I offer a sea story from 51 years ago apropos of nothing in particular other than it had as a main character a specific aircraft. In mid June, 1965 the Chief of Naval Operations ordered the Nucleus Port Crew (NPC) #2 from the 3rd Naval District in Brooklyn, NY on Temporary Duty (TAD) to proceed to DaNang to report to CTG 76.4. for the purpose of establishing logistics over the shore support for the newly arrived Marines. Curiously we were told that we were going to Tourane, which was the earlier French name for DaNang. We were also told that the orders were Top Secret and that the only persons we could tell were our respective skippers, and that did not include family members. Four days after receipt of the orders we were bused from the Brooklyn Navy Yard to NAS Lakehurst, NJ where we boarded a VR-21 C-118 Liftmaster flight number 48A18 at 1425 on 6/20/65. We stopped for fuel and crew changes at NAS Alameda, NAS Barbers Point, NAF Wake Island, NAS Agana, Guam, and NAS Cubi Point where we stayed overnight in their BOQ/BEQ. I picked up seven side arms and ammo at the Naval Supply Depot, Subic, and we re-boarded good old BUNO 131604 for the last leg of the trip to DaNang where we arrived at 2215 on 6/24/65 after spending 47 hours and 47 minutes aloft in that bird. After a short bus trip to the waterfront and a long boat ride, NPC#2 reported to CTG 76.4 aboard USS NAVARRO (APA-215). After all that flying we were happy to get to our destination, even if it was DaNang! Just recently I discovered a couple of photos of good old BUNO 131604. https://www.dropbox.com/s/63nktk7wlnytjbt/Screen%20Shot%202016-07-30%20at%205.33.13%20PM.png?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/3tb2wrym2jigemy/Screen%20Shot%202016-07-30%20at%205.25.35%20PM.png?dl=0 Best regards, Robert
Thanks for sharing the story.... Hope you have some more to come. It's always interesting to see where planes you have flown end up. I have seen a few in the boneyard at Davis Monthan. One has ended up as a static display at Little Rock AFB and a couple others have ended up with foreign militaries. I think the Polish will probably be decent caretakers.... The Afghanis not so much.
Admiral- I have some time in the C-118 as a dependent in the 60s, but never anything that long. Ankara to Rhein-Main.
In the jet age we don't appreciate what it took in time and effort to cross the oceans even as late as the early 60's... Yea, it's half way around the world, but at 300 kts and going upwind most of the way wasn't a quick trip for sure...
Dear Terry, In the years (61-62) that I was at Karamursel I never got to Ankara. We did have one aviator assigned to the Security Group and he was the pilot of our gooney bird, can not recall whether he called it a C-47 or R4 something). We used a grass field runway about 8 miles west of the base which came in handy for moving classified equipment out of or into country without the hassle of the Turkish customs at the regular airports. The only problem with that runway was often the water buffalo would wander in the way and the huge sheep guarding dogs (which we called Chobans) were very protective of their flocks. Pretty primitive times in reflection. Best regards, Robert
Was on that same route many times in a P-3..we started at Moffett Field though...boring holes through the sky slowly! " NAS Alameda, NAS Barbers Point, NAF Wake Island, NAS Agana, Guam, and NAS Cubi Point "
Solo- Did we not wish for 300 knots. Most of the time it was more like 180 knots. We did not get to 300 knots until the C-130s, and that was pretty much balls to the wall, not cruise speed. Except maybe for a C-130B hot rod with no wing tanks. Aircrew on a Desert Storm timeframe C-130B pulled my forward, because I was a dumb fighter jock, to show me 310 KTAS, which was very impressive. Admiral- My first flight was in 1959 from Oslo, Norway to Wiesbaden in a C-47 with Dad as my pilot. We even had the Russians try to meacon us over the East German border. VOR needle jumped about 20 degrees in a few seconds. Very powerful transmitter. So many VOR stations in Germany, though, that it was easy to find another one for a cross-check. Dad said it nearly worked one night with one of the dumber pilots from Oslo before his copilot figured it out. In those days, pilots had to fly a certain amount each month or they lost their flight pay.
