Using CLEAVAGE as a teaching tool, let’s learn some facts about a single weapon…why not start with the U.S. Air Force’s largest plane…
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…Oh yeah, we should probably kick it off with HIGH-RES images too.
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At 222 feet across, almost 300 feet long, and 65 feet tall at its tail, Lockheed Martin’s C-5 Galaxy is the largest transport aircraft in the US Air Force.
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It has a cargo hull measuring at 121 feet long and 19 feet across, the C-5 is a flying warehouse that can carry a combat-ready military unit or deliver necessary supplies anywhere in the world.
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Before getting into some interesting facts, let’s start with its nickname, “F.R.E.D.”.
What’s that stand for?
What’s that stand for?
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“F-cking Ridiculous Economic Disaster”…as in, if a C-5 happens to crash, it’s so big that it would cause a F.R.E.D.
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Night and day, the C-5 has done heavy hauling since 1968.
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That’s right, she’s been flying for half a century.
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The newer C-5M “Super” Galaxies are currently getting new, more powerful engines and they’ll continues to up-date the digital components…she’ll be flying for years to come. This post covers just a few examples of the cargo that the Galaxies have carried around the world.
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Here are some facts (mixed with a few hypothetical scenarios) about this monster workhorse:
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When the Wright brothers made their first historic flight, it equated to a distance that is shorter than the C-5’s cargo floor.
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If you could hypothetically go bowling in a C-5, that wouldn’t be a problem because it could pack in a total of 8 bowling alley lanes.
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Keeping track of the fasteners through out the C-5 is a hassle.
-411,900 located on the wing
-64,900 in the empennage (rear tail surface of the aircraft)
-1,182,000 in the fuselage (main body of the C-5)
-411,900 located on the wing
-64,900 in the empennage (rear tail surface of the aircraft)
-1,182,000 in the fuselage (main body of the C-5)
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In total, that’s 1,654,800 fasteners.
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Unloading an A-10 Thunderbolt II.
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The engine’s intake alone is more than 7 feet across.
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It has a fuel capacity of 49 thousand gallons which equates to getting filled up by 6.5 railroad tanker cars.
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F-16’s waiting for the T-Rex to cross the street.
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One, two…28-wheels is the answer.
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But how much does each one of those tires weigh?
Each tire comes in at 4,214-lbs.
Each tire comes in at 4,214-lbs.
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Some one did the math on this following need, she could haul around just shy of 26 million ping-pong balls.
Jealous China? Just kidding.
Jealous China? Just kidding.
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If Christopher Columbus took his entire crew of 90 from all three ships to America, they could have easily fit in the Galaxy’s upper deck…and play a football game in the cargo compartment (minus kicking team).
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From an electrical engineering stand-point, you’d have to do some learning because it contains 5-miles of control cables.
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F-18 Hornet comin’ in.
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You need plenty of rubber to land this big boy. As I mentioned earlier, it has a total of 28 wheels. 4-wheels up front with the other 24-wheels under the wings. The rear layout has 4 sets in a 2-wheels with 4-wheels behind pattern.
The front main landing gear can rotate 90-degrees while landed with the ability to up to 20-degrees during take-off/landing.
The front main landing gear can rotate 90-degrees while landed with the ability to up to 20-degrees during take-off/landing.
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Beyond moving weapons, they’ve also delivered thousands of tons of aid to those in need. Just one example of delivering food would be the capability of bring in 3,934 bushels of wheat to those who don’t know where their next meal will come from.
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Chivers reppin’ the KCCO flag at the San Antonio Air Show.
(Photos above and below, the C-5 crew took these photos just before the gates opened).
(Photos above and below, the C-5 crew took these photos just before the gates opened).
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When the Wright brothers made their first historic flight, it equated to a distance that is shorter than the C-5’s cargo floor.
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The C-5 has a cargo capacity of 142 tons as in 284,000-lbs. What does that equal in terms of packing in civilian transportation?
-100 Beetle VWs
-58 Cadillacs
-6 Greyhound buses
-100 Beetle VWs
-58 Cadillacs
-6 Greyhound buses
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A C-5 Galaxy off-loads an 81-foot boat for the US Navy at Coronado Naval Base, California.
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Unloading an AH-64 Apache.
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Just for comparison in size, (photo both above and below) the Lockheed C-130 Hercules is also huge. The C-130E/H/J versions are 97-ft. long with a wingspan of 132-ft and the ability to pack in 92 combat troops.
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The next photo shows how a C-130 Hercules fuselage fits inside the Galaxy.
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The combined weight of the Galaxy’s wings alone totals over 80,000-lbs. which is the equivalent of a C-130 Hercules (minus the weight of its engines).
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Two big shout-outs for this post.
Thank you Chivers Duane and “Steve-O” along with their entire crew out of Lackland AFB in San Antonio. Many of these photos come from the Randolph JBSA (also in San Antonio) where they hung our KCCO flag on their C-5 for thousands to see at the Randolph Air Show.
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Loading a CH-53 Super Stallion.
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If you get a head-ache, there’s space for 328,301,674 aspirin tablets.
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If you need to get some big BOOMs on the battlefield from a good ol’ M1A1 Abrams tank, the Galaxy can bring in two at a time.
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The C-5’s fuel stores a volume capacity the size of an average 5-bedroom house.
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Above is the AC-130 Hercules Spectre a.k.a. “Spooky” firing flares.
Below in the C-5 Galaxy deploying its flares.
Both are true workhorses and “yes”, I’m already planning on putting together a future C-130 post.
Below in the C-5 Galaxy deploying its flares.
Both are true workhorses and “yes”, I’m already planning on putting together a future C-130 post.
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See ya “Warthog”…it’s actually a Thunderbolt II.
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Bye, bye CH-47 Chinook.
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M109 Self-Propelled Howitzer coming at ya.
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F.R.E.D. has happened but the C-5 doesn’t give a sh*t, it just packed the wrecked Galaxy into another C-5.
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But there’s one last important question: how many cases of beer can it hold?
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The weight of a 24 pack of 12-oz. bottles averages to around 38-lbs.
As such, you could pack in about 7,475 cases of KCCO fun.
As such, you could pack in about 7,475 cases of KCCO fun.
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In Afghanistan alone, over 266,000 pounds of cargo and armored vehicles have been loaded into a C-5 Galaxies.
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