We were at Pole at the same time! You're the Jim Carpenter that remodeled the gym! Small world.

For those who might like to see it, an emergency whiteout landing chart for Phoenix airfield at McMurdo.

You fly the approach to the airfield (grid north aligned) and if unable to land due to whiteout conditions (e.g., inside the ping pong ball) you climb to 500' and turn to grid SW to land in the area between two radials (tacan 216 and 234, not before 10nm from the facility and not more than 18nm from it. There is no published missed off that with much higher terrain beyond, and it's the equivalent of the ultimate glassy water landing. Within the landing area, the idea is to align with the prevailing wind. Crosswind landings don't work too well on ice with a slab-sided aircraft. Wind can be 70kts or more on the ground (which is what's causing the whiteout). Forecasts are a ouija thing more than in the lower 48.

And the South Pole SWY 02 approach. Note the GS angle. They set up for Vso+1 or +2, forward looking terrain radar with radar reflective flags on the runway sides and the navigator providing alignment data. The aircraft do not have LPV or approach LNAV. Again, long runway and a very slow descent rate to the surface. Lack of visual depth is a usual situation.

It was moved to a museum in New York about 6 years ago. Too bad it wasn't kept at Warner Robins and restored to full "Credible Sport" configuration. When I saw it (1995 or so), the hardpoints for the rockets were there, but the fairings that covered them were missing. I knew of the program at that time (My grandfather worked on the passenger restraint system) and a couple of the local Lockheed guys I knew shared tidbits too. Which made it very memorable that I recognized what it was when I walked up to it. "Cool, one of the Credible Sport airplanes... Wonder what the sign in front of it says?" It said "MC-130H (or E...whatever), and didn't mention a word about the unique history of the aircraft or its modifications. At that time, the program wasn't really under wraps any longer, but it wasn't widespread public knowledge either.

When I first saw it at Warner Robins it was raining and I was looking at it through a window. The fairings for the forward firing rockets were installed. The dorsal and ventral fins were “unexpected.” I knew it was something special, but didn’t think of of Tehran.

A docent happened by and asked if I knew the history. He asked if I wanted a hint … and he mentioned Tehran. We had a nice 15-20 minute chat. I asked if they had pics (a few) and if it was ever opened for tours (No.)

I hope it is now inside, wherever it is … dunno why it is not inside at Dayton or Warner Robins.

It is at EASM, NNW of Albany. Their website is an embarrassment. No complete inventory. Few pics. None of the aircraft are reasonably documented. The C-130 is not mentioned. I wonder what other historic gems might be hiding there?

There is an episode of Mighty Planes on Discovery that has the c130 taking off in Greenland with the JATO assist. I’m pretty sure it was done just for the cameras. I am not sure when it was filmed. I seem ti remember it aired in the mid 2010’s I looked for a web archive but didn’t find the footage.