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Incredible video shows new LM-100J Super Hercules inverting at Farnborough Air Show

https://www.businessinsider.com/incredi ... how-2018-7

Probably the most dependable bird in history. Been around forever. I've jumped out of a bunch of them.

We use to put 2 OH6 birds in them and take them with us.

C 130 with little bird

My dudes! #NSDQ!

Nice, but I don't trust inverting in a chopper , eek

I spent hundreds of hours in them in the Recon and jamming configurations. Great planes.

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I spent about half of my 21 year career flying as part of the Mission Crew on the EC-130H Compass Call based at Davis-Monthan AFB. The attached picture is the crew I flew with for the Cope Thunder 2002 exercise in Alaska. I am the guy kneeling on the right. A bit of interesting trivia: The guy looking down in the center is Doug Emerson, former actor that played the character Scott Scanlon on the first season of the show 90210. His character was killed when he shot himself with a Glock that fired when he dropped it (bullshit!!). For the record, he told the director that it wouldn't discharge that way but hey, I guess they needed the dramatic effect. As for the crew picture, I gave him crap that the only guy that screwed up the shot was the professional used to being photographed.....

I was on the first crew ever certified on the EC-130H almost 40 years ago.

Don't know how long you were with the program. I had 4 tours of duty with Compass Call as an Analysis Operator and MCS: 89-91 41st ECS, 92-95 41st ECS and 355th Training Sqd in the simulator, 96-99 43rd ECS, 2000-2003 43rd ECS and Det 3 TSS.

I was the 13th person assigned to the 41st ECS in 1981. I was there from 1981-1983, went to TAWC in 1984 as the Program Manager for Compass Call in 1984, then a tour back flying RC135's out of Eielson 86 through 89 and back to the 41st 89-91. Somewhere along the way flying from 1977 through 1990, I managed to break my neck from too many copilot landings. I was the first Analysis Operator certified on Compass Call. I was also certified on all the other positions because Joe Dorczuk and I wrote the entire baseline testing procedures for the entire system and all the original Standardization and Evaluation tests for the back-end crew. Unfortunately, HQ TAC at that time thought in fighter mentality so when they came out for the first Stand/Eval visit, they saw everything in fighter view- front enders and back enders. So, Acq Operators got Maintenance questions, Maintenance operators got MCC questions, etc. The only two people who passed were Joe and I. We had to have a long talk with them explaining that the different positions had different jobs. I also spearheaded the intel support for Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 90-91.

That is really interesting to hear some back story. I also had a couple of tours flying on RC-135s on Okinawa with the 6990th/390th in 85-86 and 95-96. Spent half my time in 95-96 TDY in Saudi supporting Operation Southern watch. I laugh every time the news posts a story about the Russians flying unsafe near a US "spy plane" (hate that). It's just the same old s*** that has always gone on.
Interesting times.

Yeah, we didn't talk about it back then. I've seen MIG-21's close enough to see the color of the pilot's eyes. I've also survived two different types of cancers I got from flying some of those missions in the arctic- Alone. Unarmed. Unafraid.

I am very lucky in that the only physical impairments due to my service are a badly broken middle finger and tinnitus. Nothing compared to what others suffered or sacrificed due to their service, the link below being a an example. Definitely Alone. Unarmed. Unafraid.

https://www.newsweek.com/spy-mission-gone-wrong-193254

P.S. I'm not advocating Newsweeks take on the story. Just wanted to highlight an example of the hazards of "peacetime" service. Never knew MSgt Beard but one of my friends knew him.