C-5 Galaxy

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The C-5 Galaxy is a jet-powered military transport aircraft designed to provide strategic heavy airlift over intercontinental distances. It is the largest American military transport and one of the largest military aircraft in the world, designed to carry outsize and oversize cargo. The C-5 was designed and produced by Lockheed and is used throughout the world exclusively by the US Air Force.

Mission

The C-5, with its tremendous payload capability, provides the Air Mobility Command (AMC) intertheater airlift in support of United States national defense. The C-5 and the C-17 Globemaster III are partners in AMC's strategic airlift concept. The aircraft can carry fully equipped combat-ready military units (including main battle tanks) to any point in the world on short notice, then provide the field support required to help sustain the fighting force.

Background

The first C-5A Galaxy (#66-8303) was "rolled out" on 2 March 1968. On June 30, 1968 Lockheed-Georgia Co. began flight testing its new Galaxy C-5A heavy transport with the aircraft's first flight taking to the air under the call-sign "Allen-zero-three-heavy". Upon completion of testing the first C-5A was transferred to the Transitional Training Unit at Altus Air Force Base, OK, in December 1969. Lockheed then delivered the first operational Galaxy to the 437th Airlift Wing, Charleston Air Force Base, SC, in June 1970. C-5s are stationed at Altus AFB, OK; Dover AFB, DE; and Travis AFB, CA. AMC transferred some C-5s to the Air Reserve components starting with Kelly AFB, Texas, in 1985; followed by Stewart Air National Guard Base, NY; and Westover Air Reserve Base, Massachusetts. Beginning in October 2005 a squadron was formed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio. This unit is made up mostly of aircraft transferred from Dover AFB, DE, and replaces the squadron's C-141s, which were the last Starlifters to be retired.

In the mid-1970s, wing cracks were found throughout the fleet. Consequently, all C-5A aircraft were restricted to a maximum of 50,000 pounds (22,700 kg) of cargo each. To increase their lifting capability and service life, 77 C-5As underwent a re-winging program from 1981 to 1987. (In the redesigned wing, a new aluminum alloy was used that didn't exist ten years prior.) The final re-winged C-5A was delivered in July 1986.

The first C-5B incorporating significant improvements such as strengthened wings and updated avionics was delivered to Altus Air Force Base in January 1986. C-5 production concluded with delivery of the last "B" model aircraft in April 1989.

In March 1989, the last of 50 C-5B aircraft was added to the 76 C-5As in the Air Force's airlift force structure. The C-5B includes all C-5A improvements as well as more than 100 additional system modifications to improve reliability and maintainability. All 50 C-5Bs are scheduled to remain in the active-duty force, shared by comparably sized and collocated Air Force Reserve Associate units.

Two specially modified variants of the C-5C were created for NASA. These aircraft, numbers 68-0213 and 68-0216, were redesigned for use in transporting large payloads, such as satellites and, as such, have a larger internal cargo capacity than any of the other C-5 variants. A number of other modifications were made, including adding a second inlet for ground power which can then be used to feed any power-dependent equipment which may form part of the cargo. The C-5Cs are operated by Air Force crews on the behalf of NASA.

Based on a recent study showing 80% of the C-5 airframe service life remaining, AMC began an aggressive program to modernize the C-5. The C-5 Avionics Modernization Program began in 1998 and includes upgrading avionics to Global Air Traffic Management compliance, improving navigation and safety equipment, and installing a new autopilot system. Another part of the plan is a comprehensive re-engining and reliability improvement program, which includes new General Electric CF6-80 engines, pylons and auxiliary power units, with upgrades to aircraft skin and frame, landing gear, cockpit and the pressurization system. The CF6 engine produces 22% more thrust than existing C-5 engines which will result in a 30% shorter take-off roll, a 38% higher climb rate to initial altitude, a significantly increased cargo load, and a longer range between refueling.

The C-5M modernization program plans to raise mission-capable rate to a minimum goal of 75%. Over the next 40 years, the U.S. Air Force estimates the C-5M will save over 20 billion dollars. The first of 111 planned C-5M conversions was completed on May 16, 2006. Unlike its Russian counterpart, the civilian- and military-operated Antonov An-124 'Condor', use of the C-5 is confined entirely to the military sector.

Features

Features of the C-5 include:

• A cargo hold 121 feet long, 13.5 feet high, and 19 feet wide (37 m by 4.1 m by 5.8 m), or just over 31,000 ft³ (880 m³).
• An upper deck seating area for 73 passengers beyond the crew.
• Able to take off fully loaded within 8,300 feet (2,530 m) and land within 4,900 feet (1,490 m).
• Stall speed at maximum landing weight zero bank full flaps is approximately 114 knots (131 mph).
• High flotation landing gear with 28 wheels sharing the weight.
• Nose and aft doors that open the full width and height of the cargo compartment to permit faster and easier loading.
• A "kneeling" landing gear system that permits lowering of the parked aircraft so the cargo floor is at truck-bed height to facilitate vehicle loading and unloading.
• Full width drive-on ramps at each end for loading double rows of vehicles.
• MADAR, a system that records and analyzes information and detects malfunctions in more than 800 test points.

The C-5 is similar in appearance to its smaller sister transport, the C-141 Starlifter, although the C-5 is much larger. Both aircraft have the distinctive high T-tail, 25-degree wing sweep, and four turbofan engines mounted on pylons beneath the wings. The Galaxy carries nearly all of the Army's combat equipment, including such bulky items as its 74-ton mobile scissors bridge, from the United States to any theater of combat on the globe.

The C-5 has four TF39 turbofan engines, rated at 43,000 lbf (191 kN) thrust each. They weigh 7,900 pounds (3,580 kg) each and have an air intake diameter of more than 8.5 feet (2.6 m). Each engine pod is nearly 27 feet (8.2 m) long.

The Galaxy has 12 internal wing tanks with a total capacity of 51,150 US gallons (193,620 L) of fuel—enough to fill 6½ regular size US railroad tank cars. A full fuel load weighs 332,500 pounds (150,820 kg). A C-5 with a cargo load of 270,000 pounds (122,000 kg) can fly 2,150 nautical miles (4,000 km), offload, and fly to a second base 500 nautical miles (900 km) away from the original destination—all without aerial refueling. With aerial refueling, the aircraft's range is limited only by crew endurance.

Accidents

There have been four C-5 Galaxy crashes in the history of the plane along with two class-A losses resulting from ground fires and one loss resulting from damage sustained on the ground.

• Aircraft 67-0172 (C-5A) was destroyed during a ground fire at Palmdale, California on May 25, 1970 after an ATM (Air Turbine Motor) started backwards and quickly overheated, catching the hydraulic system on fire quickly consuming the aircraft. The engines were not running at the time of the fire and no one was injured.

• Aircraft 66-8303 (C-5A) was destroyed during a ground fire at Marietta, Georgia on October 17, 1970. The fire started during maintenance in one of the aircraft's 12 massive fuel cells. One worker was killed and another injured. This was the first C-5 aircraft produced.

• Aircraft (66-83??) (C-5A) was badly damaged on September 29 1971 in Altus AFB, OK when the #1 engine and pylon broke loose and separated from the wing during the take-off roll.

• Aircraft 68-0227 (C-5A) was the first operational loss (crash) of a C-5 Galaxy. On September 27, 1974 the aircraft crashed after over-running the runway at Clinton, Oklahoma Municipal Airport during an emergency landing following a serious landing gear fire. The crew mistakenly aligned the aircraft for the visual approach into the wrong airport, landing at Clinton Municipal which has a 4,400 foot runway, instead of Clinton-Sherman airfield which has a 13,500 foot runway.

• Aircraft 68-0218 (C-5A) was involved in the most well known C-5 accident to this date. On April 4, 1975, the aircraft crashed whilst carrying orphans out of Vietnam (Operation Baby Lift). The crash occurred while trying to make an emergency landing at Tan Son Nhut Air Base Saigon, following a door lock failure in flight. 144 adults and children (including 76 babies) were killed out of the 305 aboard (243 children, 44 escorts, 16 crewmen and 2 flight nurses).

• Aircraft 68-0216 (C-5A) was badly damaged during an emergency belly landing in 1984 at Travis AFB, CA when the nose landing gear failed to extend, the aircraft was rebuilt as a C-5C.

• Aircraft 68-0228 (C-5A) crashed following an engine failure shortly after take-off. On August 29, 1990, the aircraft took off from Ramstein Air Base in Germany in support of Desert Shield. It was flown by a 9-member reserve crew (who had all volunteered to fly the mission) from the 68th Airlift Squadron, 433rd Airlift Wing based at Kelly AFB, Texas. As the aircraft started to climb off the runway, one of the thrust reversers suddenly deployed. This resulted in a loss of control of the aircraft and the subsequent crash. Of the 17 people onboard, only 4 survived the crash. All four were in the rear troop compartment. The sole crewman to survive, Staff Sgt. Lorenzo Galvan Jr., was awarded the Airman's Medal for his actions in evacuating the survivors from the wreckage.

• Aircraft 84-0059 (C-5B) crashed following an in-flight emergency again involving a thrust reverser (the in-flight deployment of which caused the loss of C-5A 68-0228). On April 3, 2006 at 1045 UTC, the aircraft, assigned to the 436th Airlift Wing and flown by a reserve crew from the 326th Airlift Squadron, 512th Airlift Wing crashed about 2,000 ft short of RWY 32, while attempting an heavyweight emergency landing at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. The airplane, carrying 17 people, had taken off from Dover about 21 minutes earlier and reported an in-flight emergency (number 2 engine thrust reverser not locked Indication) 10 minutes into the flight. The crash occurred 11 minutes later. The aircraft broke into three sections and the #1 engine separated from the wing pylon, thousands of gallons of jet-fuel spilled out, but luckily there was no fire and all 17 aboard survived with no life threatening injuries. The Air Force's accident investigation concluded the crash was a result of human error, most notably the determination that the crew kept one of the functioning engines in flight idle while manipulating the throttle of the (dead) Number 2 engine as if it was still running.http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123021742

Units

• 60th Air Mobility Wing, Travis Air Force Base, California
• 97th Air Mobility Wing, Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma
• 105th Airlift Wing (ANG), Stewart ANGB, New York
• 349th Air Mobility Wing, Travis Air Force Base, California
• 433d Airlift Wing, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas
• 436th Airlift Wing, Dover Air Force Base, Delaware
• 439th Airlift Wing, Westover Air Reserve Base, Massachusetts
• 445th Airlift Wing, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
• 512th Airlift Wing, Dover Air Force Base, Delaware
• 164th Airlift Wing, Memphis International Airport, Tennessee

Specifications (C-5M)

Trivia

• The C-5's rudder area is the same as the wing area on the F-104G aircraft.
• The paint alone weighs 2,600 pounds (1,200 kilograms).
• The C-5 contains more than 103 miles (165 km) of wire, 4 miles (6 km) of tubing, and 5 miles (8 km) of control cables.
• The C-5 is also known as "FRED" (Fucking Ridiculous Economic/Environmental Disaster) by its crews due to its requirement for an average of 16 hours of maintenance for each flight hour.

References

External links