[text by John Boudreaux, edited by Leon in places for clarity]
Hi,
I was part of the Enhance Plus operation and we really didn't much distinguish the VNAF squadrons from one another so I didn't keep track of who belonged to which squadron. It was more like we were working with the VNAF 5th Air Division and the Vietnamese floated back and forth from their roles in their C-123 operations. I don't recall if the VNAF had any of the flat nose C-130's. I do not recall any functional or operational differences between the flat nose C-130's and the nose radome-equipped C-130's except for the difference in appearance. I also don't recall any preferences for either.
C-130A Hercules, 437th or 435th Transport Squadron. Squadron tail codes are still to be applied on this Hercules. (Photo: J. Boudreaux)
My guess is that at the time 10% to 20% of the entire C-130A fleet was blunt nosed and they seemed to be distributed evenly around the system. I'm not quite sure how many C-130's went to the VNAF [32 according to records, ed.]. Statistically that would have included 2 or 3 blunt nosed ones for the VNAF. I didn't participate in the initial hand-off of the C-130's to the VNAF, but I remember when it happened and it happened pretty fast, over like a week or less and it was done. Very shortly afterwards (another week or two) and I received a call asking if I minded being part of the initial instructor cadre. Then it was maybe another two weeks before I was arriving at Tan Son Nhut.
C-130A Hercules, 437th or 435th Transport Squadron. (Photo: J. Boudreaux)
One of the big difference between the C-130A's and the rest of the C-130's was in fuel capacity. There was no center fuel tank on the A's. The C-130B added the center tank and the C-130E also added the two giant underwing fuel tanks (bigger than the ones on A-models). That difference made C-130A trans Atlantic and trans Pacific flights unpredictable in terms of planning purposes, but otherwise the A had plenty enough fuel for intra-theater support. That's probably why the A's were assigned to the C-130 squadrons in Japan and Europe, and probably why they went to the VNAF. I don't believe it really had anything to do with being 'older'. It was just a better fit. Another big difference was the long 3 blade props on the A's and that translated into better performance at low altitude.
VNAF crew and John Boudreaux in front of a C-130A Hercules. (Photo: J. Boudreaux)
The combined enhancements of the center tank and the bigger underwing tanks almost doubled the fuel capacity of the E over the A. I'd guess 22,000 to 25,000 pounds more fuel .... The C-130's cruised at about 290 to 300 knots and burned about 4,000 pounds per hour at cruise altitude. That translated into another 1,500 to 2,000 naut miles over the A's. Comparing the two, the A's had to hop-step to cross the Atlantic with stops at Iceland, maybe Bermuda, maybe the Azores Islands. It was always at least a one stop and often a 2 stop trip for refueling. The E's could fly from the US to Spain without refueling. The A's had a practical range of about 1,500 to 2,000 miles. That was usually good enough unless crossing big oceans or flying to remote islands. Incidently, that's about the same range of the old Boeing 727's. On the other hand, not having that center tank had a sustainability benefit. I believe that's why they used modified A's for the first round of gunships (AC-130A Spectre) rather than pick E's from the production line.
John Boudreaux and a VNAF pilot. (Photo: J. Boudreaux)
BTW, the Vietnamese pilots were excellent pilots. I remember that our Flight Engineer instructor, Jim Taylor, had no reservations about flying as the only Yank with the remainder of the crew being all Vietnamese, including the VNAF instructor pilot who himself had less than 75 hours in the C-130. I also flew quite often with an all VNAF crew. Of course I was in command so that wasn't as difficult a choice. But I gave Jim the choice in consideration to the many factors, mainly the language differences and and the very low experience of everyone else on the crew. Our instructor loadmaster chose not to fly alone. Of course he was completely at the mercy of the flight deck crew and I had no reservation about honoring his choice.
VNAF C-130A pilot, 437th or 435th Transport Squadron. (Photo: J. Boudreaux)
VNAF C-130A pilot, 437th or 435th Transport Squadron. (Photo: J. Boudreaux)
VNAF crew and John Boudreaux. (Photo: J. Boudreaux)
