Wynne Day	Carrier aircraft servicing in Korean War
	Perry Dodge	Electrical in fighters and transports
	Lacy C. Hinther	C-82 (pre-Flying Boxcar) prop specialist
	Thomas L. O'Neill	KC-97 (R4360) engine specialist, Korea

WYNNE DAY - CARRIER DECK MAINTENANCE

BRIEF BIO:

Wynne Day was born on June 24, 1931 in Puunene, Maui, Territory of Hawaii. In June of 1949 he enlisted in the Navy (USNR), at Wailuku, Maui and in June 1950, when he was just 18 years old, he went on active duty. Boot Camp was at San Diego. This was followed by service on a number of ships (alphabetically): USS Gen.W.A.Mann (AP 112), Arquipa (AF 31), Bon Homme Richard (CVA 31), Pickaway (APA 222), Rasher (SSR 269), Scamp (SSN 538), and Enterprise (CVN 65). In addition he served for a total of 5 years with the USMC: MCRD San Diego (2 tours), the lst Marines, lst Mar Div (Viet Nam), and the 4th Marines, 3rd Mar Div (float off Viet Nam). His major theaters of operation were Korea and Vietnam. Wynne retired in July 1973 with 24 years total service, with the rank of E-7.

HIS STORY:

The Hawaiian island of Maui, where I grew up, exerted very little aviation influence on those of us living there, except perhaps for Hawaiian Airlines, which in the 1930's was flying the Sikorsky flying boats. They upgraded to DC3s just before WW 2. There were also one or two Piper J3's around. In early '41 the Navy VJ-13 squadron was based there with a couple Stearman's, experimenting with radio control. The island of Kahoolawe, part of Maui County, was officially designated as a US Navy bombing target, a designation that remained until the 70's. We could watch the practice dive bombing from Maui.

Then when I was 10 years old everything changed. With the start of WW II we very shortly had two Naval Air Stations and the 4th Marine Division as neighbors. My father went to work in the supply section of NAS Kahului (now the main international airport of Maui). I used to love to go to work with him, where I could sit for hours and watch the Hellcats, Corsairs, and other miscellaneous planes take off and land. The runway was so wide that fighters could take off four abreast. We also had friends who would fly over from NAS Kaneohe, on Oahu, in their "black-cat" PBY. The flight mechanic was a member of VJ-13. This was a big thrill when they would buzz the town of Wailuku on their way in.

After the battle of Saipan I became acquainted with the Marines of the 4th Tank Battalion and began to spend my weekends at the "tank farm". There I learned to drive a Jap tank and then one of the Shermans. But mostly I learned about military life and camaraderie. I also lost a few friends on Iwo Jima.

The war ended, the Navy and Marines left, and I started high school, knowing that the only career for me would be in the military. At this time I also took up photography. Do you remember the WW 2 photo (posed I'm sure) of the rear seat gunner taking photos from an SBD Dauntless? Well that was my inspiration, my way of getting into the air. I knew my weakness in math would not allow me to attend flight school.

At the end of my junior year the Korean war started and I saw an opportunity to go regular Navy, with good chances for advancement. So I talked my folks into letting me join early, with the promise to obtain my high school diploma, which I did -- even graduating with my class.

After boot camp I was assigned to a Naval Air Station but there were no openings there for a photographer. So I quickly volunteered for carrier duty. Aboard the USS Bon Homme Richard I soon learned that my duties as a photographer would be limited to changing the film in the photo jets (F9F-2 Panthers) and other duties around the lab. NO FLYING!

In the weather shack I was at least on the flight deck, but I was so thin that the Chief wouldn't let me out on the flight deck to launch a balloon if the wind was over 5 knots. But I was able to watch a lot of the flight deck activity and witnessed some real hairy stuff. The worst by far was the death of an F4U Corsair pilot, killed when an AD Skyraider missed all the arresting wires, bounced between the barriers and hung up on the last one, with his prop literally cutting the Corsair in half at the cockpit.

I gave up the weather shack when a spot in the gas crew opened up. This got me "in contact" with the planes I loved. In that capacity I worked on the hangar deck as an Aviation Boatswain, gassing F4U Corsairs, ADs, F9F Panthers and a few other odd planes. Of course the Corsair was my favorite, with the AD a close second. The jets never have replace my love of the "prop jobs" even though I probably gassed more.

My "gas station" was forward on the hanger deck next to the deck-edge elevator. The hours were long and most of us got more sleep on that cold, armored steel deck than we did in our racks. Flight ops were scheduled from midnight to late afternoon or evening or from early morning to well after midnight. All planes had to be fueled for the next day's ops before the gas crew was relieved. Long hours but I did enjoy the work, since I was at least working around aircraft.

Towards the end of our second cruise to Korea I was offered the opportunity to work in Sick Bay with the possibility of attending Hospital Corps School on return to the states. That turned out was the best decision I could have made. I went on from there to very interesting duty on different types of ships, qualified on submarines, and finally got back to the Marines I knew during WWII, except this time with the grunts.

My final duty with the Navy was aboard the "floating NAS" Enterprise. They specifically asked for me because of my expertise in Nuclear Health Physics. I was again able to spend time on the "island" watching flight ops, this time with F4 Phantoms (loved them in Nam!), A6 Intruders, RA-5C Vigilantes, and more.

Needless to say, I have never regretted my choice of career.

PERRY C. DODGE - ELECTRICAL IN FIGHTERS AND TRANSPORTS

BRIEF BIO:

Perry Dodge was born in Prairie City, Oregon, on June 23, 1931. When he was just over 20 years old, on July 14, 1951, he enlisted in the USAF, at Eugene, Oregon. Basic Training was at Lackland AFB, San Antonio, Texas, and Shepard AFB in Wichita Falls, Texas (18JUL51 - 06SEP51). Advanced training, as an aircraft mechanic, was also at Shepard (06SEP51 - 24MAR52). Basic electrical school was at Chanute AFB, Rantoul, Illinois (24MAR52 - 02JUN52). Perry was then assigned to 3525th / 3530th Pilot Training Wings at Williams AFB, Chandler, Arizona, and Bryan AFB, Bryan Texas, in aircraft maintenance - electrical. He was discharged (for the first time) on July 13, 1955, with the rank of A1C (three stripes, no KP).

Just seven months later, in February 1956, he "re-upped", and remained in the USAF for another 18 years. During this second tour he served in Anderson AFB, Guam (56 - 57); Luke AFB, Phoenix, Arizona (57 - 58); Portland Int'l Airport, Portland, Oregon (58 - 64); the United Sates Military Training Mission to Saudi Arabia, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia (1964); McCord AFB, Tacoma, Washington (65- 68); Madigan Army Hospital (broken leg), near Tacoma, Washington (68 - 69); Kingsley AFB, Klamath Falls, Oregon (69- 71 -- with another stop at Madigan); Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota (71-72); and at RAF Bentwaters, England (72-74). This was his final duty and on New Year's Day of 1974 he retired, with the rank of MSgt.

HIS STORY:

I was born Perry Charles Dodge on June 23, 1931 at Prairie City, Grant County, Oregon. My parents separated when I was four and my father died when I was seven. Then in October, 1942 when I was eleven my mother remarried and we began a nomadic life. When I was just fourteen I went out into the world on my own. I spent five and one half years doing ranch work at Sisters, Oregon and worked for a short time as an apprentice carpenter in John Day, Oregon. Then in July 1951, at the tender age of 20, I joined the Air Force. My first tour of duty ended just four years later. However, after seven months of civilian life I "re-upped", and ended up serving another 18 years.

I was sworn in on July 14, 1951 at the National Guard Armory in Eugene, Oregon. That was just two weeks before I would have been drafted into the Army. From Eugene we went by train to Los Angeles, and the Airmen among us continued on to Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas. There we were assigned to Flight 1863 in the 3747th Basic Military Training Squadron, 3750th Basic Military Training Group. The next ten days were much like you would imagine for basic training. It seemed like there was no end to the marching and obstacle courses. The temperature was 110 - 120 degrees, day and night and our clothing was dry only for the first five minutes we wore it. Nevertheless, after about a week we began to look like a decent marching unit.

After ten days we were sent to Shepard Air Force Base, Wichita Falls, Texas, for the rest of basic. Among the things I remember the most vividly about basic, after 50 years, is K.P. My first time was at Dining Hall #2 of eight, where I was assigned to pots and pans. My tour began at 0400 and ended at 0230 the next morning. I was so far back in the place they had to pipe daylight to me. It was 120' all day without any breeze. If you lit a cigarette in the morning the smoke was still there in the evening. By the time we completed six weeks of basic I had been on K.P. six times.

We also learned about the organization of the Air Force, the chain of command, the general orders for guard duty and the Uniform Code of Military Justice, or UCMJ. The last week we went to Career Counseling where we could ask for our career field choice. On September 6, 1951 I graduated from basic, was promoted to Private First Class and got my first career choice, aircraft mechanic. The school was also at Shepard so I simply moved on base. I was assigned to the 3763rd Student Squadron for Aircraft and Engine Mechanic's School, or A&E. Our Squadron had about 700 students. I was on A Shift, 0600 - 1200, which I really liked. We would "fall in" for formation at 0500, march to the dining hall and then to school. After school we marched to chow and then to the barracks.

During my early service years military pay was monthly on the last day of the month. Payment was given alphabetically by rank and in cash. There was no school or marching on payday. We fell in for pay at 0800. After pay we were greeted by a line of hands out for donations. The first one in line was the first sergeant. He had a warm friendly smile for everyone as he collected for the Red Cross. It was the same for Air Force Aid, the old Soldier's Home, etc. Then in the evening students were welcome to join the local card games where many donated much more. In 1951 our Commander, Captain Robert A. Gross, made about $700 a month but I noticed that most cooks on base, with just one or two stripes, drove Cadillacs.

Aircraft and Engine Mechanic's School covered a wide variety of subjects including basic principles such as reading and math refreshers; a brief class on chemistry and physics; basic principles of flight; the Air Force Technical Order System, which dealt with service manuals, parts manuals etc.; and the supply system.

The Airframe Branch covered subjects like aircraft materials (fabric, wood, plastic, metal) and design and construction of major assemblies and systems. The classes included hands-on instruction on fuselage, wings, landing gear, and flight controls. The Engine Branch introduced the radial reciprocating engines and their systems, engine driven accessories and the relationship between engines and propellers. Another branch was devoted to equipment that was maintained by specialists, which required training beyond the needs of the aircraft mechanic, including instruments, electrics, hydraulics, propellers and auxiliary systems. The latter included fuel systems; heating, ventilation and pressurization, oxygen, and fire detection and extinguishing systems. Finally, a last branch covered engine operation and operational checkout and aircraft and engine inspection. All of these were taught hands-on with an instructor accompanying every step. I really enjoyed running engines and making operational checks, by the book. Our test engine was a B-29 power plant with 3,350 cubic inches displacement. It made one hell of a breeze at full power.

When I finished A&E I was among the top 20% of my class with a 3.8 grade average, and thus was entitled to promotion to Corporal. We were then all ordered to report to Chanute Air Force Base, Rantoul, Illinois for specialist schools. When we reported in we had already been assigned to classes. We were evenly divided between Electrics, Instruments, Hydraulics, Propellers and Auxiliary Systems. My assignment was to the 3355th Student Squadron for basic electrical school.

The winters at Chanute were bitterly cold and had plenty of snow and ice. The buildings were heated with coal furnaces and a whole block of the base was used for the coal pile. Directions to places on the base always began from the coal pile. our barracks were World War II vintage, two story, un-insulated, drafty wood structures. Someone in each barracks was detailed nightly to stoke the furnace. The arrival of spring was a most welcome event. I was glad that I missed furnace detail and very glad for spring, which is beautiful in Illinois.

My class starting date was March 24, 1952 and I was on my favorite A-Shift, from 0600 until noon. Aircraft electrical systems control or are affected by all other systems. We had to know how everything else operated to determine whether a particular malfunction was electrical or caused by some other system or unit. This is no small order but is of paramount importance to insure that the proper action is taken for repairs, and that the proper operational check is made to assure safety of flight. People's lives depend on the correct maintenance actions. Aircraft, like the sea, are horribly unforgiving of human error.

Chanute had about 11,000 people, counting military and civilian. On Armed Forces Day 1952 we had a base wide inspection and parade. There was a guest speaker, news commentator Paul Harvey.

On June 2, 1952 I completed basic Aircraft Electrical School with a 3.9 grade average and made Corporal. After quite a celebration we were given our permanent base assignments. Mine was the 3525th Pilot Training Wing at Williams Air Force Base, Chandler, Arizona.

We had a small five man shop in one of the side wings of our Butler hangar. We performed inspections and routine maintenance on our squadron's T-33 aircraft. It was usually easy to keep up with the workload. Our assistant shop chief, Staff Sergeant George L. Pease, was from Los Angeles. He kept a very close check on our jobs for proper performance. On one inspection, I refused to sign off the electrical part. The line chief, Master Sergeant Kenneth Pheilsticker, from Las Vegas, was not amused. He asked Oscar and George to check it. George quickly confirmed my action and recommended that the aircraft be sent to the depot for rewiring. Later when the aircraft was returned George said it was, "beautiful".

Shortly after I was asked to help with an aircraft accident investigation. A T-33 had crashed at nearby Rittenhouse Auxiliary Field. The team wanted to know how much fuel the aircraft had on board when it crashed. I was told I wouldn't need any test equipment, I was given a shovel. I was to dig and determine the extent of burned and unburned fuel penetration. The easy part was the sand and the hard part was the baked clay. It was 120' that day and I did fairly well until the first shovel full. I didn't understand what they expected to learn, or how, but I did as I was told without bitching. That may be why I had many calls during the next few years for crash sites all over the U.S. and Canada.

When I made Corporal the grade titles were changed and I was an Airman Second Class, with two stripes. On December 1, 1952 I made Airman First Class, with three stripes and more pay, plus no more K.P.

In February, 1953, I was sent to the 3526th Maintenance Squadron on base to assist with some electrical modifications. We installed bomb pylons, centerline wing tip fuel tanks, tip tank jettison, bomb salvo and sequential bomb release systems on several T-33A aircraft that arrived without the changes.

In August, 1953 all electricians were assigned to the 3525th Field Maintenance Squadron on base. It was our task to perform all electrical inspections, repairs, modifications and field level overhaul of aircraft electrical systems and components on the base. Our assigned aircraft included about 200 T-6 "Texan" two place prop driven trainers, 30 F-80 jet fighters, 220 T-28 two place prop driven pilot -trainers, 300 T-33 two place jet trainers, (F-80s with dual cockpits for flight training), plus Base Flight. Our Base Flight aircraft included two B-25s, two B-26s,one C-45, one C-47, two L-5 observation aircraft, an H-19 helicopter and a T-29 navigation trainer. Those of us with an A&E School background had the advantage when servicing the Base Flight aircraft. other electricians who followed me by a year or two were shorted by not having A&E. With that training we were better qualified to separate electrical malfunctions from those belonging to other specialties.

Our base commander was Colonel George S. Brown. Our first sergeant, MSgt James Dorsey, had been Col. Brown's B-17 Flight Engineer during World War II. Col. Brown was a West Point officer and one of the sharpest in appearance of any I've ever seen. Later he was a four star general who was to serve two terms as the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. When I retired his signature was on my retirement orders.

In August, 1954 I heard that some of us would be moving once more. On November 30, I reported to the 3530th Pilot Training Wing at Bryan Air Force Base, Bryan, Texas. The base was between Houston and Waco, near the gulf. Also it is about twenty miles from Texas A & M College at College Station, Texas. After my in-processing I was further assigned to the 3530th Field Maintenance Squadron. My duty was to supervise the electrical shop flight line night shift.

Bryan was smaller than Williams, with about 150 T-28s and some 250 T-33s. As the shift leader I needed authorization to start, run-up and taxi both aircraft. The maintenance officer, Captain Rudolph J. Hubka, remembered me from Williams. I called him for the needed authority and he said, "Perry, if you need to run-up an aircraft, go ahead. I'll sign your papers in the morning and you can pick them up on your way to work". When I picked up the papers, he had also cleared me to supervise and inspect landing gear retractions, and flight control maintenance. Later I learned that Hubka was a colonel and was the Director of Aerospace Safety for the Air Force at Norton Air Force Base, San Bernardino, California.

In June 1955 my wife at the time was taken to the hospital in Phoenix for a probable miscarriage. I was contacted by the Red Cross and after the necessary paperwork, I left for Arizona on Emergency Leave. I left the base at about 1600 hours and drove all night for the 1,130 miles to Mesa, Arizona. The reason for the Emergency Leave proved valid. Our son, Freddy Lee Dodge, lived for about twenty minutes and died from Toxemia.

By the time my leave was over it was nearly time for my discharge so I returned to Bryan, did my processing and went back to Phoenix. I was off active duty but in the Air Force Reserve for about seven months. I worked for awhile as an apprentice auto mechanic at MacKenzie Chevrolet in Chandler, Arizona. The future didn't look very rosy there so I quit and worked for Magma Copper Company in Superior, Arizona. As a miner I worked at 5,500 feet underground where the rock temperature stays at 162 degrees. Mining paid good, at $18 per shift, but the grind was darn tough. The shifts were two weeks on days, then two weeks on swing shift, then two weeks of grave shift and back to days. I gave that up and looked for other work. The pickings were slim at the time so I reenlisted in the Air Force in February, 1956.

From there I went on to another 18 years on active duty. During that period I had a number of exciting assignments and adventures, starting with the 54th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron at Anderson AFB, Agana, Guam (Mar56 - Jul57). There I was aboard one of our WB-50s (a Weather B-50) as we penetrated and re-penetrated a typhoon. After that I got a plum assignment to the 3600th Combat Crew Training Wing at Luke AFB, Phoenix, Arizona (Jul57 - Sep58), where they had F-100s.

Not long after I began that tour I was invited to go on a TDY to Reese Air Force Base at Lubbock, Texas, on a crash investigation. The team's C-54 picked me up at Luke and we took off just before dark. When we were near Biggs Air Force Base at El Paso we got a #3 engine fire warning light. The aircraft had two fire extinguishers, one for each wing, so they fired the right one into the #3 engine, and the light went out. A couple of minutes later it came on again so they fired the other extinguisher, and it went out again. However, the light very quickly came on again and this time we saw smoke from the rear of the engine nacelle, forward of the wing fuel tank. Holy cow, this is for real! The pilot came up on the intercom and calmly announced, "Prepare for bailout!" It seemed forever until the bailout bell rang. We were about 40 miles from Biggs but above a whole world of Prickly Pear Cactus. On the way down I saw a mighty welcome sight, the lights of two H-19 helicopters coming from Biggs. I was the only one to land on a bare spot, about 40 feet in diameter. One fellow got a fractured leg but the rest escaped serious injuries. I think that was the second loss of a crash investigation team aircraft.

From there I was assigned to the 337th Fighter Group at Portland International Airport (Sep58 - Jan64), where they had the new F-102 Delta Dagger. That six years of duty was such a ridiculous nightmare that I applied for overseas duty. I spent a year (Jan64 - Dec64) with the 1172nd Foreign Missions Squadron, Headquarters Command, attached to The U.S. Military Training Mission in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. There we struggled as much with the heat and sand as with the aircraft (F-86Ds). We also learned many ingenious ways to make or import banned alcoholic beverages. From there I reported to McCord AFB, Tacoma, Washington (Jan65 - Nov68), where they had C-141s.

On November 18, 1968 I had a severe auto accident and ended up in Madigan Army Hospital, in Tacoma. I stayed there more than a year, convalescing. On one of my convalescent leaves my wife Mary and I adopted the daughter and son of mary's sister-in-law, one-year-old Lisa and 6-weeks-old Shane.

Finally, in December 1969 I was able to resume duty, and was assigned to the 408th Fighter Interceptor Group (F-101 Voodoo / F106 Delta Dart) at Kingsley AFB, Klamath Falls, Oregon. However, this only lasted a few months when I slipped and fell, in the dining hall, and fractured my right leg again. On February 2, 1970 I was back in Madigan Army Hospital, including another 4-1/2 months in traction, this time for just eight months. Finally, on October 22, 1970 I was able to resume duty at Kingsley.

Not long after that the squadron moved to Grand Forks AFB in North Dakota. My whole family moved up there with me and we got base housing. Two winters of that was about all I could stand and I applied for overseas assignment. In mid-November I moved my family back home to Portland and departed for the 81st TACFighter Wing at RAF Bentwaters, England. This was to be my final tour of duty. On New Year's Day of 1974 I traveled back to Portland and retired.

LACY C. HINTHER - C-82 PACKET

BRIEF BIO:

Lacy Hinther was born in Jordan, Montana, on March 28, 1931. In July 1949 he enlisted in the Air Force. He took basic training at Lackland AFB, Texas (Jul-Sep '49), and aircraft mechanic training at Chanute AFB, Illinois (Oct '49-Oct '50). His primary area of duty was at Rhein-Main AFB, Germany (Oct '50-Oct '52), where he served as flight mechanic and propeller specialist. He returned to McChord AFB, Washington, in October 1952 and was discharged there in January 1953, as a Staff Sergeant.

In November 1953 Lacy married Neoma L. Stewart of Roseburg, Oregon. Together they have two children, Jeannine and Karl.

HIS STORY:

Most people I talk to about the type of aircraft I helped to maintain and flew on during my brief time in the Air Force, the Fairchild C-82, never heard of the airplane. Erroneously referred to as the "Flying Boxcar", its official Air Force name was "Packet". Only a small number, 223, were produced and the airplane was in the Air Force active inventory for only a short time. It was replaced by the official "Flying Boxcar", the Fairchild C-119, about 1100 of which were produced.

After enlisting in Roseburg, Oregon, I was immediately sent to Lackland AFB, Texas, for basic training. After surviving basic, I was granted my choice of occupational training, aircraft mechanic, at Chanute AFB, Illinois. After 15 weeks of basic mechanic training, I elected to go on to further specialized aircraft maintenance training and chose engine mechanics. There was a backlog of people awaiting this training, so I joined the ranks of the "casuals", personnel awaiting openings in the various schools.

You werent very casual being a "casual"; this was the manpower pool from which they drew for kitchen police (KP), grounds maintenance and other disagreeable tasks typical of a military installation. It seemed as though I was being "picked on" because I was selected about every other day for KP in a consolidated mess hall which fed thousands of men every meal. I learned that there were soon to be openings in the propeller specialists school, so I signed up. After eight weeks of this training I was ready to become a productive member of the Air Force.

I was offered duty stations at several bases in the states, or I could go to Japan or Germany. I heard that Germany was the place to go, so off to Camp Kilmer (or Fort Dix, I can't remember which), New Jersey, I went for embarkation. We went by troop ship, the Maurice Rose, from New York to Bremerhaven, Germany. The ship had fairly good accommodations, for a troop ship, and I enjoyed the crossing.

After a brief stay at Bremerhaven, I was sent to Marburg, Germany, for assignment to duty station. Marburg has an impressive castle, the first I had ever seen, and I was really thrilled to see an historic building such as that. My assignment was to the 60th Troop Carrier Group (Medium), 11th Troop Carrier Squadron, based at Rhein-Main AFB near Frankfurt, Germany.

The 11th Squadron had about 10 C-82s. The one and only resident "prop man" (propeller specialist) was quite thrilled to see me as he was the most overworked man in the squadron, attending to 10 airplanes by himself. The squadron was staffed mostly by men who had survived the Berlin Airlift and they were glad to see any kind of help arrive to share the workload.

The C-82 was an ungainly looking creature, its attributes more utilitarian than aesthetic, as can be seen by the above picture. The particular C-82 in the picture is currently on display at the USAF Museum, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. Its specifications were:

Wing span : 106 ft. 6 in.
Total length: 77 ft. 1 in.
Total height: 26 ft. 4 in.
Gross Max weight: 54,000 lb.
Engines (2)t: R-2800 18 cylinder radial rated at 2100 hp
Propellers: Hamilton Standard 33E60 Hydromatic
Cruise/Max speeds: 162 / 250 mph
Max range: 2100 miles

The C-82 first flew in September 1944; delivery to the USAF began in late 1945, with all planes delivered by September 1948. It was used primarily as a cargo and troop carrier, paratroop dropping and glider towing. It could carry 41 paratroopers or 34 stretchers. The rear of the cargo section had clam shell doors which, along with the cargo section being close to the ground, made loading trucks, tanks, artillery and bulky cargo easy. A few C-82s were used in the Berlin Airlift, primarily to carry assembled vehicles into the city.

During my stay with the 11th Squadron, the planes were used to train the French Army and Foreign Legionnaires and British Army paratroops. We provided the airplane from which they jumped. We also provided support for USAF jet fighter squadrons stationed in Europe when they would go to "temporary duty" training assignments in Europe and North Africa. We hauled their ground support and personnel equipment. We referred to ourselves as the "11th Trash Carrier Squadron" because of the variety and content of the cargo we carried.

The flight deck of the airplane, reached by climbing a built-in four-rung ladder from the cargo section, had seats for four crewmen; pilot, co-pilot, navigator and radio operator. The fifth crew member, the flight mechanic, had to sit wherever it best suited him, except during takeoff, climbing to cruise altitudes and during landings when he would occupy the radio operator's seat to assist the pilots.

Our squadron rarely flew with a navigator on board. A navigator (sometimes two or three) would be on the crew list whenever "navigation training flights" were scheduled to interesting places such as Copenhagen, Paris or Madrid. These were at least overnight, sometimes two night stays. A radio operator was carried when lengthy cross country flights were scheduled. Their purpose was to transmit position reports, in Morse Code, to Rhein-Main AFB, or other bases along the route. They didn't use the sending key installed in the airplane, but brought their own very fancy key called a "bug". Radio operators prided themselves on the speed at which they could transmit the message with a "bug".

On flights into Berlin, which were restricted to a narrow corridor while flying across the Russian Zone of Germany, an intelligence officer would sit at the open rear exit door in the cargo section. Armed with field glasses, he would observe the many Russian airfields along the corridor and count the number of aircraft to determine any significant changes since the last observation.

As time passed, my duties in the squadron increased. Many of the "old timers" in the squadron were reaching the end of their tours and were returning to the USA, but few replacement personnel were joining the squadron. Initially, I was the squadron's "prop man", easily identified as my coveralls had the most engine oil stains. The propellers (Hamilton Standard Hydromatics) on the C-82 periodically had to have the domes cleaned of sludge. This meant removing the dome from the prop, which opened a very large source of black engine oil to the surrounding area, very messy, particularly if the wind was blowing. Avoiding getting a lot of oil on oneself was just not possible.

As more of the old-timers left, I was assigned to work on the entire aircraft and still remain the "prop man". Finally, I was asked to assume crew chief and flight mechanic duties for one of the squadron's ten airplanes. I was thrilled to get onto a flight crew, fly around Western Europe and North Africa, draw a little extra pay for flying duty and work on the props of my own aircraft only. The luxury of a "prop man" in the squadron was dispensed with due to the shortage of replacement personnel. I became the prop consultant and would counsel other crew chiefs on any prop problems they encountered.

The flight mechanic on a C-82 was a kind of handyman. When the airplane was on the ground, he fixed whatever broke during the previous flight. He was also responsible for rigging the cargo section for the specific mission, such as parachute drops or fastening cargo down, plus handling refueling, keeping the aircraft clean and installing or removing flight control gust locks. He was also charged with doing preflight engine run-ups, inspection and approval of the aircraft for flight and keeping the aircraft's maintenance records.

During the flight, he controlled the Auxiliary Power Unit (a supplementary source of aircraft electrical power), retracted and extended the landing gear, monitored the engine instruments for impending failures and balanced the engine driven electric generators to divide the electrical load evenly. He was also a "flat chested stewardess", serving coffee and in-flight meals, when provided.

Most of my C-82 flights were without serious incidents; it was reliable but slow. Its best feature was the Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engines, probably the best piston engine P&W ever built. The most enjoyable flights were test hops, after some major component had been replaced to maintain airworthiness. Many of these test flights became low level sight-seeing excursions, usually along the Rhine River Valley, past the many medieval castles situated on the steep hillsides along the river banks. We could often look into the castle windows as we passed by.

The least enjoyable flights were when we carried army vehicles which filled the cargo section. This made it nearly impossible to reach the rear cargo section exits in the event we had to bail out.

In October 1952, when my enlistment period was coming to a close, I was returned to the USA. I spent the last few months back in my primary Military Occupational Speciality (MOS), propeller specialist, in the prop overhaul shop at McChord AFB, Washington. At the time, the base had four-engined Douglas C-124 Globemasters, another ungainly cargo plane. It was nicknamed "Old Shakey" because of the heavy vibrations throughout the aircraft during flight.

I was honorably discharged in January 1953.

THOMAS L. O'NEILL - KC-97 (R4360) ENGINE SPECIALIST

BRIEF BIO:

Tom O'Neill was born on July 24, 1931 in Kansas City, KS. On September 1, 1949,when he was just 18 years old, he enlisted in the Air Force, at Joplin, MO. He took Basic Training at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, TX, A&E School at Shepard AFB, TX, and Reciprocating Engine Specialist (R-4360) School at Chanute AFB, IL. His major operations were in KC-97 refueling tanker engine maintenance at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, AZ. He was assigned to the 303rd Field maintenance, 303rd Bomb Wing, 303rd Bomb Group, over the period May 1953-March 1956. He was discharged on March 18, 1956 at Davis-Monthan, with the rank of Staff Sergeant.

In Manlius, NY, on September 27, 1958 he married Lois, his second wife. With his first wife Tom had a son, Michael.

HIS STORY:

I enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force on September 1, 1949. Basic training was at Lackland AFB, Texas, for 13 weeks. On completion I was transferred to Great Falls AFB, Montana. I departed on December 18, 1949, a day when it was 85 degrees in San Antonio. I arrived in Great Falls five days later, on a day when it was 18 degrees below zero.

At that time GFAFB was part of the Military Air Transport System. The primary aircraft there were C-47s and C-54s. My job there was the menial task of gathering and tabulating time cards of airframe maintenance people. Perhaps the most memorable event of my short stay at Great Falls was the night I was on night stand-by in the maintenance hangar. At the time I was the greenest imaginable PFC. I barely had working knowledge of the telephone, and only moderate experience with the telephone book.

In the middle of the night, a C-54 strayed off the edge of the runway on landing and its starboard main landing gear broke through the frozen ground, causing the aircraft to swing right off the runway. Then the nose gear and the other main gear also broke through so the plane was stuck some three feet deep in the mud, with the tail sticking out over the active runway. Of course this closed down the field, and my phone began ringing off the wall. The expectations were that I, being the one on duty, would be able to find all the necessary personnel to correct the situation. I will never know how, but I apparently found the right officers and department heads and they eventually cleared the runway. My rear was safe at last.

In May 1950 my family back home was falling apart. My father was having serious heart problems. I sought and was granted an emergency release from active service on 16 May 50. Actually it was a transfer to inactive reserves headquartered at Selfridge AFB, Michigan. Eventually my family situation improved and on March 19, 1952 I reenlisted. I was promptly sent to Offutt AFB, Nebraska, where I got to spend 3 months doing KP. Actually, it was not bad duty inasmuch as we worked the same shifts and hours as the regular cooks.

In June 1952, I got my orders to Sheppard AFB at Wichita Falls, Texas to attend Airframe and Engine school. Six months later, I was sent to Chanute AFB at Rantoul, Illinois for reciprocating engine, (R-4360) specialist school. This was my particular liking. It was a five month course and I am quite proud of the fact that my final grade score was the highest in the class. And that popped me another stripe, to Corporal (A-2C).

The R-4360 engine was the biggest aircraft engine ever built, at least in terms of piston displacement. Pratt and Whitney started the war with the double-row R-2800 radial engine, that was in Navy planes such as the Corsair and the Hellcat, moved up to the double-row R-3350, which powered planes such as the B-29, and ended with the four-row R-4360, which powered other big planes like the KC-97, the B-50, the B-36 and the C-124. The R-4360 had 28 cylinders in those four rows.

The R-3350 was a very powerful engine and, under certain circumstances, could generate "war emergency" power roughly equivalent to that on the R-4360, but could sustain that power for only 10 minutes or so. The R-4360 could sustain that level of power for as much as an hour.

With my school completion, I was transferred to Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, Arizona and assigned to the 303rd Field Maintenance Squadron, part of the 303rd Bomb Wing of the 303rd Bomb Group. At the time we were gearing up to maintain the Boeing KC-97G refueling tankers assigned to the 303rd Air Refueling Squadron.

The R-4360 engines were attached to the aircraft in "power packages" consisting of an accessory section, and engine section and the propeller. The power packages were attached to the KC-97 at the engine firewall with four bolts. They were built up (assembled) in the hangar. An engine change consisted simply of removing the old power package and attaching a new one. An engine change could be made in about an hour and a half. It was somewhat of a logistics problem in that the inboard engines were configured differently from the outboard ones. We could change up to four cylinders with the engine still on the plane. More than that we just replaced the engine.

In my experience, no engine on a KC-97 ever stayed on the plane long enough to reach scheduled engine change time. They were always removed for some other reason, before that time. One of the most frequently occurring problems was that push-rod guides would come out of the crankcase, with the resulting shower of oil everywhere. The manufacturer finally worked out a permanent fix.

My duty section was the "Engine Build-up" section. We took new raw accessories, engines and props from the factory and built up these complete power packages. They would then be stored in the hangar until needed for an engine change. After an engine change we would break the power package apart, package up the main components and ship them back to the factory for refurbishment.

At the time of my assignment we had no engines and the squadron for which we existed had no airplanes. When the aircraft arrived and we got our initial supply of canned engines we began working around the clock. We were part of Gen. Curtis LeMay's SAC and as such were expected to be ready for anything. By the time we got our B-47 bombers the air refueling unit was ready.

After a while my job became much like a civilian one. I was married and living off base so I just had to report aboard at 8:00 AM, got an hour off for lunch, and left at 4:30. From time-to-time we had "penetration drills", where some of General LeMay's staff would try to gain unauthorized access to restricted areas. It was rumored that one guy gained access using an ID card containing the picture of a chimpanzee.

For a brief period I was put in the supply room but managed to get re-assigned to the "engine conditioning" team. It was our job to perform final engine run-up and adjustment of new power plants on the aircraft, and to sign off the installation. Mostly we were dealing with the quality control people.

While on that job we had to go to Chandler, Arizona, to perform some emergency repairs on one of our KC-97 planes. It was a brand new one being ferried to Davis-Monthan along with three others. They encountered a thunderstorm enroute. This pilot opted to fly through it while the others deviated around it. As a result, this plane had spent some 30 seconds in a severe hail storm. All leading surfaces looked like they had been attacked with a jack hammer. The radar "chin" was gone and the enclosed equipment had been smashed. But the big problem was that seven of its eight engine oil coolers were ruptured.

Fortunately, there was an old fighter base very close by and they were able to get on the ground before all the oil was pumped overboard. As it was, it landed with one engine feathered (no oil remaining in its nacelle tank) and the other three between them only had some 20 or so gallons left. The reserve tank in the fuselage was dry, all its oil having been transferred to the engines.

The aircraft was on the ground for some ten days and had settled in the tarmac all the way to its wheel spindles. After we replaced the oil coolers, it was ferried on an emergency release back to Boeing to be rebuilt.

It was about this time that I was promoted to sergeant (A-1C).

Finally I was assigned to the quality control inspection team on the engine build up line. On occasion I inspected the jet assembly line as well. They were building the GE J-47 turbo-jet for the B-47 aircraft.

In January 1956, our unit did a three week TDY stretch at Earnest-Harmon AFB, Newfoundland to assist in some SAC exercises. During that time we had a small blizzard and a couple of the KC-97s weather-vaned out of their chocks. Air crews were brought out to taxi them into the wind and to just sit there ground-flying them until the worst had passed. One of our aircraft had a near miss incident on landing in the snow storm as well. It slid sideways down the runway for some distance before the pilot was able to save it. We had to change two engines as a result of over speed and over boost during the wild throttle jockeying during the incident.

On our return to Tucson, I got promoted again to S/Sgt. Also about this time there was the beginning of re-organization of our wing. It had no real effect on me, however, as I was within weeks of my discharge. And on March 18, 1956 it happened. Discharge in hand and off to a new career.