JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. – Airmen with the 62nd Airlift Wing and 446th Airlift Wing will tow a C-130E Hercules to its final resting spot on Heritage Hill Airpark, June 13, 2021, at 12:00 PST.
Throughout the course of a week, maintainers will disassemble the aircraft, tow it through base, reassemble it and place it on its final spot at Heritage Hill.
After 47 years of dedicated service, the C-130, with serial number 62-1789, will join the aircraft display collection at the Heritage Hill. The airpark features several historic aircraft displays including a C-47 Skytrain, F-86 Sabre and an A-10 Thunderbolt, among many others.
In 1975, the C-130s of the 36th Tactical Airlift Squadron were assigned to then-McChord Air Force Base, where they stayed for 14 years. The 62nd Military Airlift Wing became the only Military Airlift Command wing with strategic and tactical airlift aircraft.
A ribbon cutting ceremony will be announced at a later date.
I was in the 36th TAS at Langley and moved with the unit to McChord (when we left TAC and were put into MAC) in 1975.
Once we were set up, we participated in Coin Alaska (hauling fuel and equipment to the northern slope) and spent several months on missions flying out of Panama. I took an assignment to Japan but never forgot my roots were in the 36th.
We were a close-knit group then and many of us stay in touch now.
John Funk says
June 19, 2021 at 9:15 PM
Was in the 38th TAS at Langley when I came to McChord in 1975. We flew many different missions from Alaska to Panama. I moved from the 36 TAS to the 8 MAS, C-141 A mode 1977. I worked on the restoration of the C-130 getting its place on displayl on heritage hill.
I was an Inertial and Radar Tech (30154) in the avionics shop from mid-67 through Jan. 69. I was on the mobility maintenance team that flew out after the USS Pueblo was captured. Our orders had us going to S. Korea but that was cancelled. After bumming around the islands for almost 2 weeks we finally landed at Tachikawa, Japan. From there, we went to Nha Trang for 90 days and then to Cam Rahn Bay for an additional 90 days. I now have non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma from Agent Orange exposure while at Nha Trang. I flew over there on a 38th C-130E and back on the same bird. Web seats joist don’t cut it!
BTW – I worked on 1789 many times.