The cockpit of the First Lady contains volumes of history. She was the first C-130 off the production line and became combat hardened in Vietnam as the first to be converted to the AC-130 gunship. Don Garretson, who flew aboard the First Lady as a Forward Looking Infrared Operator, tells one of her best stories.
During the golden age of NASA’s Space Shuttle Program, the 919th Special Operations Group used the First Lady and other AC-130 Spectre aircraft to patrol Kennedy Space Center’s beach during the hours leading up to a launch. Garretson couldn’t recall any security breaches, but considering the 40 mm Bofor cannons projecting out the side of the aircraft, this is not a surprise.
Just before launch, the First Lady and her crew would fly to a holding point over Port Canaveral with their nose pointed toward the launch pad. The cockpit of a Spectre is fairly roomy, holding a maximum of 6 people but during the terminal count, 10 crew members would pile inside the cockpit, all with their faces pressed as close as possible to the windscreen.
Crew members would listen as the familiar sounds of the countdown would play through the radio. Once they heard, “Liftoff!”, the pilot would reef back on the controls, racing the shuttle upward, trying to keep the rocket in view through the windows as it accelerated into the blue. The Spectre aircraft secured the first 25 space shuttle missions and the crew repeated this ritual every time.
When Space Shuttle Challenger was lost, the 919th used their AC-130 ships for search and rescue operations. Garretson himself participated in one such mission mere hours after the loss. Against all odds, he used the infrared system to try to spot survivors.
After shuttle’s return to flight, a private venture called Air Scan was formed to continue securing launch operations in Florida, allowing the 919th to free their gunships for training sorties, keeping them combat ready. Among the fleet of Spectres, the most beloved would always be the First Lady, resting at the Air Force Armament Museum at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. Click here to read more stories about this first ever C-130.
