I was outside, heard an airplane fly over, and immediately recognized the sound of a C-130 flying over. It was at a higher altitude, and probably in route to one of the bases in Texas. It made me think of the past.
During the Vietnam War, our local airport was used daily for training of C-130 pilots. I'm guessing the reason was the lack of traffic, the fact the wind direction was usually from a direction near south, and the if there was a problem, any crashes south of the airport would be in the miles of empty fields in that direction. Maybe there was another reason, but that's the one that makes the most sense.
On any day, the pilots would do touch-and-go's constantly. From where I lived, I could see them after they gained altitude, and headed south. I really didn't pay much attention where they went after that, but with the Gulf of Mexico within twenty miles, they probably spent some of their time flying where uh-ohs didn't involve populated areas.
West of our city, there were some large, mostly empty pastures, which were handy for paratrooper training. Occasionally, if you happened to be driving down the highway that adjoined the fields, you could see them jumping from the planes, and it reminded me of watching WW2 footage.
So, what is now a rare occurrence brought back some things I haven't thought about in years. I never knew if the pilots, or troops, were full time troops, or National Guard. Regardless, it was an interesting time.
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