It always stuck in my head that when I joined the military, it would have never occurred to me that I'd sit around drinking with the Russian military. heheYou got me beat on that one...... Met a russian dishwasher one night though........
C5 had a wooden floor?It always stuck in my head that when I joined the military, it would have never occurred to me that I'd sit around drinking with the Russian military. hehe
It was a joint service, a humanitarian mission. I was a C5 Galaxy Crew Chief at the time. We helped them out with some maintenance 'stuff'. We were better equipped and our gear is in better condition overall.
What blew my mind about that aircraft is that it has a wooden floor.
Nono... The AN-124 has a wooden floor. The aircraft itself is slightly larger than a C5 Galaxy (their claim to fame) but the cargo box is smaller due to the overhead crane used for loading/unloading.C5 had a wooden floor?
I have read the C5A was not a very good plane while the B model was a major improvement? I would think that would have been some good duty.. What was your rank on the C5??
There is an F14 at the museum at the Airport... Are any tomcats still flying? I thought they had all been retired,,,Nono... The AN-124 has a wooden floor. The aircraft itself is slightly larger than a C5 Galaxy (their claim to fame) but the cargo box is smaller due to the overhead crane used for loading/unloading.
The C5A was and still is, a fine aircraft. It still has capabilities that can only be matched by its successors. It's true that they were generally more maintenance-intensive than their B- Model counterparts but they're a much older aircraft too. Somewhere, packed in a box, I've got a plaque that marks a time in history when my maintenance crew and I released an aircraft for flight on a Black Letter Initial. It meant that it had no known maintenance write-ups.
We busted out the ass for months to make it happen. No overtime pay. Just a silly plaque signed by the Wing Commander acknowledging what we had done. That is one of the big differences between the Russian military. We did it because we wanted to. We had to pull some er... [?underhanded] tactics to get it done. You know... like order parts under some gray level priority that maybe we did or maybe we didn't have a direct role in?I dunno... It's all a little fuzzy.
I'm jelly. It's been a while. If you ever get the chance to see an F-14 at an airshow, you will [not] be disappointed unless they find a pilot that just hates airshows and flying.
They are officially retired. I understand there are still some exhibition aircraft in service.There is an F14 at the museum at the Airport... Are any tomcats still flying? I thought they had all been retired,,,
We can neither confirm nor deny any actions that may or may not have occurred during, before or after the time frame in question.We busted out the ass for months to make it happen. No overtime pay. Just a silly plaque signed by the Wing Commander acknowledging what we had done. That is one of the big differences between the Russian military. We did it because we wanted to. We had to pull some er... [?underhanded] tactics to get it done. You know... like order parts under some gray level priority that maybe we did or maybe we didn't have a direct role in?I dunno... It's all a little fuzzy.
Once... I am burned out on car shows...... My Dodge is for sale... I have been doing a few things to it and cleaning it.... Its going on ebay in about a week.. The mustang is going to be a driver, NO MORE show queens... When the dodge is gone, the Mustang gets the garage and its return to the road will go much quicker..
This is not untrue. lolI never liked working on C-5s. Granted, I only did for four years, but I worked C-5A, C-5B, and C-5M. A very maintenance un-friendly aircraft. Good crew chiefs, though. C-17 crew chiefs are incredibly spoiled.
Wow, that means I'm in second placeWow, I am the worst for derailing posts........ Forgive me all.....
Drove a delivery truck to Tacoma ( from Oregon) every tuesday about 10 years ago... Best job ever, NO stress... Anyways the C5's would do touch and go's at a base there and going north on I-5 you swear they were going to land on you..... The second thing that hits you is how something that big fly's...... HUUUUGE...I never liked working on C-5s. Granted, I only did for four years, but I worked C-5A, C-5B, and C-5M. A very maintenance un-friendly aircraft. Good crew chiefs, though. C-17 crew chiefs are incredibly spoiled.
Joint Base Lewis/McChordDrove a delivery truck to Tacoma ( from Oregon) every tuesday about 10 years ago... Best job ever, NO stress... Anyways the C5's would do touch and go's at a base there and going north on I-5 you swear they were going to land on you..... The second thing that hits you is how something that big fly's...... HUUUUGE...
You happen to catch them not long before retirement.I live very close to Wright Patterson AFB near Dayton, Ohio. When I moved out here in '99, they had the C-141. Later they upgraded to the C-5's (don't know what model), and then in the last few years they've changed to the C-17's. BIG difference in the engine sounds between all 3, with the new C-17's being the quietest by a big margin.
Once in about 2001 or so, they decided to do a Scramble of all the C-141's at about 1:30 am. My house was literally shaking from the screaming of the C-141's all taking off one right after another!
No phone call from a retiree made that happen and no retiree would try and place that call. lol Mission Dictates and they know it.I think phone calls were made, though, (we have a LOT of high-brass AF retirees around here!), because that never happened again!
We had an AN-124 arrive in New Orleans one time and since I was a Ground Security Coordinator I was volunteered to take the Russian crew to a hotel across from the airport. Nice bunch of guys who mostly spoke English but didn't take kindly to being babysitted. I had to keep 8 guys in visual at all time until their "handler" got there. He was running late. One had to pee, hang on a minute. One wanted to smoke and was told to go outside since the lobby was nonsmoking. Hold on, you can't go out there. They started to get a bit anxious. I was never more glad to see that handler guy over anyone in my life. I thought I was starting WW3 trying to keep them corraled.Nope... Just a brief flashback to drinking with Russian aircraft maintainers.We were in Nairobi Kenya at the time.
It was one of my more memorable trips. lol
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