On Mon, 9 Feb 2004 14:11:54 -0500, "Kevin Brooks"
wrote:


I can recall a case where a C-130E (637789) was indeed stolen by a
maintenance type in 1969 trying to get back to the US, but as I remember it
he was not shot down, and he did head in the right general direction. He
went down near the western end of the English Channel, killed himself in the
process (not surprisingly). The aircraft was from one of the C-130 squadrons
then assigned to Langley AFB; my Dad worked at the adjoining LRC/NASA, and
the whole incident caused quite a splash in the local media at the time.
Other than some conspiracy theorists relying on pure rumor mongering, there
was no evidence that it was "shot down". The more likely causes were listed
as either (non)pilot error (I guess that is what you would call it in this
case) or fuel starvation. One gent who was flying C-130's out of the UK at
the same time noted that for a short while thereafter there was a
requirement to chain down, with padlocks, all of their aircraft--but that
requirement died a quick death when someone lost one of the keys and they
had to use a fireaxe to liberate an aircraft to conduct a mission.

Brooks

The Mildenhall theft did result in a crash. Definitely not a
shoot-down. Gotta say the guy wasn't very wise in his choice of
aircraft to steal. Should have at least tried something of a size in
which one person can reach all the switches without having to walk
around the flight deck.

Very few tactical jets had self-starting capability during my tenure.
The only one that I recall was the T-37, which didn't require any
external power unless you planned to be on the radio waiting for a
clearance for more than about twenty minutes. All the rest required
air carts to spin up the engine. If you found one with pyro start
carts installed, you could then get it fired up without assistance.

You would have needed a friend if stealing an F-4 though, since
someone had to do the switches on the INS in the back seat to get an
alignment. No nav and no expensive flight instruments without it.
Ditto no ability to run the radar. Also you might want to know a bit
about securing the rear cockpit straps, etc. or you could find the
stick jammed from belts, harnesses, buckles and shifting seat kits.

I vaguely recall the chain-up business, but don't remember how it was
implemented on tactical aircraft. I think they chained up at night and
then removed them all in the morning during pre-flight.



Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
Smithsonian Institution Press
ISBN #1-58834-103-8