A great plane, without a doubt. My favorite transport. Wish more were in commercial service -- or at least those wings and engines for podunk airfields.
Loadmaster on E's in RVN, '68 to 70. They got me through 632 takeoff's and landings in Vietnam without a scratch (but I did have to run away, not walk, from 2 of them !!)
10,000 pound kiss, on it's way out the door (We did a lot more than haul trash !!)..
A true testament to the team that designed this rock solid plane. Locally, the Herc's are flown by the 133rd Airlift Wing of the Minnesota Air National Guard and have flown many missions locally, and all over the world. It is a reassuring sight to see the big heavy haulers lumbering along in the skies above. We are very lucky to have such a reliable workhorse in our arsenal.
Noisy uncomfortable and hot,but the best at what it does.
You can't stay in service that long without being the best.
don't forget cold. unless you were near one of the heaters up front. then you roasted. i flew a lot of cross-the-pond flights with the web seats and after the first time, i wore longjohns, wore my shooting muffs and brought my own lunch. and it always seemed to me that 130 pilots thought they were flying an F15 or something. maybe it was just to give us guys in the back a thrill.
[quote=rem141r}don't forget cold. unless you were near one of the heaters up front. then you roasted. i flew a lot of cross-the-pond flights with the web seats and after the first time, i wore longjohns, wore my shooting muffs and brought my own lunch. and it always seemed to me that 130 pilots thought they were flying an F15 or something. maybe it was just to give us guys in the back a thrill. [/quote]
I seem to recall the toilets in "cattle class" weren't exactly "luxury" either!