I'm kind of embarrassed to ask, but...

Mid Air Recovery System MARS

Video of JC-130A recovering deorbited spy satellite. This was also done with the C-119 and possibly some B-17s.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2YQqAnEN_0[/ame]
 
I think the gross wgt and length are ok. but the cargo bay is a bit short for the height of the truck, 108 inch hole, 112 inch truck height. Maybe a soft top with the windshield folded would make it, but then you have to add the pallet/sled. Plus add in the extra Ballroom for the six speed commando, just wont add up. I can just see the Loadmaster explaining that to the Squadron Commander . YUP, Here buy muh beer an lemme tell yah bout...........................


Man that is one motivated combat fork lift.. I love it. Sure glad my C124 opened on the front end, We loaded a M60 tank in Hilo Hawaii, and flew it to Hickam AFB in the late sixties, blew all three struts on the Honolulu active when it landed....
 
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I call b.s. but I have to credit your buddy with admitting he actually drove a truck...it ain't very often I run across a fellow Vietnam Vet that was anything less than a certified sniper or green beret or seal, recon Marine what have you. I crewed on an Army boat, we hauled some SeaBees out to an island about 45 miles off the coast and unloaded a duece-n-half, a huge water buffalo, small cat, jeep, loaded conex's and a bunch of crewmen over a two or three wave mission. We did make sure everything was started before we made the landing but trust me noone was at the wheel until we got firmly ashore and then we sweated it a little with the duece in the semi soft landing sand.
I can imagine a truck driver embellishing his tour of duty with a good story, everybody that is honest about his tour has at least one good story, even if he spent all his time behind a typewriter in supply...it could have been a serious paper cut that got infected with the dreaded blue gamba or something but everybody has a story.
 
steveno said:
I don't think that a deuce and a half will even fit in the back of a C-130. maybe it will but it would be a tight fit
Click to expand...
Good call! I didn't think of that.

The C-130 cargo bay height is 108" and the height of the M35 is 111" to the top of the cab. So, if you took the wheels off, the M35 would fit. However, you'd also have to account for the thickness of the pallet. I don't know. As you said, it would be a tight fit.
 
Kinman said:
I call b.s. but I have to credit your buddy with admitting he actually drove a truck..
Click to expand...

Uhhhhhh.......
driving a truck in VN was not a cushy job if it involved much long hauling. The highway was littered with burned out hulks everywhere in that country from the DMZ to the Delta.
When a truck in a convoy got hit and disabled, the rest went around and kept moving. In the An Khe pass, they were pushed over the side by the following vehicles ganging up in line if necessary. KEEP MOVING!
If they could keep moving and left troops behind, some grunts might later be dropped in to police up what was left.


An Khe Pass | Rock 'N' Roll Soldier

Ambush At An Khe Pass - - LegacyStories.org

8th Transportation Gp Vietnam - QSL.net

Ambush at Ap Nhi, The Virtual Wall® Vietnam Veterans ...


These trucks weren't built for this weekend's truck show-
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7age9oapFnw[/ame]

I had occasion to go through the pass several times during my tour. Four, maybe fivr or six.
Modern footage of the pass here. Bear in mind the road is about TWICE as wide as I remember, and there were NO guardrails.
Obviously, they still drive the same--- BIGGEST vehicle has the right of way!
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dW5Vep7uDyE[/ame]
 
Rastoff said:
Good call! I didn't think of that.

The C-130 cargo bay height is 108" and the height of the M35 is 111" to the top of the cab. So, if you took the wheels off, the M35 would fit. However, you'd also have to account for the thickness of the pallet. I don't know. As you said, it would be a tight fit.
Click to expand...
With the soft top removed it might fit.
 
Jessie said:
There's a guy who works for a friend of mine who...told me that when he was in the Army, he was a truck driver.
Ok, no biggy.
It gets big when he said that he rode his Duce and a half out of the back of a C-130 while strapped into the seat of the truck,
This would be a skid drop.
Now, has anyone who had anything to do with a skid drop ever heard of launching a vehicle with the driver strapped on board in the seat?...
Click to expand...

Not "on purpose" :cool:
 
I checked with a retired SeaBee CWO and he said it has been airlifted in a 130, but they removed everything above hood level, thats cab, stack, bows, windows folded and rolled it in. Took some time and wrenching to put in service on the ground after off loading. Loadmaster said if they started that smoky *** in his bird, they'd all walk back, or wish they had.....Never mess with the flight crew unless you brought a walmart size barf bag!
 
DWalt said:
".... but the strangest drill I was ever a party to was training to be picked up from the ground, by a fly-over C-130."

One of the James Bond movies used something like that, although I don't think the aircraft was a C-130. He launched a balloon carrying a cable, the plane flew over, snagged the cable, and pulled him into the plane. And maybe it also included his girlfriend of the moment. Seems it may have been from a boat. I don't remember details.
Click to expand...

That was the real life rescue system known as the Fulton Skyhook.

[ame=http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xp985s_thunderball-fulton-skyhook_shortfilms]Thunderball - Fulton Skyhook - Video Dailymotion[/ame]
 
Yep, I drove a deuce-and-a-half out of the back of a C-130. Yeah, that's the ticket. I know it sounds crazy....but do I look crazy???
Im-Not-Crazy-Ugly-Fellow.jpg
 
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Jessie,

It sounds like this guy should hook-up w/ Sly Stalone as a stunt coordinator for the next "Expendables" movie.
 
Used to be standard operating procedure when I was stationed at Long Dong. We needed the driver in the duce to have it in gear with his foot on the gas to counteract the backward momentum when it hit the ground-otherwise it would roll off the mountain
 
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