Don Paul Email
Date: Sun, 26 Jan 1997
Hi Ted:We were shipped to K2, Korea in September '51. At Itazuke, Japan we and all our gear were loaded into C54's and flown over to K2. That in itself was an adventure!
When we were on board the aircraft the pilot started the engines and called for the chocks and tail strut to be removed. The C54 had a tail strut that was pinned in place to keep the aircraft from banging it's tail down in high winds.
Well, the load master did a bum job of loading this bird because the ground crew couldn't remove the strut! The whole center aisle was loaded with equipment with the GI's sitting along the fuselage and in the rear, where I and some other guys were located. When they couldn't remove the strut the pilot motioned for us people in the rear to come forward to the cockpit, which we did.
Good old weight and balance!
As I recall they still couldn't remove the strut. So the pilot shoved the yoke to the fire wall and gunned the engines. That did the trick and the strut came out. We taxied all the way out to the runway with the yoke all the way forward, the engines roaring, and the pilot riding the brakes! The takeoff run was quite long and I recall when it came time to rotate for takeoff the pilot just barely moved the control column off the fire wall and we were airborne!
These military pilots sure have a lot of leeway when it comes to operating their aircraft. I guess he didn't want to take the time to unload and reshuffle the cargo.
It turns out that was a very dangerous situation with the CG that far aft.
Another time, at K2, I was out on the field watching the aircraft take off when another C54 taxied into position for take off. I noticed he only had three engines running. The port inboard engine wasn't running and the prop was feathered. He began his takeoff run and about halfway down the strip he unfeathered the prop and fired it up! I guess the starter was out and he figured this was as good away as any to get that engine going.
Don.
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