Once saw a 130 do a three engine take off from a SF Camp next to the Cambodian Border....ground fire took out the number one engine during the landing.....and without a doubt had it remained on the ground for any length of time it would have been destroyed.
It departed at a fairly flat manner with some noticeable yaw seen but went on to a major airfield for repair.
It used every inch of the runway and was some admirable airmanship to watch.
Perhaps the ultimate C-123 story is one that occurred during the evacuation of the Khan Doc SF Camp as it was surrounded and ultimately overrun by NVA Forces.
To close the circle.....Mort the USAF Combat Controller mentioned in the article was the last Man out of Khan Duc having been one of three Combat Controllers mistakenly inserted there at the very end of the evacuation.
Mort was a scuba diving and beer drinking buddy of mine when I was working in the Philippines.
He never mentioned his experience there until one. of his Team Mates from Clark AFB told me about it and I asked him to tell me his story.
It was an amazing thing that happened that day.
My Chinook Unit lost an aircraft there and that story is an interesting one as well.
The C-123 Pilot received the Medal of Honor for his rescue of the three Combat Controllers.
There are some detailed accounts of the Khan Doc incident that bear reading.
https://www.littlerock.af.mil/News/C...8046/kham-duc/