dESPair THC 005

THC 005 - Lockheed Martin C-130H
"Fat mate"
(Home base: LSZB, Switzerland. Chief pilot: Sir Hak "the seagul")

Back in 1996, the US coast guards were showing their talents in an airshow in Bern-Belp (LSZB), Switzerland. After their performance, I met Charlie "Chips" Potter, the commander of the C-130H, in the pilot lounge. We had a chat about the good ol' times, about flying heavies and we found out that we both have been serving in the Aeroflot CrasahAir, in Sudan.

I was interested in a testflight with the C-130H, and Chips would have let me fly, but during the airshow, this was impossible. So we agreed to meet at his

homebase, KAPF Naples Municipal, next time I visit the states.

In summer 98 I was visiting florida for business purposes, and I managed to get 2 days free before my return home. So I leased a Pitt Bull and flew from KFLL Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International to KAPF. A quiet and nice trip. When I reached the base of Chips, I parked the Pitts in front of the GA hangar and went to the staff quarters to look for Chips.

First time I asked for him, the present peple looked at me like I was an alien. Then their eyes turned away from me. The silence hit me hard. "What's up?" I asked the bar man. An other pilot took me apart and began to speak "Chips is MIA since his last cargo transport over the Everglades". I was seriously shocked. "We were all searching for the C-130H, but we have found not a single track and no signs of a crash at all". I couldn't believe a pilot like Chips can disappear without leaving any traces - there *must* be evidence about what happened.

We talked for a while and then I decided to go out and search for Chips on my own. The pilots at the base offered me to fly one of their Sproocegooses, and I accepted thankfully. 2 hours later I was back in the air, heading southeast towards the the Everglades. I had the last point of radar contact, the speed and the heading of Chips'sC-130H, so I started my search there, in the same heading. I flew a centrifugal
spirale and looked for any trace of an aircraft, a track that was left during the landing, broken trees or a tail pipe peaking out of the swamps.

I was almost flying for 3 hours until I saw the sun reflecting in something out there at 2 o'clock. I slowed down, full flaps, throttle to 68%, and approached the sparkling spot at very low altitude (approx. 20 ft agl.). And I was right - there I saw a fuel can lying beneath a small tree on a little hill.

I watered the plane only a few dozen feets away, and when I left the aircraft I realised that the little hill was in fact a perfectly camouflaged C-130H. I was baffled as the C-130H really was invisible form above. And while I approached the aircraft, a voice shouted:" stay where you are, or you'll be shot!".

As an answer, I began to whistle the CrasahAir theme "like a dove in the air, like a cloud we are gliding, like a sunray we a re heading for the horizon...".
Then a face appeared in the aircraft door: it was Chips. Healthy and in good shape!
We were greeting each other like good friends do. He showed me his current "home" and in the evening, while we sat inside the C-130 cockpit, smoking this fabulous florida weed, he told me the whole story. He had the knowledge that he will be sent to Kuwait, but his love was pregnant. So he decided to disappear and then emigrate to switzerland with his love.

his main problem was that he must leave the C-130H out in the swamp and find a way back to the civilisation. Then suddenly an idea struck me: I could transport him back, without the others noticing him. We talked about the plan and decided to return home
next morning. I sent a radio message to the airport that I was savely on ground and
will be back by the next morning. The rest of the story is short: I took Chips with me, parked the Sproocegoose pretty near my leased Pitts and then went to the FBO to disturb the folks there... the while, Chips entered the Pitts and managed to free up enough space so he could ride with me. I explained the staff that I had not seen any traces either, and that the C-130H most probably was sunk in the swamps. I thanked for the flight and prepared to return to my own base.

Chips managed to escape from the states together with his wive. Now he is working as our most experienced tech expert in our hangar at LSZB. And just half a year later we both sneaked back to Florida, leased a Beaver floats and transported all we needed to prepair the C-130H for a long flight... Now the C-130H is standing in our dESPair hangar. Don't tell anybody the true story of this aircraft!

Captain Habakuk
Hak the seagul