January
29,
1971
Things
are
picking
up
at
Det
One.
No scheduled pax runs--all combat
essential frags. Fourteen (!) additional crews rotated in from
CCK yesterday.
A week earlier, we were mostly flying scheduled passenger runs between large
airfields in Vietnam--crews
couldn't even get enough
short-field
missions to complete needed check rides. Suddenly there were
many
more
crews and everyone was flying combat essential (high priority) missions
into
small aifields. In this round-the-clock push we carried
Vietnamese
troops and equipment north for an invasion of Laos called
Lam Son 719.
American
GI's and
routine cargo still needed to move between
large
airfields like Danang, Cam Ranh Bay, Tan Son Nhut, and Bien Hoa
so
Military
Airlift Command
brought in
C-141's to help.
This day I flew two combat essential missions up to
Quang Tri,
13 miles from the DMZ. We delivered trucks and jeeps and
trailers
and Vietnamese troops who didn't even know their
destination. C-130 operations are all about bringing passengers
and cargo into small
airfields like Quang Tri, and that's when aircraft commanders are
tested. A few
weeks earlier two C-130 instructor pilots from
CCK went
off the end of its
3500' runway.
My first approach was in daylight but the weather was bad. Radar
was unavailable so I shot an ADF non-precision approach. We
broke through the overcast and got the field in sight
about 30 seconds before touchdown. Piece of cake.
The second time we arrived at night--more challenging because there are
fewer visual cues for a short-field landing. And this time the
Det One
safety officer was riding along, looking over my shoulder. We had
to hold for 40
minutes over the Quang Tri ADF because the weather was still bad--low
ceiling, low visibility, and drizzle. At least the radar was back
up, so I shot a GCA (ground controlled approach). We broke out of
the overcast at about 600' and I planted the airplane firmly onto
the runway.
Nighttime, lousy weather, combat essential, short field, near
the DMZ. That's when AC's earn their pay.