Warbird Information Exchange

Is the C-5 Galaxy still in the USAF's inventory or have they all been retired? I seemed to remember something here in the past 3 years or so stating they were being phased out.

_________________
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

They have them at Westover ARB in Ma.

Phil

_________________
A man's got to know his limitations.

And tom Brady knew about footballs. Today daily news

Sorry bout the off topic thing. The devil made me do it. And I from pittsburgh

Ok, we'll see you to start the season...

The under-inflated balls were removed at halftime, and yet the Patriots went on to score four unanswered touchdowns in the second half. Yep, it must have been the footballs....

Phil

FYI - Tom likes soft balls....

_________________
A man's got to know his limitations.

We still see them with the USAFR here in Texas as well. Several down at Kelly / Lackland AFB.

_________________
Aerial Photographer with Red Wing Aerial Photography currently based at KRBD and tailwheel CFI.
Websites: Texas Tailwheel Flight Training, DoolittleRaid.com and Lbirds.com.

The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD. - Prov. 21:31 - Train, Practice, Trust.

Still very active and planned to be for a long time.

There is an upgrade program underway these days for the flight deck and engines. The new engines lack the distinctive whine of the original engines, and the re-engined aircraft sound like any other turbofan. Since I live about a mile and a half NE of Dobbins ARB, where Lockheed GA is, I see them on a routine basis. A couple of friends still work on the program, including one guy who is a test pilot and has some interesting stories to tell regarding stall tests and data latency issues with the electronic flight deck and its processor(s) being overloaded due to extra sensors installed for flight testing.

I was there on June 30, 1968 when the C-5's first flight was made. I remember it well because we'd sat at the East end of the runway all day long the day before waiting for the first flight. Various problems (a cut tire being one) resulted in that flight being cancelled. The next morning (Sunday) we went back just before church and were barely out of the car when the C-5 began its takeoff roll. Very memorable when you're an almost 4 year old airplane buff...

Pat to be a bit more specific, the C-5M will carry on for a few more decades. This is for aircraft getting the full engine, flight deck and other upgrades. At one point it was hoped to upgrade the whole remaining fleet of around 100+ A, B, and the two C's, to the C-5M standard. Now it looks like @26 C-5A's got a more modest avionics upgrade and will carry on for a bit more, and there will be around 52 C-5M's that will remian in the inventory for years to come. Most of these are B models that have already been or will be upgraded (and a 1-2 A's and C's) to the M standard.

Non-upgraded A's are disapearing rather quickly to the boneyard for scrapping, storage or as a parts source for the remaining fleet. One is at the Dover museum. See and hear them while you can. Love the "electric" sound of the old engines.

I saw a C-5 on final while visiting Wright-Patterson AFB about a year ago. I'm not sure if it was stationed there, tho9ugh.

_________________
Matt

No, it's not.

_________________
Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.
Note political free signature.
I figure if you wanted my opinion on items unrelated to this forum, you'd ask for it.

Several are at D-M. Saw them in January.

_________________
Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.
Note political free signature.
I figure if you wanted my opinion on items unrelated to this forum, you'd ask for it.

The C-5 fleet is well into the upgrade to the C-5M standard. New engines, New glass cockpit some other upgrades, same old seats in the passenger compartment. Dover AFB has the only C-5A on static museum display. Travis AFB wants one, but is hopeful to get the cockpit flight simulator for their museum. The C-5M seem to have maintenance issues just like the C-5A models.

I've walked into several C-5s over the years, both at airshows and when I was still in the Army (doing palletized loading of our vehicles to deployments). Came really close to flying on one, I was on a Brigade Battlefield 'staff ride' to Gettysburg and we were supposed to take our unit vehicles in a Reserve C-5 from McChord to an airport in PA and return a week later. We were in the passenger deck, boxed lunches in hand (it was tough not to snicker at being handed these) and strapped into the oddly rear-facing seats way up in the top, when the [bleepi]ing nose gear collapsed! We didn't even feel it but the crew came up and said, "Sorry, it's going to be a long time to get that fixed," and so we had to quickly break down our luggage pallets, haul back to Lewis to change into civvies, then go to SeaTac to board the backup airliner. That was as close as I ever got to flying on one, and I'm still ticked to this day.
When did they get that? I haven't been in the area since the late 90s and I don't recall them having one at that point. Glad to hear they got one!

_________________
Life member, 91st BG Memorial Association
Owner, 1944 Willys MB #366014
Former REMF (US Army, O3)

Last year, it was in the aviation press.

_________________
Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.
Note political free signature.
I figure if you wanted my opinion on items unrelated to this forum, you'd ask for it.

Flew in the back of the C5 from Clark AFB P.I. to Diego Garcia back in 88, had to catch my carrier that was steaming in the gulf, can remember that the ride was smooth and quiet and yeah we got box lunches, AF box lunches were always good with a lot of goodies compared to a Navy box lunch which were pretty bland