"Lucifer's Chariot" - WC-135 Retired

[Scotsman 1,756]

Shamelessly nicked from Reddit - The story of an aircraft that brought it's crew together , usually in fear, Great read tho' 

 

Wc-135 Retirement Story

 

 

[LSP_Ron 13,365]

Yes,  great read.  Thanks

[Rockie Yarwood 218]

Thanks, enjoyed the read!

[Jennings Heilig 14,507]

I have a friend who was assistant crew chief on that bird when she was a Looking Glass command post.  He said she was haunted, and everybody hated her even back in the 1970s.

[Oldbaldguy 217]

Believe it or not, airplanes are people too.  Each was has its own personality. Some have a heart of gold and you just love ‘em to death and others can be as nasty as a contrary wife or a pissed off pitbull.  

[aircommando130 504]

6 hours ago, Oldbaldguy said:

Believe it or not, airplanes are people too.  Each was has its own personality. Some have a heart of gold and you just love ‘em to death and others can be as nasty as a contrary wife or a pissed off pitbull.  

 

That's for sure! I've got time in C-5A/B...C-130E...MC-130P...MC-130H and some other non AF airplanes. Some tails 

were always fun to fly and others...better bring more clothes cause she didn't like to fly!

 

Cheers...Ron

[Confusionreigns178 103]

It's weird to think that some military aircraft are considered reliable if they are available for their intended missions 60% of the time. These airframes are often hugely complicated and require extremely intensive maintenance. 

 

I don't know if it's true, but I remember reading that the C-5 Galaxy required 80 hours of maintenance for every hour it spent in the air. The cost of the servicing must have been enormous.

 

IIRC, the B-2 stealth bomber costs the US tax-payer a cool $95,000 per hour of flying.  

 

Chris.