Libya and the C130 debacle - Maybe more ransom to come | Eastern North Carolina Now

   The recent $400 Million payment to Iran for frozen assets reminded me of a project I worked on during the 1970's. We still have eight C130 airplanes under embargo at the Lockheed facility in Marietta, Ga. I originally wrote this story for the my work history section in Grandpa's Diaries. Here is the story updated for BCN.

   The closest I ever came to international espionage was during the 1970s.  I called on Lockheed at Dobbins Air Force Base in Marietta.  That is where Lockheed makes the C130 military aircraft. I sold them some dynamometer test stand Motors and Drives for the prop testing on the C-130 aircraft.  Moammar Qaddafi had bought eight planes for Libya from Lockheed.  However, by the time they were ready for the delivery they quarantined by the Nixon administration because Qaddafi had been tied to terrorist.

   The planes were parked outside of the runway at the far end of the runway at Lockheed Dobbins. I can't member the exact year but the thing was about 1970-75 range. The contract included spare parts which also includes several test stands.  Eventually they were moved to a different location on the base not visible from the runway.

   Because we were the prime manufacturer specified on the approved vendor list, I knew we would get the order through one of our distributors. The bid package went to several distributors for quotes.  One of my distributors, Motion Industries, had the maintenance parts contract for ground facilities at Lockheed and they quoted and received the order.  As I recall the price to the distributor was around $35K per stand.  I think Motion Industries had a markup of 10-12%.  Because of extensive paperwork required to meet government specifications and instruction manuals I added a $5000 documentation option per test stand to the quote.  Our normal application manuals were sufficient for the project but they had to be certified and bound in multiple 3 ring binders with additional product information.  Even though the test stands would never leave the ground except during transportation, they were required to meet air worth specifications.  The $5000 fee was just a bonus.  I contemplated adding a parachute package to the test stand in the case it had to be dumped during the trip to Libya.  I use to say it was the equivalent of my $5000 hammer for having to deal with the government. 

   The test stands were boxed up and placed in a metal container for shipment.  They ended up sitting in shipping containers next to the airplanes after the deal was frozen by the Nixon administration.  They sat there for many years and I lost track of the outcome. While writing some work stories from my Grandpa's Diaries the idea occurred to me that these planes may still be sitting there so I want on Google Maps this is 2016 and sure enough the planes are still parked at Lockheed Dobbins Air Force Base awaiting delivery or disposition. They do not belong to Lockheed, they are technically the property of Libya but from 1973 to 2016 (43 years) they obviously are not airworthy. 

   Here is a Google map view of the Base in Marietta showing the planes still sitting in the storage area not far from the runway with inset of the planes and the spare parts containers.

Click here to browse the Google map shown above.

 

   Here's a picture of a current test stand similar to the one that we sold to Lockheed. This was to test the props during the maintenance. The props are variable pitch props. The procedure was to mount the props and run them up to a set RPM; then adjusts the pitch of prop. You could tell the amount of torque different variance and RPM drop on the dynamometer. Adjustments could then be made on the test stand prior to installation on the plane. This is the motor portion only .  The variable speed DC drives were housed in an F86 cabinet about four feet wide by six feet high with two drives per cabinet for redundancy.

   DC motor and external cooling fan mounted on top.  Below a typical 400 HP drive cabinet Maxpak Plus.

   I ask one of the engineers at Lockheed how they were going to train the Libyans to use it to stand. He said they would most likely never be used because Lockheed had a maintenance contract with Libya if the planes were ever delivered. Lockheed would do all the maintenance on them to see you Libyans did not have the engineering talent to do it themselves.

   The technology of the drives has long since been antiquated and replacement parts are now in the Legacy Series of Reliance if they are available at all. 

   I will probably be dead and gone before the planes are moved or deposed of.  However, with the recent news about us repaying frozen assets to Iran, I have no doubt that we will eventually repatriate the planes and test stands to Libya.  I wonder who will pay for the refurbishing of the planes and test stands.    

   The C130 is still a current part of the Air Force inventory but it has under gone numerous upgrades in avionics and engines. To properly upgrade the embargoed planes would most likely cost more than the original purchase price.

 RESEARCH SITES

Free Republic
Jalopnik
LM Tribune
Goodle maps
Reliance D2-3115 Manual

March 2014


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( August 24th, 2016 @ 5:37 pm )
 
The Lockheed plant is an experience in itself. There is almost a complete city under ground with various corridors connected by a maze of wide hallways where golf cart type transports are used to traverse the various departments. It would be easy to get lost down there as the locations are coded but I have forgotten the code. It could be color or number or a combination of both.



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