The C-7 Caribou was flown to the Museum in 1992 and in tracing its past, it was found that the plane was stationed at Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam from 1969 to 1970. One of the museum's volunteers, Col. Bill Hardie, USAF Ret., researched his flight records of the time he spent at Cam Ranh Bay and found that he and the plane were old buddies.
Background History
In Vietnam the Caribou was used to re-supply fighting forces in-country because of its unique ability to fly in and out of camps on short, unimproved airstrips. The museum's 'bou is restored to its Vietnam- era appearance. In addition to its Vietnam service, this C-7 also served time with the Army's Golden Knights Parachute Team.
Mission
The C-7 was used to move people and material into forward areas, where short, unprepared strips, were the norm. They were almost always operated under Visual Flight Rules (VFR) or "Special VFR," but were fully equipped instrument aircraft. Typical cargoes were fuel (gasoline, diesel fuel, and JP-4), munitions (small arms ammunition, 2.75 inch aircraft rockets, 105mm, 155mm, 175mm, and 8 inch howitzer projectiles), food (widely varying from very conventional American steak and chicken, to live pigs, chickens, ducks, and eels for the ARVN troops), passengers (U.S. military, RVN military, RVN civilians, and even NVA POWs), and sadly, bodies. Most of the destination airstrips of the C-7 in the 1971 time period were along the borders of Laos and Cambodia with South Vietnam and were firebases or Special Forces outposts (U.S., ARVN, and Montagnard). The Caribou was a workhorse that went from sunrise to sunset every day operating in the heat, humidity, dust and mud from the low-lying Vietnamese Mekong Delta to the towering mountain regions of the central highlands.
The C-7 could accommodate up to 32 passengers, 26 fully-equipped paratroops, 20 litter patients, or an 8,740 pound cargo load.
