Day One, continued: About the C-5 and C-130 - updated

I want to report some interesting things about our flights on a C-5, and later on C-130. It is always interesting to fly on military aircraft -- and very different from commercial aircraft.

Some examples:
-- The C- is huge, the Air Force’s largest aircraft. Below, they often carry Army tanks or helicopters. Above are 73 passenger seats.

-- Before the flight, you can buy a box lunch, if you wish, for $5. The box is loaded, with a sandwich, drink, fruit and snacks. Passengers carry them on board with them.

-- During the flight, an Air Force sergeant in uniform comes down the aisle with a big cardboard box. Inside are snacks of grape juice and granola bar for everyone.

-- When they do the safety demonstration of life jackets and oxygen masks, it’s very informal. Today, the guy joked about, “if the oxygen mask does not inflate, take it off your head because it’s not working, unless ….”

-- In the small bathrooms, they pile stuff up in the sink -- TP, wet wipes -- for people to use.

-- The military travelers make themselves comfortable. They take the (removable) cushions off the seats and put them where they need them. One guy laid down on the floor by the seats behind us and went to sleep. Lots of people played video games on laptops, or watched movies.

-- Passengers wear ear plugs to protect against the loud noise of the plane. There are few windows. The seats face the back of the plane. Our plane and crew happened to be from Stewart ANG base north of New York City.

-- The Dover terminal had a big USO, with big leather couches and seats, lots of Tvs, lots of computers with Internet access and WiFi, books, a pool table and more. The base is small, so it’s fairly easy to get from billeting/base hotel to terminal to BX, etc. Rota terminal also has computers with Internet access, and WiFi, and is close to billeting/base hotel.

-- The C-130 we took from Spain to Sicily was full.  We sat (butt) cheek to (butt) cheek, with about 20 passengers.  In the back of the plane, some of the passengers put up canvas hammocks, swinging from the ceiling while they tried to catch some sleep.  The rest of us sat on webbed seats, along both sides of the plane.  We think some of the passengers were Navy Seals.


In Spain, they stamped our passports. If we had stay, we would have had to get another stamp from their National Police Station in Rota within 72 hours. Our flight took about 7 hours. We arrived about 5 a.m. NY time, about noon Spain time. We did not get much sleep on the flight, so we were pretty groggy.

We are now in Sicily. More on that in the next blog!