Army Medivac Chopper at Phu Cat Vietnam

US Army Medivac Chopper hovering over aluminum metal ramp at Phu Cat Airbase, Vietnam - 1972. Aircraft framed by mountains, revetment, and external fuel tank of C-130 against backdrop of billowing afternoon thunderheads.

Fork Lift Riders - Saigon Tan Son Nhut Airfield

Favorite Vietnam photo technically from a photographer's viewpoint ... Saigon's Tan Son Nhut Airfield - 1972. Heavy metal, a combo of human insights, and nature's building fury in the background. i also think this is very strong compositionally.

Destroyed Passenger Terminal at Phnom Penh

Here a copilot friend Frank from Mississippi who was on another C-130 crew stands inside a recently destroyed passenger terminal at the Phnom Penh Airport in Cambodia - 1972. In the background some guy is scavenging anything of meager value. We flew frequent resupply missions here using much caution during approach and departure because of hostiles not far beyond the perimeters of the airfield.

Creative Transportation 1972

I kinda laugh every time I see this ... the guy pedaling in front must have lost the bet. And why the heck is he carrying a bag in his hand with all the room on the cart ... maybe it contains his valuables and he does not trust his buddy in back. Here's what I call a mega bike trailer putting today's tiny modern ones to shame. Photo taken somewhere in Taiwan ... probably Taichung - 1972. If you want it, they probably have it on that trailer.

C-121 Constellation at DaNang Vietnam

A USAF Lockheed C-121 Constellation as seen through open rear cargo doors of C-130 on ramp at DaNang, Vietnam - 1972. 856 Connies were built from 1943 to 1958, and had the distinctive dolphin-shaped fuselage and triple-tail design. With its four 18 cylinder engines it saw service both in WWII and here in Vietnam. In the background are a squadron of C-119 Flying Boxcars parked along a row of revetments. Among other things some of these Connies served as airborne command posts coordinating various real time air operations.

Hammock at Nakon Phnom Thailand (NKP)

Hanging out in hammock strung up on wooden walkway outside barracks at Nakon Phnom Airbase, Thailand -1972. These nylon hammocks were very common, and often used in cargo area of C-130 on long trips when deadheading in and out of Vietnam. If you didn't have back ache to begin with, you would after lying in these things for a while.

Football at Takhli Thailand

Spent a few TDYs at Takhli Airbase in Thailand - 1972. They had an evening cookout where some of the guys played touch football before too many beers and burgers were consumed. Long pass in the air with backdrop of hangers, guard shack, concertina wire, and a few tails of C-130s poking up in the air on the right.

A-4 Skyhawk at Bien Hoa Vietnam

A Douglas A-4 Marine Skyhawk parked in an array of revetments at Bien Hoa Airbase, Vietnam - 1972. The A-4 also could be carrier based and was a single jet engine light attack aircraft used by both the Navy and Marines. Functionally it was a successor to the single piston engine driven A-1 also used extensively in Vietnam.

Utapao Thailand Beach

Often our C-130 crew staged flights out of Utapao Airbase at southern tip of Thailand on the Gulf of Siam - 1972. A wide variety of aircraft were stationed at Utapao including B-52s, KC-135s,  U-2s, and more. On down days we often went off base to nearby city of Sattahip, or to the Pattaya Beach resort. However, there was also a nice small beach on base that not only included shaded thatched roof areas, but also a guard tower. The beach was near the south end of the runway ... when taking off to the south the large jets roared very close by over head.

DaNang Passenger Terminal and Loading Area

I'm sure many of today's older veterans may have passed through this area during the Vietnam War years. Pictured is the no-frills passenger terminal area at DaNang Airbase, Vietnam as it was in 1972. This area was right next to the aircraft parking ramp where loading of both passengers and cargo often occurred. The slanted fences are jet blast barriers  for protection against nearby engine run-ups. The building to far right has the acronym "ALCE" on the front ... as I recall that was the Air Logistics Control Center for the base. Hopefully red-white checkered water tower made for more attractive target for incoming morning wake-up call rockets than living quarters.

Saigon Ramp Activity

A large folk lift rushing by in blur in front of a parked C-130-E on the ramp at Tan Son Nhut Airbase, Saigon, Vietnam - 1972.

C-130-E Airborne at DaNang

Beautiful site as C-130-E goes airborne on a hot sunny day at DaNang Airbase in Vietnam - 1972. Notice that the main landing gear already almost fully retracted, and the nose gear in transient with the nose gear doors still open ... copilot hot on the landing gear level. Getting landing gear retracted quickly important on takeoff with heavy loads in order to reduce drag and allow for much improved climb performance. For C-130 tail number followers I think this is 63-811. Typical low wooden airbase structures line the far side of the runway as the photo taken from the main parking ramp.

Stop and Shop Taiwan Style 1972

I think these are a few shops that lined the short stretch of main road leading from CCK Airbase (home of C-130s) to downtown Taichung, Taiwan - 1972. No autos but the usual assortment of bikes, mopeds, motorcycles, animal and tractor drawn carts. Men appear to be muscling around large sacks ... probably rice.

Butcher at Open Air Market South East Asia

Photo of butcher hard at work in open-air market ... could be Vietnam, Taiwan, or Indonesia - 1972. Not sure if it was luck or built-up tolerance, but my Western stomach never suffered I'll effects of "don't drink the water or eat the food" adventures in SEA ... overdoing alcohol not to be considered in that statement. Never much sign of refrigeration at these markets ... get there early before midday heat. Also interesting to note cutting board appears to be a section of a tree trunk ... very "green" in today's world I think. Looks like butcher had three piles for separation of carved meat ... the "good stuff" on the right, fatty meat on the middle tray, and all fat in the left tray and bowl. The hanging sausage may be end product of the middle tray. Off to the right out of frame was a sausage machine that would be a health inspectors nightmare. However, all things considered a blessing to have access to food in relative abundance.

Diego Garcia Atoll Indian Ocean

Final approach into middle-of-nowhere runway squeezed onto tiny island of Diego Garcia ... a C-130 resupply mission in 1972. Diego is a tropical footprint shaped coral atoll in middle of Indian Ocean … 1,200 to 1,800 miles from any major landmasses. Geologically these atolls (ring shaped islands with central lagoons) trace their origins to sinking volcanic islands that have submerged … coral growth keeping pace at sea level with that process. Until early 1970’s Diego consisted largely  of coconut plantations. Since then it has been used primarily by US Navy for submarine support , and other communications based functions.

Laotian and Vietnamese Leaflets

Pictured are Laotian and Vietnamese leaflets from early 1970s contributed by CCK C-130 Crew Chief Jack Braine (also pictured here). Jack said ... "attached are both sides of the leaflets. I had them checked out and the one in Vietnamese is a surrender and safe conduct pass. The other one with the pictures is Laotian and is a recruitment leaflet. I snagged that one off an E-Flight aircraft."
I recall flying a few C-130-E leaflet drops ... we called them "bullsh*t bomber" missions. We would fly a series of parallel racetrack patterns at altitude. At predetermined intervals crewmembers in the cargo area of C-130 would toss a box of leaflets out the open rear cargo doors. The cardboard box would explode in the airstream, raining down thousands of leaflets. Pallets in rear of plane contains many, many, many of these leaflet boxes. The boys in the back were harnessed to the plane to avoid taking an quick, unplanned ride to the ground through the open doors.

U2 at Utapao, Thailand

1.   This attached photo is compliments of Jack Braine, one of many terrific USAF C-130 crew chiefs out of CCK Taiwan who spent many tours at Vietnam and Thailand airbases keeping the Herky’s humming and looking good. Here Jack captured a Lockheed U2 high altitude recon aircraft taxiing with small outboard wing training wheels (pogos) at Utapao Airbase, Thailand – 1971. The U2 single engine jet design incorporated very long glider-like wings giving it a huge weight-to-lift ratio allowing climbs to 70,000 feet so as to avoid ground air defenses. The aircraft could takeoff in a very short distance at 70 mph … the combo of oversized wings and powerful jet engine allowed it to climb near vertical once airborne. The U2 had only two centerline landing gear to save weight … the out-rigged pogos would fall off the plane after takeoff. Upon landing (and without the pogos) when speed decreased, one of the long wings would drop to the ground protected by a small skid on the wing tips. The design also made the U2 extremely difficult to fly, and had a stall speed only 5-10 mph below its maximum speed at high altitude. Landing was very difficult as the wings had to be fully stalled to touch down given ground effect. During landing souped up, high speed chase vehicles (El Camino for one) driven by another U2 pilot would help guide the aircraft to a safe touchdown calling out height above ground over the radio.

C-130 Oven Hue Vietnam

Hanging out the cockpit window of C-130-E while parked on the ramp in Hue, Vietnam - 1972. Without engines running there was no air conditioning, and the inside of the aircraft was like an oven in the Southeast Asian heat. One window on each side of the cockpit opened inward to provide just a little bit of ventilation. These windows also allowed emergency escape from the plane if you could manage to maneuver through it with aid of a handle on the inside above the window ... while dropping to the ground you would need to avoid the pointy object about 4 feet below the window. This was the critical pitot tube that provided airspeed to instruments in the cockpit. Important line items of the pilot's checklists were "Pitot Heat - On/Off" ... if these devices iced up at altitude they could provide incorrect airspeed that could be fatal.

Nakom Phnom (NKP) Airbase Thailand

Nicely constructed covered sign identifying Nakom Phnom Royal Thai Air Force Base at NKP, Thailand - 1973. NKP was important for air rescue and other North Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodian operations because of its location in the far northeast corner of Thailand. Our C-130 crew occasionally used this as home base for a week or two of flying daily sorties.

ARVN Soldiers Boarding C-130

A group of about 50 ARVN soldiers waiting to board C-130 via rear cargo doors - 1973. Unclear where this was, but appears to be a small remote dirt airstrip that we often flew into in central part of Vietnam. This 35mm slide was in very rough condition thus the appearance despite about an hour spent on extensive Photoshop processing ... turned out to be similar to what some Photoshoppers might call intensional woodcuteffect.

Airborne Departing C-130

SEA unknown location - 1973. Paratroopers departing C-130 from fairly low altitude ... no freefall ... may be static line jumps?? Although this old 35mm slide is fuzzy, three jumpers are visible in photo after departing from the left side door of the C-130 right behind the wing ... one jumper is visible with undeployed chute just to right of fuselage, a second is below the tail with unopened streaming chute, the third in lower left of photo has deployed chute starting to fill in the airstream. As is evident in photo there is always some risk to the jumpers of contacting the tail of the aircraft with body or chute if proper technique not followed.

Da Nang C-130 Engine Art

DaNang 1973 ... Palletized aircraft engine ready for loading onto our C-130. Interesting how aluminum pallet is suspended from heavy duty forklift with chains so as to be able to rest the big load on the tracked rollers of the C-130 cargo bay. The engine is encased with platstic bag to keep it clean ... someone with an artistic flare decorated wrap with happy face, flowers, and serial number.

Taiwan Foot Bridge

On short R&R in Taiwan (1973) in between standard multi-week C-130 Vietnam assignments. Often took day trips into the rugged mountains that form north-south spine along the length of the island. Here a very long foot bridge spans a swiftly flowing river. They should have charged money to cross the bridge since it was as exciting as an amusement park ride given the swinging and swaying with each step high over the rapids. Fortunately there was some loose netting to give some measure of protection.

C-130-E Up Close In Flight

Photo taken from copilot's position on another C-130. This baby cruising along at about 10,000 feet ... all cleaned up with retracted gear and flaps ... engines all in perfect synch and humming their unmistakable sound ... she's looking good in slightly dirty camo dress. Over Vietnam - 1973.

Bomb Damage Hanoi North Vietnam

Aerial photo from C-130 as we approached Gia Lam Airport in Hanoi shortly following 1973 ceasefire, and not long after Linebacker II 1972 Christmas bombing. Appears that these are storage facilities in upper half of frame along with some military transport vehicles?? Many of the buildings are heavily damaged as might be expected given the large bomb craters evident in left side of picture.

Thai OV-10 FAC

Royal Thai Air Force OV-10 Bronco built by North American Aviation Rockwell; probably Nakon Phnom (NKP) Thailand – 1972. The OV-10 is a turboprop light attack and observation aircraft. It was developed in the 1960s as a special aircraft for counter insurgency (COIN) combat, and one of its primary missions was as a forward air control (FAC) aircraft. It can carry up to three tons of external munitions, and loiter for three or more hours. A "tri-service" specification for the Light Armed Reconnaissance Aircraft (LARA) was approved by the U.S. Navy, Air Force and Army and was issued in late 1963. The LARA requirement was based on a perceived need for a new type of "jungle fighting" versatile light attack and observation aircraft. Existing military aircraft in the observation role, such as the O-1 Bird Dog and O-2 Skymaster, were perceived as obsolescent, with too slow a speed and too small a load capacity for this flexible role. This text was lifted from web Wiki.

Saigon Vietnam Ramp C-130s and A-1

Extremely packed ramp area at Tan Son Nhut Airbase, Saigon, Vietnam – 1973. This was the last time our C-130 crew was in Vietnam as the US was withdrawing all its military forces as part of the Vietnamization of the war. In preparation for the pullout, massive amounts of US military assets were being sent to South Vietnam … goal was to help South Vietnam go it alone in the war effort after US departure. Here in photo a fleet of eight C-130-A cargo planes had been delivered then parked on secondary taxiways because of the overcrowded ramp. Also in photo is a A-1E Skyraider revving it’s single engine prop, and loaded with yellow-tipped, underwing weapons. To the right is tail (#925) of a C-47 Gooney Bird, along with familiar blue, extended-cab Ford ramp vehicles, and a yellow Shell Oil aviation fuel truck.

Vietnam C-130 Sunrise

Airborne at sunrise in C-130 … Vietnam – 1972. Captain Ed silhouette against eastern sky on what was probably our first sortie out of home base at Tan Son Nhut, Saigon. Daily flight routine was to arrive early at C-130 Ops to pick up flight itinerary which usually consisted of a half dozen or more cargo upload/offloads at many different bases throughout Vietnam, Thailand, and sometimes Cambodia or Laos. Base Ops would also provide weather briefings, and intelligence reports mainly to warn of hot spots to avoid overflight. Schedule was fairly flexible in terms of time … general rule was to return to home base before nightfall. Photo shows the many C-130 windows, including car-like windshield wipers, dangling map light, headset cords, and green translucent window visor.

Saigon Vietnam Commando Amphibious Vehicle

A 4x4 amphibious commando vehicle cruising the streets of Tan Son Nhut Airbase, Saigon, Vietnam – 1972. Often called the Duck there were many variants and model types that saw continued service even in the Gulf War. Manufactured by Cadillac Gage Company, it was powered by Chrysler 360 V8 with 5-speed manual transmission. Vehicle weighed in at 7 tons with 60 mph max road speed … 3 mph in the water. Max crew of 12.

C-47 Mortar Damage at Pleiku, Vietnam

Close up photo of underside of C-47 Gooney Bird transport on the ramp in Pleiku, Vietnam -1972. That day as part of our itinerary our C-130 had an out-and-back mission from/to Pleiku. We had been parked next to this C-47, uploaded cargo. The C-47 took an indirect hit from some kind of rocket or mortar. Underside of C-47 wing ripped up pretty good with shrapnel and lots of leaking aircraft fluids. Fortunate there was no secondary explosion. Timing is everything.

New Zealand Bristol 170 Freighter in Saigon

Parked on the ramp at Tan Son Nhut Airfield in Saigon, Vietnam is an New Zealand transport – 1972. After a very long search on the web I finally identified this strange looking bird as a Bristol 170 Freighter that was produced between 1945 and 1950. I read that only 214 were produced ... so a rare bird indeed. The twin engine radial prop driven, tail dragger plane had unusual elevated cockpit beneath which there were clam-like opening doors for loading cargo from the front … giving aircraft awkward snub-nosed appearance. It could hold up to three vehicles, assorted cargo, or passengers. Numerous protective arched revetments can be seen on the Saigon flight line. To the right of the Bristol transport is a small single engine prop Cessna 0-1 Bird-dog used for Forward Air Control (FAC) observation missions.

Saigon, Vietnam NVA C-130 Boarding

Orderly procession of NVA soldiers on ramp at Tan Son Nhut Airbase in Saigon, Vietnam – 1973. These soldiers were involved in cease fire discussions, and were approaching our C-130 for boarding. Destination was the DMZ or Gia Lam Airport in Hanoi … can’t remember which as we made several such trips.

Danang Vietnam Rocket Damage

Photo from ramp area at DaNang Airbase located on the coast of central Vietnam – 1972. At the time DaNang was used by US and South Vietnam Air Forces, and was previously the busiest airport in the world with over 2,500 air operations daily. US combat operations at the base ceased in August of 1972. Looking to the west there are what I believe to collectively be the Ba Na Hills in the background. Photo also shows what was probably recent damage from an incoming rocket in one of the buildings adjacent to the flight line.

Floating Village at Con Son

More comments later ... took photo though window from copilot's seat while our C-130 was in a 30 degree right turn getting in position to land at Con Son, South Vietnam - 1973. Con Son was a small island off the southern tip of Vietnam, and was noted for interment camps where NVA and Viet Cong POWs were detained. This was toward the end of US involvement in the war ... I think we were at Con Son to pick up a load of freed POWs whom we flew north to a remote airstrip near the DMZ where they deplaned and quickly disappeared into the jungle in less than a minute. Floating village pictured here sustained itself through fishing ... note the narrow, rickety docks leading out to fleet of sampans.

Phantoms at Ubon

F-4 Phantom Fighters at Ubon Airbase, in extremely hot and sweaty Thailand - 1972. This is the 100th post on blog. Still have a pile of 40 year old 35mm slides to process. Probably have another 200 or more keepers.

Taiwan Mountain Basin

Time permitting during an occasional home stand back in Taiwan, we would take a ride into the rugged, but beautiful mountain chain running north-south along the length of the island. Here one of the crewmembers in our squadron takes a refreshing dip into a crystal clear pool. The water collected in a natural rock basin with clean circulating water coming in and out via waterfalls. An incredible spot off the lone meandering road that crossed the mountains ... total isolation as the terrain was not suitable for habitation.

Hue Pax and Guns

Parked on ramp at Hue Airbase in the central part of Vietnam about 50 miles north of Da Nang - 1972. Hue was the cultural center of Vietnam and was somewhat spared until Tet Offensive in 1968. It was taken over by the Viet Cong and then retaken by the US during fierce house to house street fighting known as The Battle of Hue. Pictured are South Vietnamese soldiers mixed in with civilians crossing a damaged ramp to board a Vietnamese C-123 transport parked in front of our C-130. In the background are about a dozen new 105mm howitzers and other supplies.

Double Amp

Double amputee somewhere in SEA - 1972.

Ban Me Thout Bunker

This would be me hanging out in a tin roofed and concrete block bunker at Ban Me Thout Airbase, Vietnam -  1972. Bunker surrounded by sandbags spewing forth the red clay soil of this high altitude region of the Vietnam Central Highlands. Holding a small, dirty, tattered South Vietnamese flag found on the ground. The base was like a ghost town, but had all the earmarks of recent fighting. We were there in the C-130 for a short cargo drop-off and pickup sortie. Photo by Joe the Navigator.

A-1E at NKP

This photo had a “1972 NKP” label on it. It’s a close up view of an A-1E[H] at Nakom Phnom Airbase in Thailand on border with Laos. This WWII vintage Naval aircraft was used also by the USAF for Tactical Air support in Vietnam. The single seat, single piston engine machine flew relatively slow, but could absorb a lot of punishment, and carry very heavy loads. I don’t know much about ordinance, but I believe the A-1 in the photo has a mixed load of napalm and conventional weapons based on larger annotated photos of the A-1 seen on other Vietnam War web sites. The A-1s were often used to provide escort protection for rescue helicopters … NKP was important with respect to air rescue because of its proximity to North Vietnam and had Jolly Green and Pedro Air Rescue units.

DC-3 Phnom Penh

A GoonyBird Douglas C-47A (aka DC-3) commercial airliner at Phnom Penh Airport, Cambodia – 1972. Part of the Khmer Akas - Khmer Airlines fleet. This was C-47 city – many of these old birds lined the ramp. No sign of jet engine commercial aircraft at all. This was becoming a dangerous place as the Khmer Rouge were advancing toward the city, and I suspect major airlines avoided this place. The ramp area was also pretty rugged with lots of FOD (foreign object debris) … not friendly to jet engine intakes. The facilities here were generally primitive. I know the old passenger terminal was nothing but a bombed out shell at one of our visits here although not certain of its state when this photo was taken.

Loadmaster at Phu Cat

Rebel hatted loadmaster taking a break in the shade at rear of C-130 … resting on a lightly loaded aluminum cargo pallet with compliment of tie-down chains and cargo webbing. I believe this was 1972 in Phu Cat, Vietnam because of the distinctive aluminum planking used on the parking ramp as opposed to the usual concrete … must have been well laid, strong stuff to support the weight of the heavy aircraft. A Vietnam Vet that was at Phu Cat during construction informed me that this aluminum planking is called AM2 … saw some recent photos of AM2 in 2 x 12 foot panels with hollow ribbed construction similar to corrugated cardboard.

NVA On Board

A North Vietnam Army (NVA) officer boarding our C-130 through crew entry door, and headed toward passenger configured cargo area. Many more followed in an extremely orchestrated, orderly manner, one by one, until aircraft was filled to capacity. This was in Saigon 1973 as part of peace negotiations. Destination was either Gia Lam Airport in Hanoi, or some airbase near the DMZ. This was quite a novel occasion given the many years of wartime separation of North and South Vietnam … albeit temporary per the continued invasion and takeover of the South from the North in years to follow. Photo taken from elevated deck of cockpit accessible by a short ladder.

Martial Law Philippines

This photo was taken in Angeles City, Philippines next to where Clark Airbase was located. Our C-130 crew made several visits to Clark and it was always a fun trip as we were always housed at some off-base hotel. Wine, women, food, shopping, and gambling were available … enough said. This was in 1973 right after martial law was imposed by President Ferdinand Marcos … martial law lasted until 1981. Pictured is one of the ever present government security police that patrolled the streets imposing curfews, etc. Seemed to be a friendly sort and surprisingly was eager to pose at attention for the photo holding his pump action shotgun and revolver on hip.

Tiger Balm Gardens Singapore

One of many colorful Chinese Mythological characters at Tiger Balm Gardens in Singapore -1973. A fun side trip while on R&R. This is one of three Tiger Balm locations ... the other two are in Hong Kong and Fujian China. This one in Singapore was first called Tiger Balm Gardens when opened in 1937, but was then renamed to Haw Par Villa for many years before reverting back to original name recently.

Cam Rahn Bay Ghost Town

Aerial view of Cam Rahn Bay Airbase, Vietnam – late 1972. As can be seen in photo the base is abandoned with only a lone C-130 on the parallel taxiway below. Cam Rahn was a major airfield constructed by the US in 1966 and was host to USAF F4 fighter wings, C141 and C5 strategic airlift, and C-130 and C-7 tactical airlift wings. It was a primary point of entry/exit to Vietnam to/from the USA. By May, 1972 all the US wings at Cam Rahn had been deactivated or relocated as part of the Vietnamization of the war. The abandoned base was then totally looted including tin roofs, doors, and windows leaving a only a skeleton of a ghost town. In 1975 the base was captured by the North Vietnamese. After that it served as a Soviet Airbase from 1979 to 2002.

Takhli Water Fight

I don’t recall the occasion, but one evening there was an open barbecue and beer fest in the barracks area at Takhli Airbase in Thailand - 1973. Lots of burgers and dogs … the beer was flowing as much as the water from the garden hose as these two lads engaged in a spirited water fight.

C-130 Allison Maintenance

C-130 technician up on maintenance stand working on one of the four Allison T56 turboprop engines ... Nha Trang, South Vietnam 1972. Engine cowlings are wide open … notice the holes for the many fasteners along the edge of the openings. These guys did fantastic work … I never recall having a significant problem with an engine on the C-130. Each Allison could provide 4,350 shaft horse-power. Interestingly similar engines were used to generate power on destroyer class ships in the US Navy. Rolls-Royce took over Allison production in the late 1990’s.

Saigon Vietnamese Security

Stylized photo a two Vietnamese Military Police with a jeep providing security at flight line entrance … Tan Son Nhut Airbase, Saigon, South Vietnam – 1972.