Tachikawa Air Base Japan - 1960's Military Planes

[yokota69]

hi email me at mskids001@aol.com and i will send you the link for my tachikawa air base website. I graduated from yamato high in 69 and worked at the airmasn pool in 68 and 69. I lived in american village front row..

[Hawk747ms]

@yokota69 I lived at Tachikawa with my parents and sister between Sept 1957 and May 1960 and attended the base elementary school, 4th - 6th grade. It looks like the first picture is of the Main Gate (East gate) as I recall which was just North of the train station. Lots of good memories from those days. Thanks.

[1argyle]

I was stationed there four years...1964-1969. Worked on 124's. Loved it! Loved Japan. Married a missionaries daughter in 1966. Wonderful memories!

[kaw1997]

Born ther in 1964!

[lylehsaxon]

Very nice set of photographs. I've been wondering what Tachikawa Air Base was like. The site of the air base is currently Showa Kinen Memorial Park - they moved the Tachikawa Air Base further out and renamed it Yokota Air Base.

[RunningSwimmingMan]

@lylehsaxon I think you are slightly mistaken, Yokota AB was always, Yokota, and there still is a Tachikawa, but it is only used by the Japanese. The park must be the portion that the U.S. used, and was turned back over to Japan, when the U.S. vacated Tachikawa. I have spoken to people, that have bought houses, on an old american base, very near Tachikawa.

[lylehsaxon]

@RunningSwimmingMan Ah... you're right! Indeed I was mistaken about Yokota having been created new as a move from Tachikawa Air Base. I had been out to the park many times and didn't think there was any part of the air field still in existence, but looking at: "日本東京都昭島市郷地町 昭和記念公園" in Google maps, and switching to a satellite photo view, an air field is clearly visible to the right of the large park. Well, that's embarrassing! But I do prefer to know the truth, so thanks for pointing that out!

[wizz1323]

Thanks for the Slide Show. I served at Tachi Dec 1960 - Dec 1962 in the Famed GEEIA Sqdn. In the Far East if you communicated you used equipment we installed and put to work, including Flight Line Weather equipment, telegraph, and many other types of equipment. Good memories for an 18 year old that had never been out of North Carolina. Thanks to GEEIA I did a 48 year career in the communication business.

[Jamesjben]

I was born and raised on Tachikawa Air Base - went to school at the base elementary - left mid 4th grade. What a GREAT place to be a kid - we all had a blast; my parents were/are the best. Dad flew C-124 for several years until C-7 Caribou in Vietnam 1969.

[congoairman]

I am so grateful this is online. My Dad flew C-124's and I grew up on air bases.

[yokota69]

thanks, Glad you liked the music.

[kolbpilot]

I like every piece of music you've put in your videos.

[19thSFGA]

Slide shows suck you tube is for movies !

[NickB1967]

@19thSFGA: Yah, but it's still cool to see a slideshow from that time and place.

[naturalthing1]

I was born here at the base hospital

[jacktheripped]

My dad was at Yokota from '64-'68 I went to 3rd grade at Tachikawa, 4th & 5th at Yokota and 6th at Johnson AS.

[ragemanchoo82]

yokota69 - You should put "Globemaster" in the keywords :D

[yokota69]

Thanks for the suggestion, i added it to the keyword list.

[c124load]

Great video - brought back many memories. As a C124 Loadmaster with the 7th MAS at McChord AFB, we flew many trips threw Tachi from 1966 through 1968. I bought my first motocycle at the base exchange there, a 250 Honda Scrambler. The most memorable was being part of the build up in Korea after the capture of the USS Pueblo. Thanks for the memories.

[kolbpilot]

Wow , never heard of Tachikawa but it's apparent from the video it was a major player. In '66 I was doing 3rd grade at Camp New Amsterdam. In some ways I think the '60's was the pinnacle for the Air Force. The sheer variety of aircraft. In the jet age but transport a/c still piston powered. It's reach all over the world.

[Laineylou1]

Wow! You brought forth tears. My dad was stationed at Tachi for 66-69. I went to the base school for 3rd- 5th grade. So many great memories! Thank you!

[yokota69]

thanks for your post., I have posted many other videos about tachi on you tube. I also have a website for tachikawa air base if your interested.

[50fathomsdown]

Great pics and brought back some good memories of Duty at Tachi east. Did 2 years 57 58 that became the foundation for my career with the Navy. Shure miss the USAF

[yokota69]

thanks for the post, glad you enjoyed my tachi collection.

[campbrick]

What a beautifully done photo scenario. And those shots in the beginning of the planes with Mount Fuji in the background. Did we realize then, how breathtaking it really was? I have the findest memories of those years.

[coyotetomcat]

Great shots! I was attached to 6100 CAMRON from 1966 to 1968 & probably worked on many of the aircraft shown, all of the C-130's. We had a contingent of C-130's assigned to Cam Rahn Bay, Vietnam. Two of my TDY's were at Cam Rahn in 1966 & 1967. I believe it was 1967 when I spent 60 day TDY at Osan AB, korea In support of all of our aircraft, mostly recips, some C-130's. Great memories.

[cajunhornet60]

were there any ufos?

[yokota69]

They had one report back in the early 1950's of a UFO that flew over the middle of the base in the middle of the day.

[Geraldolini]

a Habu?

[alieneggsac]

ha, I knew it! At 4:21 is one of the Air America Commandos. SAT and AAM were based there too. We lived at Rainbow Court off base and I went to school there.

[cupwithhandles]

What is the large plane at 4:09?

[v1ckers]

It is a Douglas C-133--there are several other shots of this type in video. Large cargolifter somewhat overshadowed by the C-130.

[BoggabriBill]

Nice pics of the C-54s, C-97s, C-124s, C-46s, C-47s BUT no C-118s? We flew them from SUU (Travis AFB) to Tachi in the late Fiofties and early Sixties. They were a great airplane - the military version of the DC-6A

[norkeiree]

(Continued) The Communists (yes, there were Japanese communists then) who put red flags on tall poles on the approaches. The runway was only 5000 feet long, (which necessitated the use of runway overruns for takeoffs, and due to the small base, there were traffic lights that would stop vehicle traffic at both ends of the runway when a plane took off or landed) and no jets could land because of the short runways. All jet traffic went to nearby Yokota Air Base.

[norkeiree]

these Tachi films are far out. Particularly the one showing Tachi from 1967-1969. the very years I was stationed there. the first few pictures on this presentation were taken from the south side of the base very near to the Weather Obs site where I worked. The fifth picture in this presentation shows a C-124 on final approach to Tachi: note the tall poles on the approach path. (See the next message)

[BalboaParkJPN]

I live not far from there now. Mostly JASDF helicopters these days.

[bombsnotbums]

Allman Bros.! Yes!

[greenseaships]

The astute viewer may notice a slight leaning towards cargo planes at Tachibana in the 60s. LOVE those C-124s Thanks!

[honu4601]

My mother, sister and I layed over at Tachi while we waited out a typhoon on the way to Korea in 1959. My husband worked on C-124's at Hickam in Hawaii at about the same time we were passing through. Amazingly, we ended up together all these years later and now live in Hilo, Hi. Would love to have you email any c-124 pix to us.

[jeldbuck0317]

I lived in American Village, right across the street from the flight line at Tachi for 10 months, then moved to a base house for another few months before being transferred to Fuchu AS. I saw most of these planes while there. I moved to Kanto Mura in the fall of 1967. Wish I could have stayed at Tachi!

John B