"Spooky" C-130E, ACFT No. 63-7771

[Jerry D]

I found this today while searching for some Tail numbers of my favorite Aircraft. Some of you all that served in SE Asia may have flown on ole' Spooky here is the final story of a good flying airplane that always brought me Home

Spirit of Spooky flies on
By Rob Raine
(with thanks to Master Sergeant Rob Jalbert, Jr.
and Technical Sergeant Paul Gernon)

During the course of C-130E, No. 63-
7771?s operational life, it acquired the
nickname ?Spooky.? Represented either
as a small sheet-clad ghost, or a bowlertopped,
cigar-chomping hob-goblin,
someone or something haunted ?Spooky.?
Tales of ?triple-seven-one?, the haunted
plane of Little Rock Air Force Base
abound.
Former crewmembers tell stories about
hearing the sound of footsteps walking
across the top of the aircraft.
Another eerie story occurred on a duty
weekend during preparation for flight
operations. The witness reported power
coming on in the aircraft without a power
unit connected.
?When I was at Little Rock people were
afraid to work on ?triple-seven-one?
because of the noises and strange things
that happened on it,? said former Crew
Chief, Master Sergeant Rob Jalbert, Jr.
?Only one weird thing happened when I
crewed it. The flight deck was a mess, I
left the plane. When I returned
things were straightened out. I
just figured people were messing
with me.?
So well known were
?Spooky?s? antics that
people at Little Rock
AFB allegedly refused
to work on the
aircraft.
Most stories seem
to agree that
?Spooky?s? legend
centers around a
loadmaster who died on the plane
near the end of the Vietnam War.
However, researchers report that the
C-130 was first nicknamed ?Spooky?
around July 1989.
Ghosts aside, Master Sergeant
Jalbert said, ?It was the best flying
aircraft I ever was a crew chief on. At
Patrick AFB it had a 90-plus mission
capable rate.?
Like nearly all U.S. aerospace
assets, ?Spooky? eventually retired to
AMARC, where the plane continued to
contribute to the Air Force mission
through parts reclamation.
Bit by bit, ?Spooky?s? spirit made its
way back to the skies ? flying missions in
other C-130s around the world ? moving
cargo, supporting ground forces in
Afghanistan and Iraq, carrying parts and
mail, perhaps even delivering supplies to
victims of natural disasters.
Although ?Spooky? didn?t just fade away
like a disappearing ghost ? the remains of
63-7771?s hulk sold for scrap ? the aircraft
did serve long and honorably. And today,
thanks to the efforts of the AMARC team,
?Spooky?s? spirit flies on.

[David]

Great story! Did you serve on this aircraft or a similar one? One more question, I have seen websites that just list tailnumbers, what is the story with that? I mean I know each aircraft has a tail number but do those websites give a history for each tailnumber as well?

[Jerry D]

David: I worked on A/C 7771 at Little Rock AFB for Four years and off and on when it would arrive at bases I was stationed at until it went to the salvage yard.
On the Tail Numbers some of the sites have a list of Tail Numbers that they collect of planes that have landed at a certain airfield. others have a list of certain series of tail numbers. A few sites actually have a short history of a certain A/C Tail Number
I hope this helps a little, that's all I know about tail numbers on websites. BTW any plane with better then 90% reliability rating was a great airplane to Fly on
The only thing strange I had seen on 7771 was one nite I was working in the Avionics Bay under the flight deck and their was no one on the plane and nobody could board with out me seeing them and the lights went out and I just reacted and yelled" Hey Turn the lights back on!" and they turned back on and I was the only person on the plane? Go figure

[David]

Thanks for the info. 90% or not, that's one plane I would not want to fly on hehe

[Jerry D]

David your welcome,