Global Aviation Magazine : 60 Years of the Hercules
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Welcome to the thread Stretchwell 
You've got some great pics there ... would you happen to have a logbook date/time for that AAR pic @ #604 with the VC-10K, just in case our former 101 Squadron members might like to join in
You've got some great pics there ... would you happen to have a logbook date/time for that AAR pic @ #604 with the VC-10K, just in case our former 101 Squadron members might like to join in
Last edited by CoffmanStarter; 30th Jun 2014 at 14:10.
Coff,
yes AC 119 but which version I know not. Great pics stretchwell, welcome to this ever expanding thread.
yes AC 119 but which version I know not. Great pics stretchwell, welcome to this ever expanding thread.
DCThumb,
the very same exit. I am pretty sure that this pic was taken through the 'porthole' of that exit. Perhaps someone has a pic taken from the outside. This will give any non 'K' readers an idea of the proximity of the prop and engine nacelle. The day after I was told this story I looked and looked inside and out of the a/c and still found it hard to believe.
I understand the 'J' has done away with this exit.
the very same exit. I am pretty sure that this pic was taken through the 'porthole' of that exit. Perhaps someone has a pic taken from the outside. This will give any non 'K' readers an idea of the proximity of the prop and engine nacelle. The day after I was told this story I looked and looked inside and out of the a/c and still found it hard to believe.
I understand the 'J' has done away with this exit.
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AA62 ... Briefly back to the AC119 if I may ... after a bit more digging ... I think it's a K (because of the two under-wing J85-GE-17 turbojet engines).
More here for those interested ...
Fairchild AC-119G 'Shadow' and AC-119K 'Stinger'
More here for those interested ...
Fairchild AC-119G 'Shadow' and AC-119K 'Stinger'
Stretchwell,
the fire tender looks like a tight squeeze as indeed many Herc loads were once the Belfst was out of service. Did not do the Gaberone trip but in May 1989 did the following. Why, I cannot now remember. Can anyone else. It seems an unusual routing.
Lyn-Bzn
Bzn-Tenerife
Tenerife-Banjul
Banjul-Douala
Douala-Harare
Harare-Maputo
Maputo-Mombasa
Mombasa- Cairo
Cairo-Rome
Rome-Lyneham
the fire tender looks like a tight squeeze as indeed many Herc loads were once the Belfst was out of service. Did not do the Gaberone trip but in May 1989 did the following. Why, I cannot now remember. Can anyone else. It seems an unusual routing.
Lyn-Bzn
Bzn-Tenerife
Tenerife-Banjul
Banjul-Douala
Douala-Harare
Harare-Maputo
Maputo-Mombasa
Mombasa- Cairo
Cairo-Rome
Rome-Lyneham
Jollies and nice trips
During my first stint as a GE jollies such as Globals were a rather more common occurrence than when I came back for the second go ( my thanks to GW1 for that) and they sometimes were a bit more than just a Global.
My all time favourite was a trip with 24, west about acting as the support aircraft for a Det of Nimrods going out on Fincastle to play with the Kiwis. A gentle trip out via the States to NZ, Whenuapi to be precise where we had to wait a week while the Nimrods had their play and then back around to drop them off for an exercise in the Far East. A week off in Auckland was sheer hell especially as we were accommodated in the Takapuna Motor lodge, in fact we were the Takapuna Motor lodge for a week! 38 Group kindly allocated the crew 3.5 hours for cont training while we were waiting so a low level round North Island was undertaken with a conversation part way round with an RAF exchange pilot flying the Skyhawk who wanted some stuff brought back to the UK so a bonus all round.
The Captain on the trip was Max Roberts and the Co was some F/O called Kiwi O'Meegan who I believe actually survived his early enthusiasm for low level flypasts to achieve great heights!
My all time favourite was a trip with 24, west about acting as the support aircraft for a Det of Nimrods going out on Fincastle to play with the Kiwis. A gentle trip out via the States to NZ, Whenuapi to be precise where we had to wait a week while the Nimrods had their play and then back around to drop them off for an exercise in the Far East. A week off in Auckland was sheer hell especially as we were accommodated in the Takapuna Motor lodge, in fact we were the Takapuna Motor lodge for a week! 38 Group kindly allocated the crew 3.5 hours for cont training while we were waiting so a low level round North Island was undertaken with a conversation part way round with an RAF exchange pilot flying the Skyhawk who wanted some stuff brought back to the UK so a bonus all round.
The Captain on the trip was Max Roberts and the Co was some F/O called Kiwi O'Meegan who I believe actually survived his early enthusiasm for low level flypasts to achieve great heights!
Ah, there is a name who could liven up many a gathering, K***.
Formed one of the most experienced crews in GW1 with C**** K***, T** F****** and others.
A few years later designated as OC Timmys but never actually took post due to the stories of "some aircrew leaving the aircraft via chutes" inquiry that went back many years previously, so I was told.
Formed one of the most experienced crews in GW1 with C**** K***, T** F****** and others.
A few years later designated as OC Timmys but never actually took post due to the stories of "some aircrew leaving the aircraft via chutes" inquiry that went back many years previously, so I was told.
By heck Gopher, I wish I had been a GE in your first era as a GE, but I'm glad I shared some of your retread tour. I was part of a team returning from a Malaysia trip, and we night stopped Akronelli, before going home. We were stopped in our tracks, load offloaded and had some Houchins and GSE loaded. The Tornado squadron on APC had just been allocated an extended tour, as I recall, at Dharhan. We flew the load and some of the Groundcrew there, I believe the day after Saddam invaded Kuwait, and well before any names like Desert storm etc had been allocated to the deployment. I well remember a second RAF C130 pitching up on the next parking bay to us at Dharhan, and the mentioned skipper, hot footing it to the RNZAF C130, parked the other side of us, to see if he knew any of the crew. Like many "truckees", a genuinely nice bloke who in my experience, never treated anyone with anything other than courtesy, and as long as you warranted it, professional respect. I doffs my hat, and its sad if his career suffered later, their loss I would say. Globals though? In my dreams I suspect.
Smudge
Smudge
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Just after the Gulf War in 1991 there was a det to Incirlik to drop food and supplies to Kurds who had fled into the mountains to safety. The first photo shows the terrain and all the dots are tents on the mountainside. If you dropped MEs with pink chutes one day there would be a load more pink tents there the following day. Three LXX crews and one 47 led by the best of bosses CM.
We were accompanied on our jaunts by A10s with Mavericks, Aim-9s and milk bottle dispensers ! We had a good and "close" relationship with our A10 colleagues.
We were accompanied on our jaunts by A10s with Mavericks, Aim-9s and milk bottle dispensers ! We had a good and "close" relationship with our A10 colleagues.
Last edited by Stretchwell; 2nd Jul 2014 at 17:23.
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I was also there on day 1 at Dharhan. I also remember working almost 24 hours solid as the rest of the Tornado GSE deployed by Alberts slotting in amongst the never ending flow of USAF 141's and C5s.
Next in the series of the Thailand 'jolly'. No prizes for identifying these a/c !
Smudge, the black one would make the ultimate motorglider.
As I hoped my 'jolly' tale has sparked other stories. Coff, you could not have guessed what your 'flyer' about the 'K' article would have generated. It is still expanding. Brilliant pics and tales. Ah the Westabouts. Did about half a dozen of various kinds during my 'K' time. Thankfully I was not on Mel Bennett's 'experiment' where they got to Mclellan AFB on day one after a delay out of Fairford.
WE992,
I remember going into Dharhan and offloading what we thought was a big load. The saw the C-5's arrive and offload half the world !.
I remember going into Dharhan and offloading what we thought was a big load. The saw the C-5's arrive and offload half the world !.