I was stationed at Dover and flew the C-133 from 1960 to 1971, with time out for a Viet Nam tour. I accumulated 7500 hours and had many experiences. In regards to stall, a stall warning indicator was installed which was used as a secondary indicator. As one approached a power-on stall, the first indication of the stall was the windshield wipers. They began to shake. I saw this more than once and I flew all of the test flights with Benefield when we were trying to figure out what happened to the airplanes. Best guess, the right wing quit flying, hence the reason for the stall strip installed just outboard of no. 1. This caused the nose to fall straight through.

I was a Loadmaster with the 84th ATS at Travis from 1958 – 1961. Logged about 1,100 C-133 hours and had a few frightful moments. Had the privilege of being the L/M on the test flight carrying the first Minuteman missile around Seattle’s Boeing field. Air Force made a training film of us loading the missile. I was the L/M on C-133A 1614 from Travis to Hickam…crew that picked it up and took it to Tachikawa was lost on return from Tachi. Never determined cause but during the investigation everything from sabotage, prop separation, stall , to electrical spark caused explosion from a radio relay switch near the center fuel cell were discussed. I knew them all and the fact that no recovery except for bits and pieces of wreckage made it worse. Anyway enjoyed very much the time I spent in the squadron and will never forget the friendships that I made. I also would highly recommend Cal Taylor’s book on the C-133. I contributed a few of the photos. I’d very much like to hear from any of my fellow crew members.

1st ATS/MAS from May 1963-May 1970. Navigator. Flew with all the guys mentioned previously from the 1st. It scared the fool out of you sometimes but I would fly in it again without hesitating.

I am proud to say I was part of the ground crew on C-133A Model 54-0142 from 1963 thru 1964 at Dover,also when all aircraft were grounded or red X ed, because of a crash.
Tail Number 2008 was sent to Wright-Patterson for an inspection like no other. It was the only aircraft allowed to fly at the time I worked on this crew for Months.
I am itrigued by some of the comments here?

I flew the C-133A in the 39th MAS at Dover from early 1966 to early 1970, accumulating nearly 3500 hours in the airplane. Some of the information you read on here is not entirely accurate. I would highly recommend Cal Taylor's excellent book on this airplane for highly factual information and good reading. "Remembering an Unsung Giant: The Douglas C-133 Cargomaster and Its People" is the definitive book on the C-133.

I was working in a communications facility at Travis and had just stepped into the back yard and noticed a C-133B making approaches. Just prior to the crash I saw the plane approaching one of the large power lines suspended between two towers. My initial thought was that he hit the power line and the aircraft stopped dead in the air at that second and then crashed to the ground. Very tragic. I haven't heard mention of the power lines or towers so thought I would share.

I flew with the 1st ATS at Dover from early 1962 till late 1965. I was an FE with about 4000 hours in the airplane. I flew the A/C into Wake that was lost. I also flew two others that were lost at sea off the coast of Delaware, most people said don't fly anything Don has, cause it's wore out. I had a bunch of other problems, lost a prop in flight, large crack down the right side of the fuselage, I enjoyed the time in so many different countries. A run to Libya and on down to the Congo was interesting. The runs to VN were hard to do. I left Dover for Tinker and the C-141 then to Altus with the C-5 program, retiring in 1975 at Kelly AFB in C-5 Flight Test.I loved my 26 years. Wished I could do it again.

I was the Maintenance ground crew's crew chief and had done the Pre-Flight inspection on '523', the C-133B being considered here. It was at shift change, and my newest team member was on board for the scheduled trip. I was waiting at the flight line office for the plane to make its first touch and go when we were informed that
'523' had crashed and was burning in the swamp near the end of the runway. Not official, of course, but we were under the impression that the pilot had cut the turn too wide, and had to make a second run for it. Our understanding was that he had apparently lifted too steeply and the aircraft stalled at about three hundred feet elevation, settling back into the swamp on it tail. I have never seen an official report on the incident. My memory is harsh, as I had jokingly commented to A3C Wittle that he would not have time to use the parachute that he was fitting up for himself.

I was standing in my front yard on Travis when the one there crashed in the 60s. I was looking right at it. They were turning final and just fell out of the air. I was a dependent at the time. One of my neighbors said they stalled it--I beleive he said it was a standboard crew.

I logged 2,000 hours in the C-133A with the 1st ATS at Dover AFB from July 1963-June 1966. The airplne and people I flew with were outstanding. We were at Goose Bay when 62014 crashed on takeoff on 7 November 1964. There was a very very light snow flurry. I alway will believe the props went fixed pitch and the airplane had no thrust. It was not until a C-133 ditched off shore at Okinawa on 30 April 1967 that any C-133 crew members had ever survived. And, that is when the elecrical problems in the propleller governing system were identified. In the 60's it was the World's largest airplane. We flew into 40 different coumtries. Next to my Air Commando flying in Vietnam it was the best flying assignment I ever had.

The last flying C-133 made its final landing on 30 Aug 08, at Travis AFB, CA. Operated in Alaska by Maurice Carlson;s Cargomaster Corp, N199AB/ex-61999 joiined the collection of the Jimmy Doolittle Air & Space Museum. At shutdown, total time was over 18,250 hours with more than 6,100 landings. Partcipating in this event capped my seven years effort to write the definitive hisory of the C-133, entitled "Remembering an Unsung Gian: The Douglas C-133 Cargomaster and Its People." I have 1837 hours as a C-133 navigator with the 84th Miliary Airlift Sq at Travis.

I put in about 4,000 hours as a pilot on C-133's to include a trip around the world in 1963 aboard 62013. I also flew the long range cruise tests out of Edwards. There were two big mistakes made on the bird...the angle of incidence error on the wing made the bird fly with the nose pointing slighty downward in flight. The dangerous one was the fuel control mechanism tied to the prop pitch change mechanism. The pitch change rate was way, way too fast. Gearing disintegrated and Props flew off the bird. This probably accounted for the unexplained loss of a couple. Once that was fixed, we hauled cargo like no other bird in the inventory could...and that included tanks. I know of only one stall...it was out of Goose Bay Labrador when the guys took off with a bunch of ice on the wing. I don't know about the crash at Travis...I was there from 57 to 61, took a tour at the AF Academy and went back to C-133s at Dover.
I knew Doug Benefield and others testing the bird for stall characteristics. You had to work to put it into a stall but once there figure several thousand feet to recover...if it didn't flip onto its' back........

When stationed at Travis AFB in the 60's, we had C-133's stationed. We called them Oscar Meyer Wennie wagons due to their shape. They were plaged with problems. I was unfortunate enough to witness the crash of one at Travis. There were no survivors. It was said that they had an issure between indicated and actual airspeed, which caused the crew to think eventhing was fine, when in fact it was flying close to a stall in climb configuration. I know that they grounded them more than once for issues. I met a flight engineer who had transferred back to my C124 SQ who said that more than once in a routine climb the acft entered a full stall and lost several thousand feet of altitude before control was regained. He said that was enough for him.