Remembering
an Unsung Giant
The Douglas C-133 Cargomaster
and
Its People
Project Development
Units
Operations
Mission
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I welcome entries from anyone associated with
or interested in the C-133. I will, however, delete all entries containing links
to pharmaceuticals, medicine or other non-aviation subjects. This site is
strictly for C-133 and related aviation interests.
New C-133 Blog
Dick
Hanson has started a blog for the C-133 world. It is intended to provide another
point of contact for those who flew the airplane or are interested in it. It
will serve also as the basis for a future Dover reunion.
Check it out.
C-133 Model Coming in 1/100 Scale
Anigrand, in Hong Kong, is producing a
resin cast 1/100 C-133. It is available from Nostalgic Plastic. Let them know if you are interested.
They also now carry my book. Scott van Aken did a very positive review
of the kit.
Check it out.
Book Preview
For a preview of the book, I now have
posted the two-page Table of Contents and the first page of each of the 24
chapters. The
Title Page has links to each succeeding page.
Click here for the
order form. I will accept personal checks or money
orders from purchasers. I can't
accept credit or debit cards. All S&H charges to both US and foreign addresses are
shown on the
order form.
Print it out and mail to the publisher with appropriate funds payable in US
dollars. Resellers
please contact me for information.
All orders to US addresses are shipped with delivery confirmation included, to be able to track when the order was delivered.
For buyers outside the US, the
least foreign exchange problem is if you send a personal check drawn in your
local currency on your local bank. If you write a check payable in US dollars,
then it costs me about $12 for the exchange transaction.
Based upon recent experience shipping to
Canada and Australia, International First Class will be used only to Canada. That
takes about three weeks. To Australia, it required more than nine weeks.
Consequently, I will only ship individual orders to non-US destinations other
than Canada via Global Priority, with a minimum order of three copies. Shipments to resellers will be arranged with
each seller, unless
there is an American forwarder.
Please send orders to:
Firstfleet Publishers
2154 Beverly Beach Dr NW
Olympia, WA 98502
e-mail: Cal Taylor at
firstfleet@aol.com
Logo Firstfleet
Publishers now has a logo, reflecting the author's Air Force experience. It is:
I was able to
obtain a skin section from the left side of the nose of C-133B 90531. That was
the C-133 in which I had the most time (and the high time airplane of all flown
in the USAF). Very few aircrew members have ever been able to possess a portion
of one of the airplanes that they flew.
Book Reviews
Phil Brandt, a Dover C-133 nav
before he went to F-111s, wrote a great (of course, it's about my book) review on the
HyperScale site. Lee Coll did a very nice
review in the May/June 2006 IPMS
Journal. Paul Schmidt just sent some nice comments. Click
here to read them.
Sales Outlets
For those in the UK, the book is available through Midland
Counties Publishing, Air Britain
and the
Aviation Book Centre. Go to their
sites and search on C-133.
The book is now available in The
Netherlands from Luchtvaart Hobby Shop,
in Aalsmeerderbrug. Contact
Henk Timmers for pricing and to reserve a copy.
In Canada,
Aviation World stocks the
book in their stores in Toronto and in Vancouver. Contact
them to reserve a copy and for pricing.
In Germany, those interested in the C-133
can now purchase the book from
Fachbuchhandlung
Christian Schmidt, in München.
In Japan, the book is available from
Nishiyama Yoosho. Check out
their site for the huge inventory.
Several museums now stock the book. So far, they are:
AMC
Museum, Dover AFB, DE1
Hill AFB Museum, Ogden, UT
New England Air Museum, Windsor Locks, CT
Jimmy Doolittle Air & Space
Museum, Travis AFB, CA
National Museum of the
USAF, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH
Air Force Flight Test
Center Museum, Edwards AFB, CA
Pima Air & Space Museum, Tucson, AZ
Museum of Flight,
Seattle, WA
Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum,
McMinnville, OR
C-133 Model
Available Gene Hooker's
vacuform 1:72 C-133 model remains available on special order. The kit has a 40+ page illustrated instruction manual, excellent decals
and all the trimmings to build a truly impressive model. Contact
Gene for
production and availability details and go to the Gallery
page for more info on specifications and costs, plus a photo of a completed
model.
New Book
Announcements
Jerry McAuliffe's book,
U.S. Air Force in France, 1950-1967,
is excellent. The C-133 flew through Chateauroux a
lot, so here is the source for everything about that base and the rest during
those years. It has 464 pages, hundreds of photos and color shots of wing and squadron insignia for
all flying units stationed in France, including US Army and Royal Canadian Air
Force. Jerry very kindly sent me some good
pictures for my book. If you are interested,
contact him at
milspecpress@aol.com . Click
here for a new website for
Jerry's book. I have read the whole book, and it is excellent. It gives a
fascinating picture of the way that French and American government policy changes
impacted the lives of USAF, RCAF and Army personnel serving in France. There are
excellent diagrams of all the airfields, summaries of facility development and insights into
living in France in those years.
Lou Martin's latest book is available now. Entitled
Close Encounters With the Pilot's Grim Reaper,
it details Lou's close encounters in 60 years and 19,000 hours of flying.
Starting when he was 17, the book includes 22 years in the USAF, five years as a JAL captain, three
years in Iran before the Shah's fall and 19 years
as an FAA inspector and time as a war bird pilot for the
Planes of Fame Museum. I enjoyed it thoroughly. Lou provides an excellent picture of
life as a pilot in the transition from the WWII Air Force to Korea and beyond. The book has
540 pages and more than 80 illustrations. It
lists at $24.50 plus S&H. Contact Lou at 13268 Huntington Terrace, Apple Valley,
MN 55124 or by e-mail at pilotlou@aol.com.
For an enthusiastic review by James Etten, in the London Flight Times, go
here.
Available now is
Spitfire Wingman from
Tennessee: My Love Affair With Flight. I have my copy and it is a
beauty. It is the excellent and exciting
autobiography of Col James Haun, whose career spanned the period from the late
1930s into the 1960s. Haun was sworn into the Tennessee National Guard by
then-Major William Tunner, who became the key proponent of airlift. Haun's son,
Jim, has updated the book, added photos and commissioned a cover painting
featuring the Spitfire Col Haun flew with an RNZAF squadron. The cover price
will be $14.95 plus S&H. Go to the book
website for info and ordering info.
Anothr excellent book is Thomas Kaye's S.A.C.
Great Years. It is a personal memoir
of his career, starting as a seaman airframe mechanic during the Korean War and
continuing through 20 years service with Strategic Air command, working on B-47s
and B-52s all over the world. He serviced C-133s at Midway Island before going
to his next to final assignment, at McGuire. Kaye's book is true to life,
definitely not PC, but it gives an excellent picture of life as an EM and
noncommissioned officer from shortly after WW2 until the Vietnam period. The
cost is $17.95 plus shipping and handling. Order from Trafford Publishing,
1-888-232-4444. Paperback, 8.5 x 11, 187 pages, 60 illustrations.
Unfortunately, I won't be able to make this one.
Death of a Friend
On 14 Oct 2006, Col Charles W. Stark made his
last flight, at the age of 94 years and four months. Col Stark's last active
duty assignment was as deputy commander, 1501st Air Transport Wing, Travis AFB,
CA. During that period, he was qualified in the C-133 and made several Pacific
trips with 84th ATS crews. That assignment culminated an Air Force career that
began with his graduation from the United States Military Academy, Class of
1937. Over the years, Col Stark flew 106 different aircraft types, including the
P-26, P-35, P-40, P-47, C-119, C-133 and even the F-104. He commanded several
different USAF wings, including the 8th Fighter Bomber Wing in Korea, fought in WWII and the Korean war and spent
11 months
as a POW in Germany. I was incredibly honored to call Charlie Stark my friend.
Through him, I had a first-hand link to people who earlier had been only
names--Hub Zemke, Adolf Galland, Jimmie Doolittle, Bruce Holloway, Benjamin O.
Davis and many more. Colin Kelly was a classmate at USMA. Charlie told dozens of tales of adventures and events going back
to the 1930s. I will miss him very much. Col Stark's
military biography covers many years of dedicated and varied service to the
United States.
Book
Ordering
Dover - Now that the 2007 gathering is done, the crew is
looking at doing another one sometime in the future. As details firm up, I will
post them here.
