the Boeing c-17 Globemaster 3 is a large military transport aircraft it was developed
for the United States Air Force USAF from the 1980s to the early 1990s by McDonnell
Douglas aside from the United States the c-17 is in service with the United Kingdom
Australia Canada Qatar United Arab Emirates NATO heavy airlift wing India and Kuwait in
this video military TV will show about c-17 facts everything you need to know the c-17
measures 174 feet long 53 meters with a wingspan of 169 feet 10 inches 51.75 meters compared to
other transport cargo aircraft in the US Air Force inventory like the c5 and c-130 these
specifications place the c-17 Globemaster 3 right in the middle and size the c-130
measures 97 feet 9 inches long with a wingspan of 38 feet 10 inches the c5 the largest of the
three measures 247 feet 10 inches long with the wingspan of 222 feet 9 inches
four pratt & whitney f-117 pw100 turbofan engines which are based on the commercial pratt & whitney
pw4000 the Boeing 757 power a c-17 Globemaster 3 each engine is rated at 40,000 440 pounds of
thrust and includes thrust reversers that direct the flow of air upward and forward
to avoid ingestion of dust and debris the engine weighs 7,000 100 pounds and measures one hundred
and forty six point eight inches long the inlet diameter of the engine is seventy eight point
five inches the maximum diameter of the engine is 84 point five inches long it has a bypass
ratio of five point nine to one and an overall pressure ratio of thirty point eight to one the
largest aircraft is operated by only a crew of three the pilot Pro pilot and loadmaster
are the three positions necessary to deliver the rapid strategic delivery of troops in all
types of cargo two main operating bases or directly to forward bases in the deployment
area having a crew of three reduces manpower requirements risk exposure and long-term
operating costs a standard crew of five are added for aeromedical evacuation missions Medical Group
which include two flight nurses and three medical technicians may be altered by needs of patients
nearly all of the Army's air transportable equipment such as a 69 ton m1 Abrams main
battle tank armored vehicles trucks and trailers as well as other cargo is loaded
onto the c-17 through a large aft ramp and dwarf system additionally the cargo floor has
rollers that can be flipped from a flat floor to accommodate wheeled or tracked vehicles to roller
eyes conveyors to accommodate palletized cargo the largest ever refuel drop occurred recently
when a c-17 dropped 120 bundles of fuel to a remote base in the Middle East maximum payload
capacity of the c-17 is a hundred and seventy two thousand pounds 77590 Nilla grams and its
maximum gross takeoff weight is five hundred and eighty-five thousand pounds 265 thousand
three hundred and fifty-two kilograms a document by the u.s. General Accounting Office from 1984
stated that data provided by the Air Force and mcdonnell-douglas Corporation the c-17
contractor shows that the c-17 is designed to carry its 170 mm 200 pound maximum cargo
load an unrevealed distance of about 2900 nautical miles this data also shows that
the c-17 will be able to land in 2000 370 feet with a cargo load of 170,000 pounds
the design of the aircraft allows it to operate through small austere airfields high lift wings
slats and extremely blown flaps allow the c-17 to takeoff and land on runways from 2300 the
3,500 feet 1064 meters and only 90 feet wide 24.4 meters even on such narrower runways the
c-17 can turn around using a three-point star turn and it's banking capabilities
the Air Force describes an austere runway as runways are usually less than 4,000 feet long
and can be as narrow as 60 feet payloads may be constrained by runway length and weight bearing
capacity there is less than a thousand square feet of ramp space assessed by way of a single
narrow taxiway and there are no turnaround areas at either end of the runway ground
support and equipment are usually non-existent the c-17 made its maiden flight on September
15th 1991 and the first production model was delivered to Charleston Air Force Base now
identified as Joint Base Charleston South Carolina on June 14 1993 the first flight
to Charleston Air Force Base was piloted by then Air Force chief of staff general
Merrill McGee the c-17 program was delivered under controversy about avionics glitches and external
aesthetic mishaps the entire program was valued at forty two billion dollars in 1993 Charleston
Air Force Base joined with Naval Weapons Station Charleston to become Joint Base Charleston in 2010
the first squadron of c-17s the 17th Airlift Squadron was declared operationally ready
January 17th 1995 the Air Force originally entered a contract with McDonnell Douglas to
buy 120 c-17s despite Iraqi beginning the USAF took note of the unrivaled success of the c-17
to accomplish various mobility missions because of this additional aircraft were acquired resulting
in a final fleet of 223 aircraft the 17th Airlift Squadron began its existence at Hamilton Field
California in February 1942 as the 17th Air Corps ferrying squadron and has since flown a variety
of aircraft to include the c-46 c-47 c-54 c-124 c-141 and c-17 though the aircraft in the name
of the squadron have changed over the years the job of the 17th AAS has always been air transport
currently there are 157 c-17s an Air Force active-duty 47 with the Air National Guard
and 18 in the Air Force Reserve the c-17 is operated by air mobility command from Travis
Air Force Base California Dover Air Force Base Delaware Joint Base lewis-mcchord Washington
Joint Base Charleston South Carolina and Joint Base mcguire-dix-lakehurst New Jersey Pacific
Air Force operates c-17s from Joint Base Elam Dorf Richardson Alaska and Joint Base
pearl harbor-hickam in Hawaii the Air National Guard operates c-17s from Jackson Mississippi
Stewart ang Base New York Memphis Tennessee Martinsburg West Virginia and Charlotte North
Carolina the Air Force Reserve Command operates c-17s at March Air Reserve Base California and
wright-patterson Air Force Base Ohio Air Force Materiel Command has one c-17 on loan from JP
Charleston to conduct tests at Edwards Air Force Base California air Education
and Training Command performs c-17 aircrew training from Altis Air Force Base Oklahoma
the unit price for one c-17 Globemaster - was two hundred and two point three million dollars fiscal
1998 Hunstanton dollars that translates to roughly three hundred and twelve point eight million in
today's dollars the united states recently entered an agreement with india to sell one c-17 the c-17
was outfitted with all the latest avionic updates and priced at three hundred and sixty six point
two million dollars the cost per flight hour of the c-17 is twenty-three thousand eight hundred
and eleven US dollars which is notably cheaper than the next step up in transport aircraft the
c5 galaxy cost 78840 currently two hundred and seventy four c-17s operate around the world the
aircraft's largest customers the United States Air Force with two hundred and twenty three and
twelve bases outside of that the United Kingdom Australia Canada who eight Qatar and the United
Arab Emirates India and the twelve nation strategic airlift capability all operate the
c-17 Globemaster three it has played an integral role in global strategic airlift and significant
delivery of humanitarian aid c-17 support for relief efforts include Pakistan ad Chile China
Myanmar and Thailand and is the primary air lifter for military operations around the world
the c-17 Globemaster 3 can carry a cargo of wheeled u.s. army vehicles in two side-by-side
rows a wide array of vehicles can be carried in various scenarios the heaviest and most impressive
in the US Army's main panel tank the m1 abrams the n1 abrams battle tank weighs roughly 120,000
pounds only one can be situated in the c-17 but other wheeled vehicles can be fit around the tank
as well if there's no tank on board three Bradley fighting vehicles fit in the cargo bay of the c-17
airdrops are one of the primary features the c-17 was designed for the c-17 can drop a single 60,000
pound payload with sequential low drops of 110,000 pounds the load master is in charge of loading and
balancing the cargo properly an airdrop is usually a coordinated effort between the Air
Force and the army the airdrop represents a very significant mission delivering needed supplies
while reducing the burden and risk on our army helicopter and maintenance group said Army Chief
Warrant Officer - David Bevelle 3rd Infantry Division resolute support sustainment brigade
thrust reversers one of the coolest c-17 facts is that each engine is rated at 40,000 440 pounds of
thrust and includes thrust reversers that direct the flow of air upwards and forward
to avoid ingestion of dust and debris a fully loaded aircraft on the ground it employs thrust
reversers and back up a 2% slope for an aircraft as massive as the c-17 that's impressive the c-17
thrust reversers also aid in quick turnaround on a limited runway using a three point turn tanks
vehicles and cargo aren't the only things the c-17 Globemaster 3 was designed to carry delivering a
load capacity of troops aren't paramount to the success of the military in question the
c-17 seats 54 soldiers on the sidewall and 48 in the centerline twenty-seven soldiers
on each side of the sidewall with an eighteen inch sheet the centerline seats 48 soldiers
and eight sets of six blocks back to back seats or instead of the centreline a c-17 can sit 80
soldiers on eight pallets in addition to the sidewall for a maximum troop capacity of 134
in 2015 inside bones Long Beach manufacturing facility see 17 employees pieced together the
nose center fuselage wings and tail for the last time or so they thought Boeing which absorbed
McDonnell Douglas after the c-17 was designed and built now runs the c-17 program plane to
79 marked the final major join of the c-17 and was the final plane to come off the assembly
line however the United States recently entered an agreement to sell one c-17 Globemaster 3 to India
this means the Boeing manufacturing plant will pump out at least one more c-17 landing on remote
unprepared runway is a difficult pass one of the main benefactors allowing the c-17 Globemaster
3 the ability to do so is its wings the wings of the c-17 amass a total of 3,800 square feet
they contain a seven-point 165 aspect ratio 35 degree sweep angle and supercritical airfoil
its wing flaps are fixed vane double-slotted and simple hinged a supercritical wing is an
advanced airfoil design that enhances the range cruising speed and fuel efficiency of
jet aircraft by producing weaker shockwaves that create less drag and permanent high efficiency
the horizontal detail on the c-17 is used to avoid large downwash from high lift system
the horizontal tail has a total area of 845 square feet it's 65 feet wingspan gives it
a 5.0 aspect ratio and has a 27 degree sweep the first 50 c-17s at horizontal
tails that were made of metal but in the late 1990s Boeing transitioned it to a
composite pill all c-17 aircraft from number 51 on contained the lighter less expensive
horizontal tail it has 2,000 fewer parts and 42 thousand fewer fasteners than the
metal unit and weighs about 500 pounds less approximately a 20 percent weight reduction
the instrument display the c-17 cockpit is outfitted with two full-time all function
head-up displays HUD and four multifunction active matrixyl displays the c-17 Globemaster 3 flight
control system maintains a quadruple redundant electronic flight control with mechanical backup
system a recent upgrade to the c-17 avionics includes new mission displays and computers
as well as new software for the warning and caution system the new software is courtesy
of Northrop Gruman navigation systems every major worldwide operation since the 1990s
that's how often the c-17 has dropped cargo or assisted other branches of the military
the c-17 Globemaster 3 has an illustrious history of both combat performance as well
as humanitarian aid in recent years the c-17 played an integral role in aiding Puerto Rico
after massive flooding in Yemen delivering food and supplies to refugees in Haiti delivering
relief supplies and even delivering a fire truck to emergency responders in Guatemala