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The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is a heavy logistics
military transport aircraft designed to provide world-wide
massive strategic airlift. The CONUS based fleet can provide
delivery of palletized, oversized and outsized cargo, as well as
passengers or combat-ready troops, anywhere in the world on
short notice. The aircraft can takeoff and land in relatively
short distances and taxi on substandard surfaces during
emergency operations. The C-5 also plays a limited role in the
airdrop and special operations arenas.
In 1963, realizing that they needed a
jet-powered replacement for the exhausted, turboprop-powered C-133 Cargomaster,
the United States Air Force began to study very large logistic
transports. After reviewing several airframe designs, they
eventually choose one similar to that of the C-141A Starlifter
featuring a high-set wing (swept 25 degrees), four underwing jet
engines and a T-tail.
This enormous aircraft, first known as the
CX-HLS (Cargo Experimental-Heavy Logistics System) transport,
was required to carry a payload of 125,000 pounds (56,700kg)
over a distance of 8,000 miles (12,875km), or twice that load
over a shorter distance.
Construction of the prototype began in August
1966. The first C-5A Galaxy flight took place on June 30, 1968 and lasted
94 minutes. Commonly described as, "The Box That The
C-141 Came In," the C-5A Galaxy was presented to the United
States Air Force, for training purposes, in December 1969. The
first operational aircraft were delivered to the 437th Military
Airlift Wing (MAW), Charleston AFB, SC, in June 1970.
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 (22,680kg) 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.
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