Smudge, AA62 ...

As the originator of this thread, I fully endorse the above proposal ... Looking forward to more of the same ... :ok:

Coffman,
thank you for supporting my suggestion ref the direction of this thread.
I have plenty more to show but have now realised that I am missing a box of slides/pics, no doubt gone astray during one of my moves. So not quite so many as I thought but still enough to be going on with.

Coff,

A splendid suggestion by AA, and I also agree with your sentiment re posting such pictures. Perhaps I am the guilty party here, so I will give myself a stern talking to and do it properly from now on.

Smudge :ok:

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psf182664c.jpg

Next in the sequence of Op Burlap. This DZ was in the grounds of a school manned by the Royal Marines. Perhaps the most useful thing we dropped were cases of Tiger beer to them. Tiger because it was thought that the cans would survive the impact better than bottles of Anchor !
Just to return to the previous pic. The safety harnesses the despatchers are wearing are the ones we used throughout my service. Are the same ones in use today on the 'J' ?

Referring back to the latest pic, my wife (ex schoolie) wondered if the school was still there. According to my log book (all spellings with my pics are as per my log books, right or wrong) the DZ was at Patuakhali. Anyone from that part of the world know ?

AA62 ...

I've just tried a Google image search ... a number of buildings look "possibles" but this one caught my eye :ok:

http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/...ps102c80d5.png

TOWN HIGH SCHOOL, PATUAKHALI

Coffman,
the 'memsahib' sends her thanks. It certainly does look like the school and seems in better condition than when we 'visited' ! At least we did not knock it down with one of the drops. (Cue for Brian le Nav ?) Wonder if anyone in the area remembers our 'visits' ?

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps234a4ca6.jpg

Loyal readers, (or should that be loyal reader )may remember my remark about the local labour force. They wanted money to assist with the offload of relief supplies. The pic above shows how we dealt with this. All the crew assisted in dumping the stuff outside the a/c we then started up and left.
I am beginning to feel quite lonely on this thread. Surely out of all those associated with the 'K' there must be someone with personal pics and tales.

Don't feel lonely AA62. I am soaking it all up but adopting a bit of a passive stance at the moment. Ref comments on the Met thread about 35K ft. I tried to find my RAFCAM notes to pass to Coff. As you know I have a slight interest in this.


I am finding PRuNe more of an education rather than source of rumours at the moment. Well done everyone.


Drag

It's probably an age thing old chap but I do believe the sign on the door clearly says "Fagernes Lufthavn"!! :ok:;)

dragartist,
thank you for the reassurance that there is more than one person enjoying this thread. I will keep going. In a previous post I mentioned the safety harnesses. Do you know if they still use the same antiquated kit on the 'J' ?

AA62
 

Sorry to miss my 'cue'; just got rid of the weekend's visitors and will try and locate the few slides I've got.

AA62,
Well I have been gone over 2 years now. I believe they still use the GQ Belt round the waist rather than the superior (IMHO) Mk60 as used by RW. They did change the floor fitting to a rather expensive double action screw gate karabiner as the double gate one could become unfastened as the J floor fittings did not rotate. Mind you we did had a faf with the K floor fittings coming out. (MSP TROC cable) I never felt particularly secure in the belt. But I was probably not considered a SQEP and did not have to sign off the ALARP chit!!!

dragartist,
nothing changes but the date. Thanks for the info.

The Wizard,

Thanks for that, I wonder how I never noticed the Fagernes sign before ? Obviously I had forgotten which Airfield it was, we saw a lot of them on that Det. Winter deployment and I think we did something in to, or out of, every Norwegian runway that would take a Herk. I took that photograph a long time ago, so again, thanks for pointing out the obvious. :hmm:

Smudge:ok:

Definitely fagernes! You're parked in almost the exact spot I parked in, only to have my wing tip hit by another Herc going the opposite direction - apparentlY the tyre tracks in the snow made by the rest of the stream as they moved off the centrleline to pass 3 parked hercs weren't enough of a clue for the resident Belgique exchange officer.......

DCThumb,

I have a memory of a wingtip "incident" at Bardufoss when a stream of Herks deployed the main stream of troops for "winter deployment". As I remember the airfield had a large loop of taxyway, with something resembling lay byes for parking aircraft (unfortunately the lay byes were more suited to an F16 than a C130). As one Herk taxied out after offloading, a sharp eyed muppet (no explanation, those who know, know) stood at the wingtip of the parked Herk and stuck his thumb up to the crew, who promptly assumed he was giving clearance on the wingtip, and dinged it. The muppet later said he was just trying to say thanks to the outbound crew for delivering him to his allowances. As an aside, some of the nicest people I went down route with were members of UKMAMS (OK, I explained it), I certainly mean no offence at the use of their "pet name", how they referred to Herk GEs remains a mystery.

Smudge:ok:

Smuj, it might have been you!!! Returned home with speed tape on the wing tip ...... Seem to remember "Dibble" ( D Bull) was screen captain that day!

DCThumb,

I'm sorry sir, I take exception to that charge:E Despite the fact that I may well have been the only C130 GE with a Q to Carry out repairs to low reserve structures (Cat3 repairs), I never returned from Norway having been involved in a "Bump". A good friend of mine (Joe Ion) did though I believe, and may well be your GE of choice. The joys of driving Albert on the ground on snow always drew out my admiration for you drivers Airframe, I had a go once at Gander (under very close supervision) - 23 degrees, rime ice and everything more slippy than playing golf on ice. As a direct result of that I decided not to downgrade from TG1 to Aircrew:rolleyes:

My funniest taxying incident was a trip to Tancos, a Portuguese Airbase. During an exercise, I stood behind the Captain during the taxi in, and the bloke who marshalled us in looked just like the movements SAC I had been drinking with in Corlu (Turkey) about two weeks before (in fact, exactly as he looked as he left the bar). His antics in front of the aircraft were definitely "interesting" but not too informative. On stopping I asked the skipper to keep the donks running, and let the Loadie and myself get out to look. The sight of the RH main wheels sinking slowly into the bondu the idiot had put them on, and I don't mean the Captain, was horrific. Luckily, some power and left hand down saved the day. On asking the relevant questions, the SAC had no authorisation to marshall aircraft, but thought it would be fun to have a go. Funnily enough, the same bloke nearly removed a couple of my fingers in Goose bay a year or so later. He grounded the ramp as I was putting the nose wheel lock pin in. He had no authorisation to operate the aircraft ramp either. He tried to insist that the Loadmaster had cleared him to do it. I left him in discussion with the rather large, Flt Lt, Loadmaster, some may know who I mean. Anyone who knows me, should also know that I put no criticism on anyone. I'm merely relating a previous experience (accidents happen). I hope I'm not to receive PMs asking me to modify a genuine recollection to avoid "embarrassment".

Smudge

Christ, Smudge, can you narrow it down a bit?

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps9d74b620.jpg

Final pic in the Op Burlap sequence. Taken as we taxied out to go back to Changi in XV 307.

C-130 Rodeshia
 

Very much in the learning curve but as real men don't read manuals I'll try this post. Sorry if it doesn't work - I'll read the manual or seek advice.
We should see a photo of one of the three the Rhodesia/Zimbabwe det Hercs

<a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=24e9vuu" target="_blank"><img src="http://i58.tinypic.com/24e9vuu.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>

C-130
 

Didn't work did it? READ the damn manual!!

Nearly there Upgently old chap :ok:

The URL Link is produced in the 2nd Box Down on Tiny entitled, as below, then use the PPRuNe pic Insert Tool ...

IMG Code for Forums & Message Boards

PS ...

Your Image Size needs to be a max of 750 pix wide ... and "mirrored" in this case as the original appears back to front.

http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/...psbb66545a.jpg

Just trying to help out :)

Coffman
Thanks for that. He sent me a PM but was asleep.
Upgently PM replied to :ok:

500N ... No worries mate :ok:

Cracking pic from Upgently :D Hopefully more to come :)

C-130 thread
 

Thanks for your guidance team both on PM's and on the thread. I will do my best to get on top of the procedure and admit to being a little ashamed to still be faffing about.

Tomorrows another day so will try again and glad you like Albert dressed for Rhodesia as above.

Upgently,

I heard that a LOX pot got shot on that det, and that sensibly they had been discharged of their contents. Perhaps, if you were involved, you could give us the inside track, so to speak. Don't worry about modern confuserism, many can help with posting the photos, making sure you keep the width to 750 just means that we can still read the posts. More pics mate.

Smudge:ok:

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps71ecd5da.jpg

Now for something different. This pic was taken to appear on the 48 Sqn Christmas card. There are however two versions of it. The version on the card is the cleaned up version. It was retouched to remove the oil stains on the pan as visible in the above pic. I (and the rest of the crew) are not in the pic as we are in Port Moresby with a flat tyre. Due to a shortage of wheels back at Changi the spare wheel we normally carried had been removed from the fly away pack !
All those struggling to upload pics, just keep trying. I did and you can see the results.

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psd7fd4129.jpg

As Coffman said check the pic is not mirrored ! This pic is from the Lyneham Publicity pack and is most definitely mirrored ! (smudge will you explain how we know). Not quite as bad as the video they used to show to visiting groups. It opened with an arty view of a Herc which was actually a GAF Transall which just happened to be visiting when they shot the video.

Probe and Astro ass-about-face :8

C 130 thread
 

Hi Smudge

Ref your enquiry on a wee bullet hole in a Rhodesia Det Herc, yep I was part of the crew on that frame. By today's standards this incident is nothing but trivia -Iran - Afganistan etc but at the time it generated a deal of excitement as the Hercules in UK service had lead a charmed life. If I can ever get on top of uploading pics I have one of this frame which from memory I think was XV176.

We were on a VERY low level routing with 30 odd soldiers on board having been briefed and had demonstrated the abilities of the tracking head on ground/air missiles which the rebels held. The demo was simply passing a lit match across the front of the missile head and just watch it respond, gulp, hence low level. A further ground demo was passing the head across the front of the airframe with props turning and this damn thing was responding to the variations in light created by the spinning prop and tip paint job.

The bullet strike was as the result of a burst of AK47 fire (confirmed by Rhodesian Army weapons team). We had chosen to fly a non direct route to our drop off point as intelligence told us of several known treats. The rebels had radar tracked multi barrel weapons so the re-route was essential. Way out in the scrub following a dirt track a couple of shepherds were seen going about their business but alas part of their business was to take out a UK aircraft. The swack as the round hit concentrated the mind but as you correctly say the Lox tanks were purged and whilst the round rattled around a bit I don't recall the techie team getting too excited. Same old story but a fraction of a second later and it would have struck one of the troops who were on the same line down the aircraft side as the strike.

God, sorry war stories but you did ask.

Incidentally the landing strips were generally on narrow open roads which immediately prior to our landings were driven up and down several times by a Rhodesian Army vehicle, the underside shaped to form a "V" thus dissipating any land mine explosion effect. Brave guys.

Coffman,
yes and this pic like the video I mentioned was presumably passed as fit for public consumption by the PR mafia, The probe was affixed to the co pilots side of the a/c and the observation dome (not astrodome) replaced the flight deck escape hatch.

upgently,
war stories and personal pics of the 'K' are what this thread is all about. Keep them coming please.

C-130 thread
 

Well I've not weakened and read the manual but I have followed the teams instructions on photo uploads so let's see what happens this time.

http://i61.tinypic.com/359lqvq.jpg

C130 Thread
 

I'm so happy I could spit As you can see all your efforts worked

Thanks for the guidance everybody. I have a few pics that you may well not have seen so periodically I will filter them into the thread. Shout if you get fed up.

Dear old Changi base showing a gathering of 48 Sqn frames.

http://i58.tinypic.com/156fo6x.jpg

Well played Upgently ... You now have your P (Picture) Wings :ok:

Cracking images ... Keep em coming :)

Best ...

Coff.

Ah, the 48 Sqn pan at Changi, as a young SAC doing guard on the pan, I was sternly admonished by a passing pilot for referring to "these new C130's", "Young man in the Royal Air Force we give our aeroplanes names, and that is a Hercules"

Thats me told then.

PM

Upgently,

Once again you dangle the beauty of the Light Stone/Dark Earth finish, was Albert ever smarter ? Thanks for the gen on the LOX pot in Rhodesia. I offer this photograph, and a small story of "small arms" fire from my own experience.

http://i1292.photobucket.com/albums/...ps51e932e1.jpg

The photograph(s) were taken on a trip during the Sarajevo Airlift, and feature a French Foreign Legion chap having a nose around, and a shot prior to take off outbound, from my station in the RH para door.

We approached Sarajevo, as normal, at a decent altitude, with the intention to do a Khe San approach to land. At the time, because of small arms fire, the approach was from one direction only, take off went out directly the way you came in. As the Captain pulled the power levers back and pushed the nose down, there was a flash from the ground. To this day I'm convinced I watched "something" go past about 15 feet away from the para door, followed by a clearly audible explosion and metallic rain hitting topside. We landed, in the process discharging several flare and chaff rounds, which set fire to the grass in the undershoot, and taxied in. In those days the RAF crews were the only ones to shut down for offloading, and, as the GE, I was required to do an external inspection whilst the offload was under way. The Captain prevented a topside check as it was known that snipers were active from directly across the runway. Having done as good a check as I could, and seeing no visible damage, I did note a large ring of red smoke, high above the approach end of the runway. I took the snap of the Foreign Legionnaire as we waited to restart and depart. He certainly looked a friendly chap. I think we all realised that on the way in someone had had a pot at us, and we now had to fly over them again, in the climb out. Sixpence/Halfcrown was the order of the day until we reached around 15K.

We were later told that we had been quite lucky. Someone had analysed what happened and decided that whoever took the shot was using a wire guided, anti tank weapon, As he launched, our Captain entered the Khe San approach, what prevented the hit was he could not make the missile track down as fast as Albert was descending. That's the story I got at the time, the truth of the matter always lay above my pay grade. I do know that the airlift was stopped for a week as a direct result and we took the first load in on the day it resumed.

I just read someone suggest "pull up a sandbag" is OK, thought I would relate one of my own experiences, as a non aircrew team member and hope it meets the criteria. Perhaps, relating the fact that Albert, and its crews, have certainly been in harms way, throughout its service in the RAF is an appropriate tribute to the Crews, and the aircraft. Keep posting the pictures Gentlemen, for those of us old enough, that paint scheme really does bring on some very, happy memories.

Smudge:ok:

AA62, #150

Apart from the obvious reversal of probe and cupola (I'm sure I know the bloke in there), I offer another clue that may not be so obvious. If you look at the rear escape hatch, its a nice dark green (obviously on the wrong side of the fin). Now, I'm not sure if its well known, but the SF Herks, deployed in support of SF operations in GW1, were painted pink, by the ground crews, and aircrews, by hand, in theatre. When they applied the paint, their access "upstairs" was through that hatch, and consequently missed the lick of paint the rest of the airframe got. So, it stands out like the canines cojones, the hatch is on the wrong side. To be pedantic, the Cargo pack NACA duct (hacker duct) is also on the wrong side.

Smudge:ok: