If their luck holds, the Air National Guard’s Happy Hooligans not only will be flying Predator unmanned aerial vehicles but also C-130s airlifters. Faced with becoming solely armchair pilots, the airmen of the 119th Fighter Wing at Fargo, N.D., are probably ecstatic to be considered for an aircraft they can sit in—even if it is a cargo hauler. The North Dakota Congressional delegation says that the head of the National Guard Bureau and the Air Guard deputy director believe Fargo will get C-130s to replace the F-16s that retire next year. Eventually, a new Light Cargo Aircraft would replace the C-130s. A delegation statement said: “The Hooligans are some of the best pilots in the world. … We need to keep them in the air.”
The crash of a T-38 trainer jet this May—which caused a weekslong pause in flights across the fleet—was caused by an improperly installed pin for one of the jet’s horizontal stabilizers, according to a new accident report released Oct. 30. When the pin disengaged midflight, it created the slightest amount…