Lockheed C-141 Starlifter

The Lockheed C -141 Starlifter was a military transport aircraft for the U.S. Air Force ( USAF). Developed in the early 1960s, it was in active use until September 2005 for the carriage of cargo and troops.

History of development

In 1960 the USAF a jet powered aircraft decided, for their diverse transport tasks to obtain. It should military equipment, cargo pallets or ( wounded ) soldiers and paratroopers are able to transport over long distances. Previously, it usually propeller-driven Douglas C -124 Globemaster II was used.

From the competition for the contract was awarded in March 1961 Lockheed as the winner. The successful first flight of the C- 141A was held on December 17, 1963, the 60th anniversary of the first powered flight by the Wright brothers. Thus, it was the first jet aircraft, which was developed as a pure transporter. In October 1964, the factory began and from April 1965, the first machines in the Military Air Transport Service ( MATS ) were operational.

The Starlifter was like most military transport aircraft designed as a high-wing monoplane with tail in T-shape. The cargo space took either 29 tons of cargo, 155 troops, 123 paratroopers or 80 stretchers. The cargo could be delivered through a hatch in flight. For jumps with a parachute, there were two lateral exits at the rear.

Rebuilding

The USAF was very satisfied with their reliable and versatile cargo; a defect, however, was that the C -141 its maximum payload was not exploited because the cargo space in relation thereto was too small. Although there were now the - also built by Lockheed - much larger C -5 Galaxy, but this was oversized for many everyday transport tasks. Therefore 1977-1982 all 270 existing C - 141A were stretched by 7.1 m by began before and behind the wings additional body segments. The loading space then had a length of 31.8 m, a width of 3.1 m and a height of 2.7 m. At the same time the capacity was retrofitted for air refueling. This C- 141B flew on March 24, 1977 for the first time and now had a one-third increased to 42 tonnes of cargo capacity. The Starlifter was certainly the busiest transporter of the USAF Due to this increase in performance.

Of the original four built for static tests (NC - 141A -called ) specimens was one for May 1973 rebuilt for the NASA Kuiper Airborne Observatory for ( KAO). For a Cassegrain reflecting telescope with a 91 cm opening was installed behind the cockpit, which was directed by a corresponding cut in the hull roof top. The rest of the main deck took on the electronics and operating consoles for the research team. With this flying observatory, NASA has observed up to 1995 astronomical objects, especially in the infrared region.

1994 for the Air Force Special Operations Command 13 C- 141B by the TARGET II program ( to German Special Operations Low Level, : Special operations at low altitude ) has been equipped with additional electronics for night operations at low altitude. These included infrared sensors, night vision and radar warning equipment and decoys to distract the enemy air defense.

Modernization

From 1997 to 1999, 64 machines were selected for a modernization program, which included among other things a digitized cockpit, GPS and other navigation and defense electronics. Your name was C- 141C. Since the early 1990s, the new C -17 Globemaster III gradually took over the tasks of the C- 141st

Decommissioning

On 16 September 2004, the Air Mobility Command (AMC ) presented his last Starlifter out of service. A C- 141C of the Air Force Reserve Command ( AFRC ) flew on 26 September 2005 the last combat mission of this type, as they evacuated wounded from Afghanistan. The 445th Airlift Wing AFRC was the last unit that used this aircraft.

The penultimate Starlifter ( ID: 67-0166 ) flew on 7 April 2006 to Scott Air Force Base ( Illinois), to be subsequently exhibited there. The last flight of a C -141 Starlifter ( 67-0177, Hanoi Taxi ) was held on 6 May 2006 and ended with a ceremony at Wright - Patterson Air Force Base. There, in the USAF Museum, this machine should then specifically remember the return of U.S. prisoners of war from Vietnam.

Most Starlifter were flown to the retirement of the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group ( AMARG ) in Tucson, Arizona. Due to the fact that the entire fleet of C-141 Starlifter was provided to 2006 out of service and a reactivation is very unlikely (even as many airframes are at the end arrived, their life expectancy ), already the scrapping of the aircraft began in the summer of 2003. Because of their size they are cut with a crane mounted on a guillotine into several parts and transported to nearby recycling facilities.

A total of 21 machines have been lost due to falls and other accidents.

Variants

  • C- 141A: original model, built from 1963 to 1967, 284 machines.
  • NC - 141A: Test aircraft, four machines.
  • C- 141B: To 7.1 m stretched fuselage, air refueling. Remodeling of all 270 C- 141A 1977-1982. TARGET II - equipment for 13 C- 141B in 1994.
  • C- 141C: From 1997 to 1999 modernized C- 141B ( cockpit, avionics), 64 machines.
  • KAO ( Kuiper Airborne Observatory ): From the NASA -operated flying telescope. A based on the NC - 141A machine in the use of 1973 until 1995.

Specifications

18398
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