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Discover Mid-America — December 2006

Flying ‘Fat Albert’ airlines

This was not an ordinary airline flight. In fact, “Fat Albert” is not an airliner at all, but a C-130T Hercules, part of the United States Marine Corps Blue Angels flying team that performed in September at the Kansas City Air Show.

As a member of the media, I was invited to go along for the ride, along with three others: a TV creative services manager, a female on-air personality at a local radio station and a TV news reporter from St. Joseph, MO.

Operated by three officers and five enlisted personnel, the aircraft is powered by four turboprop engines that give it a cruising speed of more than 360 mph. At air shows throughout the country and overseas, the plane demonstrates its jet assisted takeoff (JATO) capability, hurtling into the air at a 45-degree angle, executing steep turns, and returning to the field to perform a short-field, quick-stop landing. The demonstration shows how the aircraft can deliver cargo and personnel to tight places around the world.

Staff Sergeant Mike Wason gave me a tour. The aircraft resembles a flying semi, its huge tandem dual tires and rugged nose gear able to absorb rough landings with heavy loads. The cockpit accommodates a pilot, copilot and flight engineer. In the rear, a ramp lowers to load tons of cargo. Fold-down seats along the sides allow passengers to fly in relative comfort.

Sgt. Wason said he became interested in flying as a teenager, joined the Marine Corps and eventually qualified to fly with “Fat Albert Airlines” as part of the Blue Angels team. Married and the father of two, he’s been a Marine for about a dozen years. He makes his home in Pensacola, FL, where the Blue Angels are based when not on tour.

Crewmembers loaded eight solid-fuel rocket bottles, four on each side, that would help launch the aircraft into its flight. As the flight time neared, I began to wonder what kind of roller-coaster ride this would be. I was about to find out.

The pilot arrived and assembled everyone in a circle. Besides the media, there were six in the flight crew, plus recruiting officers and enlisted men — a total of 20 for the flight. The pilot briefed us, saying the flight would last approximately six minutes and subject us to 2.6 Gs on takeoff. He mentioned there would be moments of weightlessness when we began our descent for a short field landing.

Looking at each other with a bit of apprehension, we boarded the plane and were assigned seats along the wall. One man climbed a ladder lashed to the floor and seated himself in the “crow’s nest” atop the fuselage, beneath a bubble canopy. Three of the crew were in charge of the cargo area, and would stand during the flight, gripping handles and the ladder. Most of us were issued earplugs, which turned out to be a real necessity.

The engines fired up and the C-130 moved to a holding position for several minutes. Outside temperature was in the nineties, but inside Fat Albert it was several degrees hotter when the cargo door closed. With the pulsating engines and nearly 20-mph wind buffeting the aircraft, it seemed we were already flying. But we were about to learn what real flying in this aircraft is all about.

At 3:05, the pilot released the brakes, and we were off. For a few seconds, the C-130 lumbered down the runway. Then the nose came up, and an explosive roar was accompanied by tremendous G-forces that pushed us down in our seats for several seconds. Then the G-forces went away as we leveled off. Moments later, we banked into a sharp turn. Through a small window on the other side of the fuselage, I could see the tops of city buildings as I strained against the seat belt. Quickly we leveled, and rolled the other way. I realized I was soaked with sweat, feeling a bit queasy and probably white as a sheet. But I took a deep breath and waited for the weightlessness the pilot had promised.

After a minute or so, the nose of the plane dropped, and everything floated, including my camera, strapped around my neck. The crewmen who had been standing by the ladder, now stretched out horizontally. I gripped the seat cushion, feeling it might rip out of its frame.

Seconds later, the pilot nosed the plane onto the runway, then hit the brakes and reverse thrust. We lurched to a stop, the deceleration pushing us sideways.

The crew opened the big door in the tail of the fuselage, letting in some much-needed air. Everyone was grinning, saying “wow” and “what a ride!” One of the recruiting officers said he’d sweated through his dress whites. “At least I have an excuse to go home early,” he said.

It was my first (and probably last) ride on “Fat Albert Airlines.” But I learned first-hand about the capability of military aviation. Before the flight, Sgt. Wason had told me, “These aircraft make the same kind of takeoffs and landings on highways in Iraq.”

Ken Weyand can be reached at kweyand1@kc.rr.com

> Traveling with Ken Archive — past columns