I have followed this thread with great interest since its inception, having a great bond with the Herky Bird as well as all aircraft types produced at Lockheed-Marietta. The connection started during the Great Depression when my paternal grandfather purchased several thousand rolling acres north of Atlanta. He was a gentleman farmer and had his eye on a substantial rise upon which he intended to build a rambling farmhouse. When the structure was completed in 1939, my grandfather and father planted twelve oaks on either side of the winding drive which led to the home. Their labors completed, granddad turned to dad and asked: "What shall we name this place?" My father responded: "It ain't nothin' but a windy hill!" The name stuck, and although most of the property is commercialized now, the house still stands as do those now mighty oaks. Windy Hill Road is a major thoroughfare in Marietta (pronounced May-retta by the locals).
In 1941, Uncle Sam decided to condemn 600 acres of Windy Hill and repurpose it as an extra 2,500 feet of main runway for Dobbins AFB. Bell Aircraft was going to build 668 B-29's under license from Boeing. My father, a Commander in the U.S. Navy and a naval architect who designed the hull of the Essex class carrier, said he loved coming home on leave to hear the thunderous thrumming of Superfortresses as they took off right over the house. Having been born in 1949, some of my earliest memories are of B-47 Stratojets screeching and smoking aloft. Then in 1954, Lockheed began to crank out the first of thousands of C-130's. I recall being impressed by their climb rate and maneuverability. Granddad sold the farm in 1956 and bought Windy Valley Farm which wasn't under the Dobbins pattern. I returned to the old farm frequently to watch the panoply of military aircraft come and go. In late June of 1968, my fiancée and I sat together, shaded under one of the oaks which my father and his father had planted thirty years before. We were there to witness the maiden flight of the C-5A Galaxy. The behemoth gathered speed and struggled aloft. It flew directly overhead at 400 feet and dipped a wing as if to salute us - we were some of the first to witness "the aluminum overcast"!
To this day, whenever I see military aircraft, especially C-130's, I smile to myself and think: "That craft took off from our old farm!"
