We have lost one of our own; TSgt Joey Link, Rest in Peace.

With a sad heart I report that we have lost one of our own. I was trying to wait to post this until the final autopsy report was available but it looks like that will take a while. I did not know Joey Link, he must have come to Dyess just as I was leaving but I can not tell you how close to home that this hits. I think it would almost be less shocking if it had been a result of war or an accident but from a simple trip that we have all taken dozens of times? Rumors are spreading that it was a result of a spider bite while in Djibouti but who knows? I will wait for the report. TSgt Joey Link Passed away Sunday August 5th in Landstuhl Regional Medical Center Germany. My deepest sympathy goes out to all of his family.






As always, Patriot Guard was on the ball and did a great job organizing the ride.
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Rest in Peace Joey

RNZAF's C-130s gets a boost via SPAR

Many of the world's C-130s are in trouble. For one, they were not supposed to be around this long. No one ever thought that you had to make a center wing box last 50 years...but I guess because of its success and the lack of a suitable replacement, many countries including the US are keeping the old warriors. I can not talk about the other nations Wing boxes but I sure as hell can tell you that we (USAF) had major problems with our wing boxes. This has effected our war ready fleets. The poor things were just neglected for so long and they have become very tired.

One company is helping the cause. SPAR Aerospace Limited, a subsidiary of L3 communications up in Canada. Eh.

It costs a lot of money to replace a wingbox and so many countries have elected to either keep flying till they drop, let them sit and rot, replace them with the C-130J or, fix the bloody thing. I was wondering about the USAF fixing our old birds but it looks like they have finally caved in and have decided to fix them as well.

the RNZAF has chosen Spar to do the work for them. They have decided to basically replace the whole wingbox rather than inspect and repair. this is an excellent approach because it will extend the life expectancy of this aircraft. along with the wingbox, Spar is also going to modernize the C-130Hs from the RNZAF making them one of the most modern C-130s flying.

Spar is also offering its Hercules 2020 program that not only extends the life of the wingbox but the whole aircraft. It is supposed to extend the life of the plane 15-20 years and is much cheaper than the cost of a new aircraft. Keep the old birds flying...




Looks like in the last picture if you look at the nose section that there is a also in the background a USAF AMC C-130H from the 317AG from Dyess AFB in Abilene, TX... I know they need Boxes too. Lets hope they get them.