Vietnam Syndrome

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C-5A/B Galaxy Transport–Cruisers, United States

C-5A/B Galaxy Transport

On 29 August 1990, as the U.S. military was pushing its limits to ferry cargo to Saudi Arabia, a C-5A Galaxy with the 60th Military Airlift Wing crashed on takeoff from Ramstein Air Force Base in West Germany after the pilot inadvertently sent the number one engine into full thrust reversal, killing 13 of the 17 Americans aboard—the first air fatalities of Operation Desert Shield—and seriously wounding the others. According to the military report Desert Score, “From 7 August 1990 [when Operation Desert Shield began] to 2 April 1991, C-5s flew more than 3,800 missions carrying 87,850 passengers and 230,600 tons of cargo to the theater of operations.”

The C-5A configuration is powered by four General Electric TF39-GE-1C turbofan engines, each delivering 43,000 pounds (19,505 kg) of static thrust. Dimensions for the C-5B are staggering: weight (empty), 374,000 pounds (169,645 kg); maximum payload, 291,000 pounds (131,997 kg); wingspan, 222 feet 8½ inches (67.88 m); length, 247 feet 10 inches (75.54 m); and maximum speed, 496 knots (571 mph; 919 km/h). The plane carries five crew (pilot, copilot, flight engineer, and two loadmasters), and can carry 75 troops on its upper deck and 275 additional troops in the main cargo bay. The C-5 is the second largest military transport in the world (the largest is the Soviet AN-124 Condor, which can carry between 18 and 50 metric tons additiooal cargo).

See also

C-130 Hercules Transport.

References:

Almond, Denise L., ed., Desert Score: