ACROSS THE PACIFIC PLUS

More adventures were to be had on our return trip from Japan, but now the next stop was Wake Island with an en route time of nine hours and 30 minutes. So, with a normal crew rest at Travis we were again headed back to Hickam with another three days under the palms and on the beach at Honolulu. But our visit to Honolulu would continue to be more exciting as we were informed that some high-priority cargo awaited us at the terminal and we would drop our load for Japan and proceed back to Travis for another eleven hours in the air.

Not to forget the Missionary Downfalls at Don the Beachcombers, Hotel Street, Japanese nightclubs, the International Marketplace, and other adventures. Well, guess what? Those 24 hours turned into five days of beach time at Waikiki, the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, Fort DeRussy, car trips through the pineapple fields, watching the surfing pros on the north shore, and a solemn visit to the USS Arizona. What a fabulous place, Honolulu! As we were a bit ahead of schedule, we decided that a 24-hour crew rest was a small reward. All were heavy cargo airlifters except the C-97 whose primary mission was to carry passengers to various Pacific assignments.įollowing the normal crew rest of 15 hours, our next leg would be an 11 and one half hour flight to Hickam AFB in Honolulu, Hawaii. The base had several flying squadrons assigned with airplanes including the C-124 Globemaster, C-97 Stratofreighter, and the newly arrived C-133 Cargomaster. Travis, near Fairfield, was, at the time, home of the 1501st Air Transport Wing assigned to the Military Air Transport Service.

ACROSS THE PACIFIC PLUS

(We were not aware at the time that within 15 years our bird would join others here to be made into scrap.) So, with minimum ground time, off to Travis facing another four plus 20 in the air. We were told that this was not unusual for Tucson in October. So, following an uneventful flight of ten hours and 30 minutes, we landed at DM close to midnight to an air temperature of 100 degrees. This trip would take us first to our pickup point at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, Arizona, the USAF’s “Boneyard.” From there we would proceed to Travis AFB, California, for our first crew rest. Well, with a little pull and being the navigator scheduling officer at the time, it was not that difficult to place my name tag on the mission setup board.

It is not copyrighted unless noted but we request anyone using this for other than personal use to credit the author and the museum.Īs a C-124 Globemaster II crew member assigned to Dover AFB in 1958, most (if not all) of our missions were flown to the European Continent and to the Far North so, when a Pacific trip to Japan came up, just about everyone put their bids in for a place on the crew.

Across the pacific