freeze 61-62' logo. The
cup is all hand painted, and has "Gen Griffin" painted in gold at the bottom
under the logo. Anyone know him?
I'm not a 'deep freeze' memorabilia collector, so what really attracted me to
this cup was the C-141 painted on the other side of the cup. The first C-141
that ever made it to the ice was in 1965 as best as I have been able to
determine ... what this has to do with the '61-62' Deep Freeze mission season
is a mystery.
But even more strange is what appears to be "spinning propellers" in front of
the engine nacelles.
Go figure! I suspect the artist who decorated the cup was perhaps working
from a C-130 prototype cup and had no clue the C-141 had no props.
Please, no congressional investigations. The statute of limitations on this
crime expired long ago.
Friday, April 7, 2006 10:10 am
The LAST flight of 67-0166
As noted about 10 days ago, 166 was scheduled to go from Wright-Patterson to
Scott AFB today and it did, right on time. Larry Stultz was there to take
photos of the final departure and submitted a bunch of shots of all the LAST
RIGHTS for 166. I've also received photos of the arrival from several other
folks. I've placed them on the 67-0166 page for your viewing pleasure
(or pain, as the case may be).
If you have any others of the departure, in-flight tomfoolery, or the arrival
please send them in and I'll get those posted as soon as they arrive in my
email in-box. .
Here's the dates/times for the final local sorties for 177:
Monday, April 3, 2006 10:17 am
Final C-141 Flights about to commence
I got this word from Dean Collingwood at Wright-Patterson on April 1st, 2006.
66-0177 flew today (4/1/06) ... 2.5 hours Aero-Med local with
no-write-ups.
67-0166 flew last operational mission on 3/29/06. 5.2 hours to Lackland
AFB to pick up maintenance team working with the 433rd on C-5's.
66-0177 flies four more times in April till we take her down for a week
and a half. We'll have her looking good for the POW flights and party on
5 May and the final flight on 6 May.
Look forward to seeing everyone who will be at the party!
Sunday, April 2, 2006 7:00 pm
Yet Another Mystery ... Solved!
Quite some time ago someone sent in a copy of a cartoon showing the "Real
Flight Engineer", and subsequently another one of the "Real Loadmaster".
There was no information about exactly where these originated until today,
when I got an email from Keith Burton, the original artist who created the
"Real Loadmaster".
This was subsequently cloned by unknown others into a wide variety of
imitations. You can see them all at this link along with
Keith's explanation of how it came to be.
Sunday, April 2, 2006 12:26 pm
Great Story!
I got an email from Steve Williams, of Bridport, Dorset,
U.K. He's one of those 'aviation nuts' from Britain ... here's the note:
There is one little story I will pass on that you may find amusing - or
incomprehensible. In the 1960s and 1970s, before computer games and
mobile phones took over the world, many (but by no means all) kids in the
UK would spend their weekends spotting, or noting down numbers of
whatever took their interest. I don't know whether this happened in the
States of if it was a peculiarly British eccentricity. Some stood around
station platforms in anoraks noting down locomotive numbers, a few
spotted buses, one person I knew even started spotting policemen by the
numbers on their shoulders. I am proud to say that I was an aircraft
spotter.
Living where I did, this meant trips to Heathrow & Gatwick Airports,
and occasionally RAF Northolt, and in the summer, coach trips to
airshows, including USAF events at Mildenhall, Bentwaters and Lakenheath.
Anyway, that sets the scene.
I have no idea who started it, but a fellow spotter started writing
'40612' on the walls of any airport lavatory he used. I have no idea why
this particular C-141 serial was chosen but through the early 1970's the
habit started to spread among other spotters, and 40612 became a
ubiquitous sight in almost every toilet at every airfield I visited. I
honestly can't remember if I ever added to this as I am not a habitual
wall-dauber, but I was a teenage boy with a warped sense of humour, so
who knows? It even made the national press - who was the mystery
graffitist who was daubing this indecipherable number, not just in the
gents loos, but the ladies too?
Then I suppose everyone grew up and by the time I found myself working at
Heathrow in the mid 80's it had vanished. I still smile to remember it
though, and maybe some other middle-aged Englishman looking at your site
might be able to shed a bit more light on the subject.
Steve
Saturday, April 1, 2006 10:32 am
Heavy Jets Book Info
A few weeks ago there was a notice here in the C141Heaven BLOG about a new
book to be published by Jim Miller. Jim's book about C-141 stories of the 70s
and 80s will be available from iUniverse.com on April
15th for $15.95. By May 10th, it should be available on Amazon.com and Barnes
and Noble.
I got this note today from Geno Carvotta, who works at Scott AFB:
I just wanted to let you know CINC MAC's aircraft, 67-0166, will be flown
to Scott AFB on 7 April and will arrive here at 11:00. I am the Static
Display Boss for this year's airshow at Scott on 12-13 Aug and I am
planning on including 166 as an open display for the airshow if anyone
wants to have a final look before it goes on permanent display in the
airpark.
Thanks,
Geno Carvotta, MSgt
375th OSS First Sergeant
Superintendent, Current Operations
C-141B Flight Engineer
18th MAS, McGuire, 85'-94'
Anyone at Scott who will be around on the 7th PLEASE take lots
of photos of the arrival if you can get near the flight line as it lands, and
send them to me for posting here on C141Heaven.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006 11:40 am
It's Lonely Out Here!!
I got two photos from Msgt Larry Stultz showing the flight-line at
Wright-Patterson as of mid-February. You can see, the last two flying C-141's
(66-0177 and 67-0166), along with a couple of C-5's.
Copyright:2006 Larry Stultz
Copyright:2006 Larry Stultz
Tuesday, March 28, 2006 8:19 am
Over 500 'People' photos
For about a year hundreds of folks have been sending me lots of photos of
C-141 aircraft and all related matters. I've collected all the photos of
people I can find into a gigantic set of web pages that you view at this
link. Note that many of these are pretty high resolution (2 to 3mb in
size). I have not reduced the size of posting here. If you have a slow web
connection be patient while these large photos download (or press the +1
button for the next page if you are impatient.)
Some of these are USAF photos. I ran into a large cache of photos of the
release of the Viet Nam POWs in 1973 on a DOD web site which I've never seen
before.
Friday, March 24, 2006 9:09 am
Lockheed Long Endurance/Long Range Aircraft Study
Another eBay find: Very interesting overview of some brainstorming
Lockheed did back in the early 1960's.
Scott Doepker
I work at and live near Wright-Patterson. I model airplanes as a hobby and could
not resist modelling what I see every day. I scratch-built a C-141B/C
kit using bass wood and made a couple of resin copies. I am sending some
pictures of the models. Feel free to post them on your site if you like.
Both aircraft are from the 445th AW here at Wright-Patt. You can probably
see that one is 0177. I plan to make an A-model version of 0177 sometime
in the near future.
I plan to be there for the last flight of 0177 in May. It is sad to
think that the days of C-141s flying overhead around here are numbered.
There are already three C-5s on base.
=-->
Saturday, March 18, 2006 3:22 pm
Mill Around Check List
Emmett Thompson saw my request for copies of crew checklists and dug this up
from some stuff he managed not to lose over the years.
The only problem with it is that it has the striped border associated with
"Emergency Procedures".
Milling Around was a "Normal Procedure", as I recall.
If you read this carefully you may have seen item # 10, "458 - Completed".
Being a conscientious MAC/AMC Crew Member you were most likely very familiar
with what that is. In case you are not well versed in all the forms needed to
maintain and fly the C-141, just
click here to download a PDF version of this form.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Crew Chief's Checklist posted
Barry Geier sent me a Crew Chief's checklist he found in a box that he's been
carting around for almost 40 years. I've got a few boxes like that too.
The checklist includes Refueling, Towing, Jacking, and Oxygen servicing
procedures. For those of you still flying the C-141 (can't be very many of
you) don't use these documents they are from 1967!!
As part of the retirement party plans, the organizers have arranged to
produce a couple of C-141 related coins and a patch. You will find preview
images below of what they are planning. As soon as the actual items are
available I will try to get shots of them for posting here as well. These are
REVOLUTIONARY SQUARE coins and will be about 1 3/4 inches on each side. The
patch will be about 3 1/2 inches. Somebody's thinking way outside the box
here.
Purchase arrangements will be announced soon .. at this point I have no info
regarding cost or availability date of these items.
Here are the artists' rendering of what they are planning The 'square' coins
are intended to represent a 463L pallet, which was not exactly square, of
course. Great Idea!
There will be two coins, one for the 445th, and one for "all units".
This will be on the back of both of the coins.
The Patch
Saturday, March 11, 2006
eBay find: 70's era Pilots Checklist
Got this on eBay a week or two ago. Back in the day there were no word
processors or laser printers. It's amazing how far things have come since
then.
The checklist binder included the full normal and emergency procedures, plus
some additional airdrop checklists and local departure/approach procedures,
as well as a few hand-written notes. It's all here for your view pleasure.
If any of you other crew members (Navs, Engineers, Loadmasters, Crew Chiefs,
etc) have copies of your checklists please submit them so we can post them
here for all to enjoy.
Friday, March 10, 2006
Operation Homecoming Site
Here's a very nice web site that details some of what happened during
Operation Homecoming.
Friday, March 10, 2006
C-141 Video
Gary Redden submitted a link to some C-141 related material on the Google
Video site.
Starlifter Video
Friday, March 10, 2006
Lunch In a C-141
Here's a news story from a publication called the "Friday Flyer" about
Valentine's Day lunch in the back of a C-141 at the March AFB museum. When I
flew them there were box lunches. This looks like quite a spread.
Click here for the
details.
Wednesday, March 8, 2006 4:13 pm
C141Heaven Stats....growing!
I thought you might be interested in the following charts, which show a big
spike in users accessing the site. Users accessing the site from everywhere.
Wednesday, March 8, 2006 4:13 pm
Upcoming Novel Release
A few days ago a guy named Jim Miller made an entry in the Guestbook saying
he was putting the final touches on a novel about the C-141 experience.
Here's the info I got from him about the book. The details on how to acquire
a copy are not available yet, but as soon as it is I will post a note here on
the blog.
My book, Heavy Jets, is a fictionalized account of major
C-141 adventures during the 70's and 80's. Here's the jacket blurb:
At the dawn of the jet age, C-141s, the first big jet cargo planes,
unleashed a new breed of airlifters. Not exactly the image of
All-American pilots, they roamed the earth in search of adventure and a
good time. When the Air Force tried to force them into a recruiting
poster mold, they fought back in a thousand ingenious ways.
Jim Miller
Wednesday, March 8, 2006 7:01 am
Updated photos of a couple of tail numbers
Erin Ross has sent me a few new photos of two tail numbers.
Both of these aircraft are presently at the Warner-Robins museum. 66-0180 has
been there for some time as a static display and plans are to remove it
(either scrap it or move to another location) to make room for 65-0248.
65-0248 was the last aircraft to pass through Warner-Robins for PDM, and had
been flown from its final assigned base (March), to the Boneyard to be
scrapped. Before the choppers got a chance to destroy it, it was given a
second lease on life and made a second "final flight" back to Warner-Robins
for permanent display.
Tuesday, March 7, 2006
Need Help Sleeping?
If you always wondered why the Loadmaster was so good at sleeping as soon as
the wheels were up, you should know it had nothing to do with that bottle of
Jack Daniels he bought at the duty-free in Guam.
The real reason was that he stayed in his room and was up all night reading
the Loadmaster's Bible: The Dash-9.
I got a complete Dash-9 (about 3 pounds, 2 inches thick, double sided
printing) from Ed Knox in the mail today. I've scanned the cover page for
you. After I catch up on ALL the other hundreds of photos I still have to
post I'll get around to finishing the rest of the Dash-9, maybe in 2008
sometime.
If any of you old Loads have a favorite page from the Dash-9 please let me
know and I'll be sure to post it for your enjoyment. Personally, my favorite
pages (in any of the AF pubs, not just the Dash-9) were always the "List of
Effective Pages" ... better than a hot sex novel on a long flight any day! In
fact, I read on the web somewhere that before he started writing military
theme novels, Tom Clancy approached the AF and asked if he could write the
"List of Effective Pages" for all AF publications. They turned him down since
he had no military experience. The rest is history.
Just don't ask me to post any of the dirty pictures from the appendixes. Also
the pages that explain about "snatch blocks" are off limits. You just never
know when your grand-children will end up browsing the web and stumbling on
to C141Heaven. The last thing you want to have do is explain THAT.
PS: If anybody has the Dash-9 in PDF format and can send me a copy that would
save a lot of scanning!
Click for full-size image. It is about 1mb
While we are on the subject of Loadmasters I got a request from one today via
email asking if anyone has a copy of a Form-F from the last cargo flight of a
C-141. I'm not exactly sure when this may have occurred but if you happen to
have been the Load on one of these last flights and managed to keep a copy of
the Form-F it would be a great item to post here on C-141 Heaven. If you have
any such items (flight-plan, form-f, etc.) from any recent flights that you
might be involved with PLEASE make a Xerox and mail or email it to me for
posting here. These sorts of things are history that should be shared with us
all.
Tuesday, March 7, 2006
C-141 FAREWELL PARTY STATUS
I got word via email this morning from the planners of the C-141 FAREWELL
party scheduled for May 5 and 6 that they now have over 1000 registered names
of folks planning to attend. They are expecting a large number of DV/VIP
types to show up as well who can't commit until closer to the event. Due to
space limitations they are going to be forced to cut off registration for the
event by the end of this week (12th of March) so if you are considering
attending TODAY is the time to take action. STARLIFTERFAREWELL.COM
I got a forwarded copy of an email regarding the pending retirement of the
Hanoi Taxi earlier today. There was a message included in the forwarded text
which read:
Dear Folks,
I was the airlift manager for "Operation Homecoming". General Kearney
(the Commander of the 63rd Military Airlift Wing at Norton AFB, CA and my
old boss) requested that one of his airplanes be the first to land in
Hanoi.
I told him that his request would be honored but there were a couple of
strings attached. First it had to be a crew from the 14th Squadron; my
first assignment in the C-141. Second, it had to be aircraft 60-177 as
that was the airplane that I took my first line check that qualified me
as an Aircraft Commander.
He agreed and the rest is history.
Don G.
UPDATE (14/Jan/2016): In 2016 I posted the above note to the Facebook C141 group.
Here's the comment I received a note from Henry Harlow, who was been very active
in the final days of the 60177 at Wright Patterson, and in preserving the
history of the aircraft. Also, the consensus of a few sources is that "Don G."
was a guy named "Don Gilbert".
66-0177 was not scheduled to be the first C-141 into Hanoi. It was to be the second but due to some problems with the approach people there, the first aircraft ended up going around and 177 pushed on in despite being given "less than accurate" instruction from the Hanoi personnel. Somebody has to be first, but to have been any of the aircraft and crews for Homecoming would have to be considered as honored. -- Henry Harlow
The "Don G." who wrote that message was Don Gilbert, Col., USAF, Ret., whose last-known residence (according to the Pelicans 50th Reunion brochure from 1990) was in Alexandria, VA (he must have ended up at the Pentagon). He was an aircraft commander in the 14th MAS at Norton in early 1972.
He moved to the 63rd MAW wing under Col. Kearney, who was the 63rd wing commander.
When Don moved up to 22nd Air Force Ops at Travis later that year he became the overall planner for Operation Homecoming in early 1973, working once again with now-General Kearney, who was the Chief of Staff at HQ MAC at Scott AFB.
As he wrote, Kearney wanted a Norton airplane to be the first into Hanoi and Don wanted wanted a crew from his old 14th MAS plus the aircraft in which he took his initial A/C line check, and the rest is history.
Operation Homecoming was a 14th MAS operation from the get-go at HQ MAC and 22nd A.F. level, only because former Pelicans were doing all the planning and wanted all the glory, but that didn't mean the rest of MAC didn't participate. -- Pat Gilmore
Tuesday, February 28, 2006 7:19 am
Very Nice C-141C Scale Model
A week or so ago Rob Finch sent me some photos of a C-141 scale model he
built. You can see it at
this link.
Monday, February 27, 2006 12:11 pm
Very Strange eBay Find
I have an eBay alert set up that tells me about any C-141 related items that
show up for sale there. Typically the stuff that appears includes models,
some old parts that folks have salvaged, and some copies of user manuals and
videos. A jerk from Canada downloaded all the manuals and pubs I have on this
site (including the exact descriptions and comments) and tries to sell them
for about $60 or so. If you are looking for this stuff, get it free here, eh?
The idea of paying an idiot from the great white north for it galls me a bit.
Last week one of the strangest eBay finds I've ever seen showed up. During
the course of marketing the C-141 Lockheed created a number of little
trinkets and 'giveaways', presumably to support the sales effort to the AF
and potential commercial customers that never materialized. This included
models, lighters, and so on.
I'm sure that everybody they gave one of these things to pushed hard to get
the C-141 approved. Tit for Tat. It's the American way.
Here's the thing I'm talking about:
This is some sort of C-141 Snack Tray (smoked glass, about 10"x10")
It's got the sun, the moon, stars, some reference to E=MC2 that I
don't get, maybe even a cartoon related to Einstein. Here are some close up
shots of each of the 4 corners of the plate.
I bought it, of course. If you want to come to my house and eat chips and
bean dip from my Lockheed C-141 tray, please let me know.
If anyone knows the story behind this masterpiece please let me know. If you
have examples of other such giveaways, please pass them along so we can all
share.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006 5:54 am
C-17 Future?
An article in 'Defense Industry Daily' suggests that the
'powers that be' are reconsidering the decision to cap production of the C-17
at only 180 airframes. Mostly this is the dream of lobbyists and
congressional representatives for the 42 states involved in production of the
C-141 replacement.
There was a comment in the article that made me do a double take. It read
"many of the C-17s are facing longer and harder usage than anticipated, and
will wear out early as the C-141 Starlifters before them did." Huh? If the
C-17 is still flying 30 years from now, I'll give you a dollar.
Mike Masterson sent a copy of his old business card....
He had the business card made up when he was in charge of Team 1 in the early
90's. With everything going on and everyone busting their ass, it never
seemed to satisfy the upper echelon so the card was something of a spoof :-)
They handed them out to a world wide audience, everyone took it in stride. He
reported that they all had a nice laugh.
Monday, February 20, 2006 6:06 am
Photos of damage to 64-0614
Robert Bratton sent in some USAF photos of the damage 64-0614 suffered after
an engine failure in 1977 at Richmond RAAFB Australia. Check the 64-0614
page for the new pictures.
Friday, February 17, 2006 11:25 am
Lockheed "C-141 Logistics Transport"
Another Charles 'Snuffy' Grimes document. This one is a report released by
Lockheed on April 5th, 1961, about the time the AF released its requirements
document for the C-141. It provides a general overview of the concept
Lockheed had in mind for the C-141 and some interesting photos and charts.
You can view it at this link.
Friday, February 17, 2006 9:10 am
Airborne Radar for Pilots and Engineers
Charles 'Snuffy' Grimes sent in a few items which I've managed to get scanned
and will be posting to the site over the next few days. The first one
available is an early 1970's pamphlet called Airborne Radar for Pilots and
Engineers. You can view it at this link. For
you youngsters it will be a treat to read about the radar we used to use in
the 'old days'. Not digital, not color, just your basic radar circa late
60's/early 70's.
Thursday, February 16, 2006 9:24 am
Early Cockpit Mockup Photos
Somebody sent me an old Lockheed document (produced in early 1961) that had a
set of photos of the various areas of the cockpit as Lockheed's designers
envisioned it. Some were pretty close to the final product, and some were
not.
Here's a shot of the original concept for the navigator's workstation. Note
the galley to the left. I guess they figured the Nav would have time to make
and serve coffee between celestial fixes.
It looks like an old SDW4D (Steel Desk With Four Drawers) served as the
foundation for the desktop.
Here's another one of the engineer's panel.
It looks like the only portion of the engineer's panel that survived is the
vertical tape engine instruments. It's not clear from the photo what those
long projections in front of the engines represented.
Sunday, February 12, 2006 11:03 am
Important Date Today
Today is the 33rd anniversary of the first POW flight out of Hanoi. Here's a
short story from Parade Magazine on 2/12/2006.
Here's the link to the web site mentioned in the article: OpenDoorsBook.com
I imagine you have to know the right people to get one of these assignments.
Read the story at this
link..
Wednesday, February 8, 2006 5:49 pm
Totally Insensitive Man-Humor Jokes Index
This has nothing to do with the C-141. I've started an index of
stupid/bad/nasty/off-color jokes. If you are easily offended by this sort of
thing, don't even think about
clicking here.
Tuesday, February 7, 2006 2:00 pm
Tall Tale About Wake Island
Lloyd Tincher sent me a copy of an article written by Bill Markley about Wake
Island which was originally published in the Jimmy Doolittle Air and Space
Museum newsletter about 2 years ago. You can read it at this link.
If you haven't read the other T-Tail Tall-Tales here's a link to the
complete index. Newer stories are at the bottom of the list.
Saturday, February 4, 2006 3:48 pm
Guest Book Revisions
For those of you who've been monitoring the guestbook you may have seen a big
pile of garbage posts in there every so often. I routinely monitor these
posts and purge them at least 2 times per day. Still, it is irritating to
have to read them and delete them. A few days ago I asked the readers of
C141Heaven if anyone knew how to stop this sort of activity and I am hopeful
we finally have a good solution.
Thanks to Mike Masterson and his computer genius son Kevin, the guest book
now features a 'human verification' process that forces a poster to enter
some letters and numbers that are displayed on the page in graphical format
that the spammer's 'web bots' can't read. If this works as expected, most of
the garbage posts will cease, and the spammers can go to web hell where they
deserve to be, instead of bothering us good folks here in C141Heaven.
Thanks Kevin and Mike for all your help on this. It will be a GREAT addition
to (or subtraction from) the site to get rid of all these stupid spammer
postings.
Wednesday, February 1, 2006 6:18 am
StarLifter Farewell Update
If you've been reading this blog page on a regular basis you are probably
aware that there's going to be a huge party at Wright-Patterson AFB on May
6th to celebrate the incredible contribution the C-141 has made to aviation
history and the world in general. Lucia Greer is involved in coordinating the
event and has passed on a few numbers regarding the current attendance
figures and projections:
As of Feb 1st:
Over 400 people have registered via the online registration process and
an earlier registration cycle that was conducted for 445th
(Wright-Patterson) personnel just before the new year started.
About 300 VietNam POW's and their family members are expected to be
there.
McGuire is expected to send a contingent of about 100 personnel,
perhaps on a C-17 training flight.
Charleston is expecting to send about 50, possibly via charter bus.
This totals over 850 so far. Plans are afoot to get some folks from Lockheed
(Warner-Robins) and March AFB there as well, but these numbers are not
available yet.
There's still time to sign up if you haven't done so. Don't miss the
opportunity to be part of the final send off for the greatest airlifter that
ever left the ground, and will sadly make its final landing on May 5, 2006.
It will never happen again.
Here's another link to more analysis: "The Son Tay Raid: A
Study In Presidential Policy" by Major C141heaven.info MITCHELL, (USMC). This info
is from an Ohio State University web site devoted to history.
Saturday, January 28, 2006 7:10 am
BeerLifter
Don Connor sent me a photo he found on the internet somewhere. For all we
know this fine specimen may have been made from aluminum salvaged from actual
C-141's.
Here's the photo:
Copyright: Mike Matthews
Note: Mike's original photo was tweaked with Photoshop to remove a
distracting background.
I did a little Googling and managed to find the creator of the model and sent
an email to him to ask for permission to show the photo. He's a flight
instructor in the Las Vegas area, and here's his story about how the
BeerLifter came to be:
I received your email this morning I would be proud to have my Starlifter
on your site. It is a funny story. A year ago at a flight school on the
coast of SC I built this model for my ground instructor, Monty Pickett,
as a Christmas gift from the whole class.
He is retired Air Force and has thousands of hours in the C-141 so I
thought it appropriate to spend 3 weeks constructing it out of 27 Rock
Green Light cans, 1 coat hanger, some rivets and Gorilla glue (bad
decision by the way, super glue would have been golden). After all he
spent a lot more than 3 weeks on our education. At any rate it is still
hanging in his living room to this day. We have some other creations that
are kinda interesting so maybe I will zap you a pic or two.
Mike Matthews
The only thing that was not clear from his note is the amount of time it took
to DRINK the 27 beers. If he'd been part of a C-141 crew, this would have
been done in one sitting. To be fair, he does say it took 3 weeks to BUILD
it, not that it took three weeks to drink it. (But he's still a young man, so
we'll just have to cut him some slack).
Wednesday, January 25, 2006 1:46 pm
Nemo the Dog
Here's a link to a page about Nemo the USAF Sentry
dog. Nemo was the first dog to do combat service in Viet Nam, and was
awarded the Purple Heart and a unit citation. He was brought home on a C-141
after suffering injuries in combat. Thanks to Walt Chamberlain for the info
about Nemo. Walt was a member of the crew that brought Nemo home to the US.
December, 1971: Prisoners from China flown home on C-141
Click this link to read a newspaper
story about the return on a C-141 of two American citizens who were held
captive in China for many years.
Walt Chamberlain was on the crew of the aircraft that brought these folks
from Clark. and sent in a copy of the newspaper article.
First 63rd MAW Air Evac Mission (date unknown)
Walt Chamberlain is digging through his C-141 clippings, and he's on a roll!
Here's a scan of a story from the Norton base newspaper (date unknown)
recapping the first air-evac mission flown by members of the 63rd MAW back in
the Viet Nam war days.
Wednesday, January 25, 2006 8:17 am
S.O.R. 182
After a long wait, I have finally obtained a copy of the original Air Force
document that spelled out the requirements for what eventually became the
C-141. This was obtained through Mark Morgan at the AMC History office.
The copy I got was a reasonably decent photocopy of the 46 year old document,
and I was able to scan it and run through an OCR program. The results turned
out great and can be seen at this
link.
Friday, January 20, 2006 8:05 am
66-7950
In 2003 seven US Army troops were captured during the initial stages of the
Iraq war. Earlier a photo had been submitted of six of them standing in front
of the oxygen service panel following their release and return to freedom. We
have finally linked that photo to a tail number, 66-7950, which, sadly, is no longer
flying, except here in C141Heaven.
A couple of photos of 65-9402 have surfaced. This was the only line C-141 to ever have
gone supersonic as
far as we know.
(It is possible that a supersonic test may have been performed during the
initial flight testing period but I am not aware of such a test at the
current time.)
Wed, Jan 18, 2006 15:22
SOR 182
After some long waiting I managed to make a few contacts at the AMC History
office and they located a copy of the original Air Force Request for
Proposals (which they called SOR 182) for the C-141 issued way back in 1960.
A copy is being sent to me so I can get it posted here on C141Heaven. It will
probably be a week or so before I get it and then a couple of days to scan
and post to the site, depending on how big it is.
Thanks to Col. Steven Doss and Mark Morgan, (both at Scott AFB) for helping
locate this document. (And thanks to all the packrats at the history office
for never throwing anything out.)
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
The Future of Military Airlift?
An interesting article appeared in today's LA Times about where military
airlift might be headed. Click
here to read it.
Monday, January 16, 2006 2:49 pm
Fifteen reasons why airplanes are easier to live with than women
Airplanes usually kill you quickly - a woman takes her time.
Airplanes can be turned on by a flick of a switch.
Airplanes don't get mad if you do a "touch and go."
Airplanes don't object to a preflight inspection.
Airplanes come with manuals to explain their operation.
Airplanes have strict weight and balance limitations.
Airplanes can be flown any time of the month.
Airplanes have equally good looking sisters, but no mothers.
Airplanes don't care about how many other airplanes you've flown before.
Airplanes and pilots both arrive at the same time.
Airplanes don't mind if you look at other airplanes.
Airplanes don't mind if you buy airplane magazines.
Airplanes expect to be tied down.
Airplanes don't comment on your piloting skills.
Airplanes don't whine unless something is really wrong.
(However, when airplanes go quiet, just like women,it's usually
not good)
Saturday, January 14, 2006 7:16 am
Another Mystery Solved
A few days ago I posed a question about what the 'tail can' was hanging off
the back of 61-2777. Answers have arrived.
Stefanie Hauck, who flies out of Wright-Patterson, sent in a few photos of
the last overseas flight of 177 (from last July). These can be seen on the
60177 page. Scroll towards the
bottom of the page for her photos.
I've also added some Air Force photos of the POW return flights I have
collected over the past few months. These include shots of the US POW's
making their way to the aircraft from the Hanoi Hilton, shots inside the
aircraft on the flight out of Viet Nam, and a number of arrival shots at
Clark, Hawaii, and Travis (and possibly other locations back in the US).
Thu, Jan 12, 2006 17:09
What was In there?
Does anybody have any idea what was in that silly looking appendage stuck on
the end of
61-2777?
This photo was submitted by Bas Hart from the Netherlands. He was visiting DM
in 1996, snapped this photo, and has been wondering about ever since. I have
to admit, I've seen the stupid thing in a few photos myself and always
wondered about it too.
It does not seem very aerodynamic and looks like it was vented or screened in
some way. If you know, or care to submit a guess (sorry, no prizes) please
email me at c141heaven@gmail.com if
you have a clue what it was for.
Thu, Jan 12, 2006 16:14
Air Force One Tall Tale
When someone submits a T-Tail Tall
Tale I will usually publish it here. The only rules are that it has to
sound true (whether it actually is or not), and that we won't trash anybody's
reputation, unless there's a good reason. Example: Osama Bin Laden is fair
game for anything you care to say about him, but so far nobody has sent a
C-141 related Osama story for posting. Another example of 'fair game' would
be a nasty story about any flight-examiner written by any crew-member busted
by that flight examiner. (Just kidding, but it does seem like justice in a
way, doesn't it?)
When the story is accompanied by photos backing up the tall tale... well ...
it a sure thing it will get put on C141Heaven somewhere.
As recently as last week I was told by my contacts at Wright-Patterson that
the remaining two operational C-141's (not including 60177) were to be
shipped off to DM this month. 64-0620 was headed out to DM on
the Thursday, January 12th and 67-0166 about a week later.
The bad news is, 6400620 is still scheduled to arrive tomorrow at around
noon.
The good news is that 67-0166 will be held at Wright-Patterson for another
month or so while the powers that be work out the details of its final
disposition. At this point the smart money is on it going to Scott. 67-0166
was the MAC/AMC commander's aircraft. It had about half the hours that all
the others did and was in relatively good shape all things considered. It
only makes sense to put in on display at Scott.
Sunday, January 8, 2006 8:52 am
Photos of 66-7944 Posted
We got a pile of photos of this tail number over the holidays from Darrell
Stancliff. You can see them at this link.
Also included are some shots of this aircraft during its participation in the
return of the American POWS from Hanoi, and a huge number of photos showing
the arrival of the astronauts remains at Dover AFB following the space
shuttle Columbia disaster.
Sunday, January 8, 2006 6:48 am
65-0277 at McChord Museum
There may be no finer restoration job than this one. We got some photos from
C141heaven.info Funk of the aircraft at the McChord AFB Museum ... Click Here to see them.
Sunday, January 8, 2006 6:48 am
40637 Hits DM
Just after the year turned another notch, 64-0637 headed on its last flight
from Wright-Patterson to Altus to Davis-Monthan. Michael Kalbfleisch was a
member of the crew and has submitted some photos which can be seen on the
40637 page. Now the count is 3
remaining.
Copyright:2006 Larry Stultz
Copyright:2006 Larry Stultz
