I have been completely retired since 2004. My biggest hobby is that I build and fly electric powered, radio-controlled model planes.
Other Comments:
I lost my wife of 42 years in 2003. Mary Louise Burns and I were married in Big Spring,Texas and had 1 daughter, Cassandra. Being single after 42 yrs. of marriage is still taking time to adjust to. There are good and not so good advantages to being single again but, have decided one wife was enough. At least until I meet my next one. LOL!!!
Aircraft/Missile Information
The CV-240/340/440 series was used by the United States Air Force for medical evacuation and VIP transport and was designated as C-131 Samaritan. The first model Samaritan, the C-131A, was derived from the 240 model, and was delivered to the USAF in 1954. A trainer model, designated the T-29, was also based on the Convair 240 to instruct navigators and radio operators. The T-29 was eventually replaced by the T-43. A planned bomber training version of the T-29 (designated T-32) was never built. The 340 model was used for most C-131Ds.
The U.S. Navy used the Samaritan as the R4Y. Nearly all of the C-131s left the active inventory in the late 1970s, but Air National Guard units operated a few into the mid-1980s. The C-131 was eventually replaced by the C-9 Nightingale.
A Samaritan was the first aircraft used as a flying gunship testbed in mid-1963, in a program known as Project Tailchaser. A C-131B (#53-7820) was given a gunsight for the side window, but instead of guns it had cameras in the cargo area. Eventually the C-131 was ferried to Eglin AFB in Florida and a General Electric SUU-11A/A 7.62 mm Gatling-style Minigun was installed. Live ammunition was used and both over-water and over-land tests were successful.