AIRLIFTER’S BACK-UP TEAM

I'm done Robin it like a lot of people i have two jobs and civilian life i sell life insurance but they also have another important job I frequently pilot a cargo and troop-carrying jet like this one for the Air Force [Music] [Applause] it's a c-141 number-one workhorse of the military airlift command if you wonder how a civilian like me gets to fly it take a look at the tail of the actual c-141 see the insignia this means that both active duty Air Force personnel and civilian reservist like me jointly fly this aircraft like God also i have two jobs as a civilian i fly 707 for continental airlines as an air force reserve i fly the c-141 141 is a little different crew has no hostess we do have six crew members to pilot to engineers navigator and a loadmaster there are a lot of us reservists from all walks of life associated with the c-141 some flying others helping the regulars maintain it on a scheduled and unscheduled basis working on my master's degree here at san diego state i'm also a loadmaster on the c-141 this mac reserve program is great for me helps finance my college education being in reserve we feel like we're part of the Air Force family a wife Connie likes it too because when the kids are out playing ball or swimming at the base it's kind of gives her a like a seven inning stretch airplane that's my life designing them here at natural and flying them in the reserve I sure like the 141 naturally I have to plot my course faster and the planes they used to fly but with a couple of computers helping me now it balances out computers are the key to operating these modern aircraft most of your pre-flight figures are put into the aircraft computers prior to flight the frame holds through once you're airborne when the aircraft computers are connected to the autopilot our job is made a lot each hey it's doing a great job therapy a couple years ago when our reserve group had our users airplanes taken away and was attached to a c-141 wing we had a few misgivings we were afraid that we would lose our reservists identity however he has worked out real great it's a matter of real pride when wing operations request a all reserve air crew to go to Southeast Asia or anywhere else in the world we were able to provide one on a moment's notice like the mission I was on last winter I was the navigator in the paws for captain Bryant and Captain falange we were airlifting troops to Germany from Forbes Air Force Base in canvas Jim and I are the two loadmasters on this c-141 we're reservist designed at a 940 fourth military airlift group as you can see we're loading troops for Europe they have a big maneuver over there and their next stop will be Europe [Music] my name is lieutenant uh chavali and say next to me is that's the old startled wanna cut we're both on our way to Europe for maneuvers in west germany we're blind by jet aircraft which is a little different than what our Father still it's a 20 years ago their World War two admission to Germany was a quick turnaround trip in fact I think we did it in less than two days on the cold Germany airfield dozens of c-141 and smaller transports were being offloaded and refuel for rapid turnaround within 17 hours after landing we were back over the Atlantic event we enjoyed most on that trip took place in the good old USA at Dover Delaware we went to a local seafood place where they spread newspapers and paper towels on the table put the seafood old boy that way and back here I am back in the construction business again as far as your question Tony about the sufficiency of the crew i think the effect that we're flying on the through order mission for mac along with all the active duty assessment groups appointment and the crews had to be efficient although we're going into a new new environments are spying and ever improving that we can do the job of the performance and efficiency indian reserve especially third attitude intact and I think who the men all try and be just as sharp as they can because everybody is watching yeah and you're always being compared to the active duty establishment and I fees were always making a very good so far so good enough but we'll get it started way on that okay Frank said stay a little bit later like any bird the c-141 hours to go through downtown to be work done but despite its complexity it's an easy bird to 10 here's where the wing use of the reservists on the ground as well as in the air here we're giving this bird its regular isochronal inspection two of the men working on this road with the Regular Air Force crew I reserve it pulling their annual active duty two-week tour these maintenance reservists have a real good deal we send them to the on base field training detachment for an eight-week training course this way the Air Force gets top value from their reserve duty many of them use this training as a basis for civilian jobs with commercial airlines our c-141s here in Southern California are used mostly for air lifting military cargo to Southeast Asia by way of Hawaii wake and Okinawa this board shows all the military reserve crew members on missions at this time sergeant Meyer engineer on mission to 18 Colonel Dillon pilot and captain Sullivan navigator on mission 813 Smith and so on and so on we have 11 Reserve crew members in the system at this time I recently flew a combat airlift mission between here in Southeast Asia with an all reserve crew all of who were combat airlift qualified perhaps we'd better explain combat airlift qualification heavy military field equipment is loaded on c-141 the plane has been formed to an area near the Salton Sea where the crew drops the equipment by parachute into a drop zone under rigid conditions simulated a combat situation a total of six successful air drops must be made bowel c-141 flight personnel regulars and reserves alike now that reserve air crew I flew with to Southeast Asia on a recent trip was an interesting cross section of civilian military flyers a co-pilot I had captain Robinette who is also qualified as an aircraft commander in the Air Force he put in a lot of b-47 bomber time the Navigator was major Yamamoto before leaving active duty he loved 2,800 hours as a navigator in c-119 staff sergeant Don Weitzman was the loadmaster in college he's working for a different kind of master's degree not to flight engineers were techstars in Harrigan and tech sergeant barber Thunder both of whom I have fallen on different trips during flight be two engineers take turns watching the instrument panel indicators their main function is to keep the Polish informed so the best advantage can be taken on speed and altitude to gain top performance this northern to oil egg if the easiest one for navigator and always a happy one will me personally because I was born and raised in the island we have crews here it'll be at least 15 hours before we take off again on occasion air crews get to enjoy a little beach town [Music] or Hawaii to wake leg is a critical one rider okay I think it'd go get the secrets okay Don will finish up move your early gee am I going to have to have on estimate to southport Alan even though it's not an idiot and also to a squid because ACP is forming a higher direct admission third name they're so clean 3064 660 so is that IDK listen you back can we see quite a few to come into now yeah we're gonna get pretty active there's Norton oh that's very your secret hundred thousand pounds and you have pluto 31,000 479 any special handling 110 pounds of triple nine causal and you also have some magnetic label okay I'll brief the aircraft commander and Al Gore Tomorrowland riding on them number 10 pallets number 10 power okay time to get a board we're getting close to departure time it was nice Jim's mother could come to the flight line to seem off no one can match the people of Hawaii in greetings and farewells [Music] Wake Island usually has Pleasant weather we enjoy stretching our legs after the five hour trip from Hawaii it's another six hours to our next stop Okinawa the weather is expected to be good except for a front west of Iwo Jima [Music] okay Kazaam Fort Kenton win 350 at 15 knots and restricted visibility broken static you at 4,000 feet neck broken altostratus at 12th out athena itself nine ninety to a hundred knots reason for 35-31 if you look about ten nine any question once the assigned altitude is reached and the automatic pilot is engaged we relax a bit talk is practically always on flying got over out of it I could get the nose gear dude here's a huh it was a little air produced in the tower we tried everything i have about a 220-pound copa and he pulled that at LG handle and he sprang the cable the cable right off the ranch and there was no in or looking at here down that I know about but this little area news of the tower jiggling gear handle jiggles it back and forth and plop those demons Okinawa after 13 hours this crew rest a little more welcome than most tomorrow we go to the Nang and camera and it's our intelligence briefing on Vietnam just before takeoff made us realize we were not on an ordinary cargo run sandy make your initial call to Saigon acc1 20.7 123 3 are the longest range frequencies and probably you'll get them on those red 71 you continue on down to pop at 08 pick up red six at popack 08 and straight on over to the Nets here if I'm speaking burger is everything all 17 left which ones and fives rossetti it's three hours from Kadena Air Force Base to Danang South Vietnam 619 nothing we're literally 17 right we'd one advisor agrees any under 17 great wheel down yeah more than one table straight anymore on to a lender and we won seven out torches in eating tonight photo on the 117 left AC piece on the other side Fuji danang of the major air bases in South Vietnam none has been more frequently mortared and rocketed [Music] as it all stops while the pilots and the navigator go to the airlift command post my job as loadmaster is to expedite the offloading of the cargo in Vietnam cargo discharge is a speeded-up process especially at hot areas like the name this is the end of the nine thousand mile journey for the new helicopter engines electronic black boxes ammunition and other essential tools of modern warfare for the long haul banks we pick up broken instruments and machinery to be repaired at the same time refueling must proceed to help get the plane ready for take off soon opossum while I am doing my job the pilot to navigator are busy planning the next leg of the trip okay the camera on via waar is out and the only 20 left the first thousand feet is closed from sunrise to sunset atten- well 20 right is the concrete friendly Matt how much time by here we're gonna use a small about 4 30 was them for 30 for 30 I'll do it let's get some water in falling okay [Applause] one more stop a war zone Cam Ranh Bay 77 radial how to do this do you have any questions no okay all of our field facilities are in and we have no pilot warning you have your copies of your standard estimate departure taxi hazards I covered terrain hazards and the field condition is white at this time no problems anticipated so I could get your signature in block one we should have any trouble with the departure Michaels all done just to have your child up here is that Ronnie butch Jim called on Rob no nice nature I can see by your back there that you remember the reserve you betcha the whole crews reserve is that right what are you sure shouldn't have any from starting out of here with with all the knowledge of the local area yes I see you have a departure though that's something that we didn't have the time yes we have a good departure now and it takes you out over the water up to the east toward Okinawa so you shouldn't have any particular problem yeah just get out the Zulu and you're on the air where and what was things like here when you were here before oh it was considerably different we had two army trailers and one was the ACP trailer when was the mission planning trailer and they're parked out here in this ramp there was no no airport building or anything and we kind of had that big aluminum planking ramp to ourselves and they built the it took him a while to get this building built and then we moved into it and the people that were assigned here did all the work on the inside they built the frame for us with triple nickel people I say where'd you get all your spot Oh little well we got them through normal channels I got us about two minutes out of in shock over looks good one half our mind if an Arabic is I don't know but there if sure they have the priority going down here of course well he should you see the little flight nurse and based on Sarah Palin she's a cutie yeah nice look at how mighty skills are really doing a job over here and they work pretty hard pretty long how do you girls feel about going this route give me an hour sturdy yeah Oh clump up we lose the first time around and go back to domestic a lot of go back to domestic the majority of go back /to chicagoans back for a while and I get a feel until accomplished but they'd be like they're doing something because they boast all the great deal of them in dumped back out here doing the same thing and it's not just for the bus they've got they work up to our plan just like the partners with the tension that's getting on behind our stopover in Okinawa induced a more relaxed move it was heightened when we got the word that the next day departure would be delayed a few hours that's when we found out there really is a teahouse of the August moon Oh what Kiki listen you said everything the Hansel Hartman check everything we paid we've asked you to be honest about clutch Copernicus's you're equating this to the American poop no I'm saying that it takes like it doesn't they fix the chicken with a false on it down in Mexico and it's got a sweet lips look at what type are you taste good look like a bargain you look like a Chinese wall she ran over their magic I want to buy either one of the other the 150 or the 150 d but I'd like to know if possibly you can pack it for me to send back to the states is that possibility we can be fact I'm City bad but still are very next door if I buy it here can i take a next door have it packed and mail to the states to eat good in that case I'll take this one 50 d if you would please don't take your next door on the way to our aircraft for the trip home we passed a continental 707 the same one I had one for Southeast Asia the previous week when we pushed along by the jet stream from Okinawa voy sure keeps an alligator busy to make certain we're on course it's quite different from navigating in continental US with a check points are well defined good questions about two weeks as we get back by the tripping but no my wife is TV united airlines Commerce's my taking along I try to explain her about to Reza but my ebay saugus is pretty long at times we can squeeze in a little evening recreation for our crew and of a trip luau taking in Honolulu just where we came back from this trip or even bits of color on paper and here we unload and Cardinal at Danang the Air Force Reserve continues to support the active force through the associate program flying the military airlift command route supply runs throughout the world and special mission like this moon rock pick up after an Apollo flight in addition to flying and maintaining the c-141 starlifter zeeeee Air Force Reserve associate units are being formed for service with c9 a nightingale aeromedical airlift squadron and units flying the c5 gallantry the reserve associate program works and works well [Music]