Count Down To My (OMG) C-130 Flight

kimberlyanne546

kimberlyanne546

Final Approach
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Kimberly
After driving 2-6 hours round trip at least 5 - 10 times over the past 3 months in rush hour traffic, attending 3 flotilla meetings, 2 trainings, one airport day, and other activities, and spending $300 on uniforms and taking 4 hours off work to get them from a military base shop (and then leaving work early once a month for meetings):

A break through!

When I flew on my solo cross country to Sacramento in October for the last training (an all day event held twice per year that pilots and air crew are required to attend), I got a tour of a C-130.

During this tour, the tour guide (ex-military navy air crew) mentioned that he might be able to "put some seats in the back of the plane." He said that he would try to get the pilots to fly some of us over Lake Tahoe and Alcatraz with THE BACK DOOR OPEN.

How exciting! I signed up, then asked if it would be canceled due to poor weather. He told me no but the route would change since they need VFR to open the door.

So this Sunday, rain or shine, I get up at 4 or 5 in the morning to drive 2-3 hours to get to this plane. The flight is roughly 2 hours long. I am supposed to dress warm. Pictures and videos, if allowed, to follow.
 
That's pretty cool! Take lots of pics, especially if they drop the ramp. We frequently overfly the Herks leaving Elizabeth City, NC, and I have always thought that would be a neat job, if not a very different kind of flying. Are they just going on a regular patrol or something else?

You will probably find that military aviation is not terribly affected by normal weather, though we do certainly cancel training flights for things like really extreme wx, widespread convective storms, known icing, heavy fog, etc. Aside from alternate requirements (anytime your destination is forecast w/n +/- 1 hr of arrival to be below basic VFR) USN/USMC/USCG fixed wing takeoff/landing mins are 200-1/2 or precision mins whichever is higher for a standard instrument rating. Multi-crewed aircraft have an absolute minimum of 100-1/2 or precision mins, again whichever is higher. Some senior guys have a special ticket which allows them to operate (specifically take off) below those mins, but I've never seen anyone need to or decide to exercise those privileges. Either way, I'm sure this time of year you will be ok on that side of the country. I can count on exactly 1 finger how many times I was wx cnx'd at Miramar in 1.5 years flying there.
 
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The reason this is so cool is because you have to be a member of the USCG or AUX (no guests).

Background:

I have 2 FEMA classes - online - to take (5 hours each) plus pass with 90% or better and print out certs, then an all day in person boating class far away on a Saturday (again with a test), and all that just to get me qualified to get my ID card.

The real air crew training starts next January but even after that (3 all day sessions every third Saturday far away) there will be tests, written and oral, plus 10 hours of flying time aka practical experience and then another test. After that some more tests, classes, a swim test, and recurring training. Only then can I fly (and not as a pilot).

So this little C-130 flight is great motivation since the real deal won't come until the end of next year if I cross all my I's and dot all my T's and the FBI gets done with my background check before January. If not I have to wait until 2014 and start all over again.

I can totally see how they get 10 - 30 "newbies" every month but less than 10% actually make it to the planes. It is a lot of work.

Kimberly
 
35 AoA said:
That's pretty cool! Take lots of pics, especially if they drop the ramp. We frequently overfly the Herks leaving Elizabeth City, NC, and I have always thought that would be a neat job, if not a very different kind of flying. Are they just going on a regular patrol or something else?

You will probably find that military aviation is not terribly affected by normal weather, though we do certainly cancel training flights for things like really extreme wx, widespread convective storms, known icing, heavy fog, etc. Aside from alternate requirements (anytime your destination is forecast w/n +/- 1 hr of arrival to be below basic VFR) USN/USMC/USCG fixed wing takeoff/landing mins are 200-1/2 or precision mins whichever is higher for a standard instrument rating. Multi-crewed aircraft have an absolute minimum of 100-1/2 or precision mins, again whichever is higher. Some senior guys have a special ticket which allows them to operate (specifically take off) below those mins, but I've never seen anyone need to or decide to exercise those privileges. Either way, I'm sure this time of year you will be ok on that side of the country. I can count on exactly 1 finger how many times I was wx cnx'd at Miramar in 1.5 years flying there.
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1. Yes, the plan is to drop the ramp.

2. I'm not sure if this is a patrol, a training exercise, or other, but I had to say yes. The man said he tries to have them every 3-4 months, but that may or may not be true, and he said the last one was on a Thursday (aka weekends are rare). So I felt like I needed to go even though I had to change some of my other plans. I also think that people who have not gone get first dibs so I may or may not get to go again.

3. Weather is not looking good but who knows:

Thursday Night
nt_mostlycloudy.gif
Overcast. Low of 50F. Winds less than 5 mph.



Friday
chancerain.gif
Overcast with a chance of rain in the afternoon. High of 68F. Winds from the ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.



Friday Night
nt_chancerain.gif
Overcast with a chance of rain. Low of 52F. Winds less than 5 mph. Chance of rain 50%.



Saturday
cloudy.gif
Overcast with a chance of rain. High of 68F. Winds from the SSE at 5 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 20%.



Saturday Night
nt_chancerain.gif
Overcast with a chance of rain. Low of 50F. Winds from the SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60% with rainfall amounts near 0.2 in. possible.



Sunday
rain.gif
Overcast with rain. High of 66F. Breezy. Winds from the South at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50% with rainfall amounts near 0.3 in. possible.



Sunday Night
nt_chancerain.gif
Overcast with a chance of rain. Low of 48F. Breezy. Winds from the SE at 15 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80% with rainfall amounts near 1.6 in. possible.



Monday
chancerain.gif
Overcast with a chance of rain. High of 64F. Breezy. Winds from the SSE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 70% with rainfall amounts near 0.8 in. possible.



Monday Night
nt_cloudy.gif
Overcast. Low of 45F. Winds from the SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
 
Weather cancellations in a Herc? NASA and the USAF each fly these things into hurricanes.

Have fun, Kimberly. From the title, I thought you were going to sit left seat. :)
 
Yeah sounds like a laundry list of things to get done. That said, cool that they are paying to give you all that training.....I bet the boat class will be interesting as well. If I were a betting man, I'd put money on the flight getting airborne.....at least barring mechanical problems on deck, which are always a consideration.
 
I hope you get to go Kim. The weather should be no obstacle unless they want VFR for your enjoyment. The 130 is a fun machine to fly and was an essential tool for long range and extended searches. It is often employed as a on scene command aircraft when helos are making the actual rescue to drop flares or serve as a radio relay point and to coordinate if there is more than one helicopter involved. I loved flying them, they would take almost anything the weather could dish out and bring you back.
 
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MAKG1 said:
Weather cancellations in a Herc? NASA and the USAF each fly these things into hurricanes.
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Agreed. If there is anything that can fly in most weather, it is probably something like a Herc. Like I said, we (the mil aviation community in general) launch into rain and poor weather all the time.
 
Threefingeredjack said:
I hope you get to go Kim. The weather should be no obstacle unless they want VFR for your enjoyment. The 130 is a fun machine to fly and was an essential tool for long range and extended searches. It is often employed as a on scene command aircraft when helos are making the actual rescue to drop flares or serve as a radio relay point and to coordinate if there is more than one helicopter involved. I loved flying them, they would take almost anything the weather could dish out and bring you back.
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They are not that sexy looking but I know they serve a purpose.

A real C130 pilot gave us a presentation last night at the Air Station about 406's and ELBs and dropped beacons and SAR flight patterns and radar.

Very very cool all that I'm learning about the air program in the Coast Guard. The people are so nice to me (and to everyone else, male or female).
 
MAKG1 said:
Weather cancellations in a Herc? NASA and the USAF each fly these things into hurricanes.

Have fun, Kimberly. From the title, I thought you were going to sit left seat. :)
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My guess is that they want VFR for the enjoyment factor. I have personally launched out of CGAS Sac in nearly zero zero for operational flights. And yes the 130 is a great weather machine. In Alaska hurricane force winds are very common in the winter.
 
I think I might get to see my Dad in SF on Sunday after the flight. If I do, I'm pretty sure in his 20's he flew C130's for the USAF.

So that will be awesome to talk to him about.
 
Wow, that's cool. I've made boo coo jumps out of the back of C130's. Strangest experience was sitting in the back of a C141 next to the ramp when it went down on a cargo drop. You could have lit a match the air was so smooth.
 
Threefingeredjack said:
My guess is that they want VFR for the enjoyment factor. I have personally launched out of CGAS Sac in nearly zero zero for operational flights. And yes the 130 is a great weather machine. In Alaska hurricane force winds are very common in the winter.
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I have launched out of there in CAVU in a skyhawk solo a few weeks ago from the C130 ramp. So we are runway buddies.
 
Threefingeredjack said:
If you can get the hull number. :D


:needpics:
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OK OK I will get the freaking hull number. Of this one on Sunday and of the one I toured. I will try to remember. Remind me how / where to get the number (assume I won't go to the cockpit though I did before on the ground)?
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
OK OK I will get the freaking hull number. Of this one on Sunday and of the one I toured. I will try to remember. Remind me how / where to get the number (assume I won't go to the cockpit though I did before on the ground)?
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It is the four digit number above and ahead of the man door forward. If it is a 130H it will be in the 1700 series. Sorry. :sad:
 
Oh and way more awesomeness:

I almost got stick time in a luscombe over the weekend

I turned screws on a creeper under a million dollar wing over the weekend

I saw a DC-4 do low passes over my runway and a mass takeoff of at least 10 vintage planes over the weekend

I took photos of a girl who was a pin up girl in the veteran's day parade in a flight suit over the weekend

I just barely missed a flight in a Pilatus over the weekend

Last night I was "sworn in" with 5 others (all of us in those dorky uniforms) to the AUX

This weekend C-130 and possibly one other flight


And hell I thought this was the off season?
 
Oh yeah and I missed it but apparently over the weekend Red Bull Flugtag came to SF with flying contraptions.
 
Dude! AWESOME!

I took photos of a girl who was a pin up girl in the veteran's day parade in a flight suit over the weekend
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P.S.--Stop taking pictures of yourself.
 
List of photos / items within the past two weeks:

1. Luscombe (almost)

2. Creeper (sweet)

3. DC-4 - videos and photos

4. Calendar girl in Veteran's Day parade (wearing her fathers old flight suit)

5. No photos of the Pilatus I almost flew in, or me in my AUX uniform

6. A typical USCG C-130 like the one I'll fly in this weekend
 
Threefingeredjack said:
My guess is that they want VFR for the enjoyment factor. I have personally launched out of CGAS Sac in nearly zero zero for operational flights. And yes the 130 is a great weather machine. In Alaska hurricane force winds are very common in the winter.
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They are also the aircraft of choice for the South Pole Station. But only in austral summer. Apparently the are-you-FN-me cold is a bit much for the engine oil. It's substantially colder than the Arctic in winter.
 
N801BH said:
Perhaps you should reference the topic " Joke Friday" so the rest of them can determine your "tightness'..;):rofl::lol:
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You really had to be there. But it was truly epic.

Also, jokes belong in the joke thread. POA needs to be orderly.
 
Hopefully its a short flight, I did not enjoy my C-130 flights lol. But it is pretty cool.
 
JB1842 said:
First time I got airsick was in the back of a C-130. Have fun!
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Thanks, I just did 30 mins of aerobatics in Nevada so I doubt I'll be airsick. Don't think it is possible. I've been on rough seas when others were throwing up too and I was fine.
 
TangoWhiskey said:
What would be cool is if you got to air launch... run that thing out the open back door of the C-130.
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About air launching, I only wish there were things like this still around:
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That's a carrier "landing" (USS Macon, a truly massive dirigible stationed here at NUQ before it went down in bad weather).
 
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