Airlift Books

Airlift/Troop Carrier Reading and Book Store

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LOCKHEED HERCULES, by Lars Olausson, Self-published - Lars has produced several production lists of the C-130/L-100 series. Contact him at PO Box 142, S-530, 32 Satenas, Sweden - Email larso@alfa.telenordia.se

C-130, The Hercules, by M.E. Morris, Presidio Press, 1989 - An excellent C-130 profile book written by the late Mo Morris, who flew C-130s with the Navy.

C-130 HERCULES, by Arthur Reed, MotorBooks, 1984 - Profiles the airplane from development to the early 1980s. Has many excellent pictures.

LOCKHEED HERCULES, by Francis K. Mason, Patrick Stephens, 1984 - Describes all aspects of the development and deployment of the Hercules. Many pictures, some historic.

The C-130, by Lou Drendel, Squadron Publications - Mostly pictures, with brief narrative.

Lockheed C-130 Hercules and Its Variants, Chris Reed, Schiffer Military Publications - Basically, Chris has written another airplane profile book. There is some information not contained in previous books of a similar nature. If you like to see color pictures of C-130s, buy it.

LOCKHEED C-130 HERCULES, The World's Favourite Military Transport, by Peter C. Smith, Airlife Publishing Ltd. - A C-130 profile book by a British author. Has a lot of information on the various variants, including tail numbers of airplanes converted to gunships, etc.

HERK, HERO OF THE SKIES, by Joe Dabney, Cobblehouse Books - Joe Dabney was in public relations with Lockheed. His book is undoubtedly the best of the C-130 books in terms of the airplane's many uses.

THE LONG ARM OF AMERICA, by Martin Caidin, E.P. Dutton & Co, 1963 - The first book about the Hercules, it is an excellent chronicle of the development of the C-130 and the troop carrier mission to which it was assigned. A MUST for tactical airlifters.

The C-130 HERCULES, Tactical Airlift Missions, 1956-1975, by Sam McGowan, Tab/Aero, 1988- Written by a former tactical airlifter (me!), this book describes the mission which made the reputation of the C-130, the troop carrier/tactical airlift mission of through the end of the Vietnam War. Currently out of print, several copies are in the hands of airlifters throughout the world. At present I am in the process of revising the original manuscript and hope to have a revised version out by the end of 2002.

Trash Haulers by Sam McGowan, Author House, December 2011, a revision of The C-130 Hercules, Tactical Airlift Missions, 1956-1975.

Pappy Gunn, by Nathaniel Gunn - He is most famous for modifying the Douglas A-20 and Mitchell B-25 bombers into powerful gunships, but his original role in World War II was in air transport, later known as troop carrier, when he commanded the Far East Air Force's Air Transport Command and the 21st Troop Carrier Squadron.

My New Guinea Diary, by Ernest Ford. In 1942 SSgt Ernie Ford was one of two NCO pilots in the 6th Troop Carrier Squadron when it deployed to New Guinea and became the first troop carrier squadron based in a combat zone. His is an exciting and informative story of the beginnings of military airlift.

WORLD WAR II : World War II Articles by Sam McGowan, Sam McGowan, CreateSpace, 2012. A collection of articles written for World War II and WW II History magazines. Some have not been published. Several are troop carrier/airlift related.

Also available for Kindle and Nook. Order direct from Create Space.

THE MIGHTY HERCULES, by Martin Caidin, E.P. Dutton & co, 1964 - A juvenile version of The Long Arm of America.

TACTICAL AIRLIFT, by Ray Bowers, Office of Air Force History - The official history of the US Air Force tactical airlift mission in Southeast Asia, written by a former C-130 navigator. A MUST for all professional airlifters and military historians. (Note - Similar volumes were published about the Fixed-wing Gunship and Rescue missions.)

The United States Air Force in Southeast Asia, from the Office of Air Force History - An overview of USAF operations in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War.

AIRWAR, VIETNAM, Arno Press for the Office of Air Force History, 1978 - Official USAF histories from the Vietnam War. Includes C-130 operations at An Loc and the legendary Carolina Moon C-130 attack on the Thanh Hoa Bridge.

THE RAID, by Benjamin Schemmer, Avon Books - Describes the unproductive USAF raid on the POW camp at Son Tay, NVN.

AIR AMERICA, Christopher Robbins, Chronicles the clandestine airline, Air America, and its derivatives. Includes the covert C-130 mission of E-Flight, and the BirdAir operations in Cambodia during the final days of the Vietnam War.

AIRPOWER AND THE AIRLIFT EVACUATION OF KHAM DUC, by Lt. Col. Alan L. Gropman, Air War College - Volume V, Monograph 7 of the USAF Southeast Asia Monograph Series - A comprehensive account of the events of May 12, 1968 when C-130s and C-123s participated in the evacuation of the camp at Kham Duc, RVN.

BLIND BAT, C-130 Forward Air Controllers Over The Ho Chi Minh Trail, by Fred Nyc - A personal narrative of a Blind Bat pilot's experiences.

RUNWAY VISIONS: An American C-130 Pilot's Memoir of Combat Airlift Operations in Southeast Asia, 1967-1968 by

David Kirk Vaughan / Paperback / McFarland & Company, Incorporated - David Vaughan flew C-130s with the 314th Tactical Airlfit Wing at CCK.

The Phnom Penh Airlift, Confessions of a Pig Pilot in the Early 1970s, by Charles Heckman - After serving as a C-130 pilot at Naha and as a FAC, Charlie Heckman remained in Southeast Asia and flew as a civilian working for a small contract airline.

A Trash Hauler in Vietnam, Memoir of Four Tactical Airlift Tours, 1965-1968, by Bill Barry

Charlie Brown's Vietnam Journal, A Tactical Airlift Pilot's View of the War, by Garnett C. Brown

Flying Through Midnight, by John T. Holliday - A C-123 pilot's memoir of night missions over Laos.

Tactical Airlift CHECO Report - the official USAF history of the tactical airlift mission in Vietnam.

The Lucky Loadmaster, by Tom Stalvey, Author House, 2011 - Tom was a loadmaster at Sewart AFB, Tennessee and Clark AB, PI, where he arrived for duty right at the beginning of the most instense days of the Vietnam War.

One Trip Too Many, by Wayne A. Warner, Create Space, 2012 - In 1966 Wayne Warner was a C-130 copilot with the 21st Troop Carrier Squadron at Naha AB, Okinawa when the Air Force issued a call for pilots to volunteer for fighters. He got an assignment to F-105s in Thailand. He volunteered for a second tour, this time in A-1s. In 1969 he was severely injured in a crash and was medically retired. After leaving the Air Force he went back to school and got a degree in law. This is his story.

Hauling Trash, by Sam McGowan, Create Space, 2012 - From the cotton fields of West Tennessee, to dirt runways in the jungles of Vietnam, this is Sam McGowan's personal memoir of his twelve years of Air Force service as a loadmaster on C-130s, C-141s and C-5As. Click here to buy direct from publisher. Also available from Amazon - click below - and Barnes and Noble.

ICEMEN, by ME Morris, Presidio Press - A novel about the US Navy's VXE-6, who fly ski-equipped C-130s in Antarctica.

GUNSHIP, SPECTRE OF DEATH, by Henry Zeybel, Pocket Books - A fictionalized account of AC-130 gunship operations over Laos and Cambodia during the Vietnam War.

The Cave, by Sam McGowan - The Cave tells the story of Toby Carter, a young loadmaster who is shot down over Laos on a Blind Bat mission.

SAVE THE HOSTAGES, originally published as 111 Days in Stanleyville, by Readers Digest Books - A chronicle of the events of August-November, 1964 when Simba rebels in the Congo held white hostages until they were rescued by a joint US/Belgian team of USAF C-130s and Belgian paratroopers.

DESERT SHIELD by Robert F. Dorr, Motorbooks, International - Describes the American buildup in the Persian Gulf, with emphasis on USAF airlift.

GUNSHIPS, A Pictorial History of Spooky, by Larry Davis, Squadron/Signal Publications - A pictorial history of the USAF fixed-wing gunship mission, including the development of the AC-130.

ANY TIME, ANY PLACE, by Philip D. Chinnery, Naval Institute Press, 1994 - A history of USAF special operations, with primary emphasis on the Army Air Forces Air Commandos of WW II and their successors in Southeast Asia. Also includes the role of USAF SOF forces in Iran, Grenada, Panama and the Gulf War. The book is a bit fanciful, as Chinnery follows too closely the SOF line. Glaringly absent is mention of the US/Belgium rescue in the Congo, which depended heavily on C-130s, though the less-difficult Israeli mission to Entebbe is mentioned. It is obvious that the author lacks familiarity with airlift history.

GREAT RAIDS IN HISTORY, From Drake to Desert One, edited by Samuel A. Southworth, Sarpedon - A collection of stories about great military raids, including the Dragon Rouge rescue mission in the Congo and the attempted rescue of US hostages held in Tehran.

Anything, Anywhere, Anytime , by Sam McGowan, Author House, December 2011. A history of the US Army/US Air Force troop carrier mission and the tactical airlift mission that followed. Begins with the US military buildup proir to World War II and continues through the Vietnam War and the transfer of all airlift operations into Military Airlift Command.

New Second Edition (Includes new material)

Anything, Anywhere, Anytime, by William Leary, Air Force History. A history of USAF troop carrier operations in the Korean War.

CCT, The Eye of the Storm, by Gene Adcock. A history of USAF combat controllers. Order Direct.

This list is far from complete; if you know of others that should be added, Email me at sam@sammcgowan.com

Many of these books are available through Amazon - go to my Associates Page to order. urn.