The C-5 Galaxy is vital for the strategic force projection capability of the U.S.A.
It is not the largest military transport aircraft, but it is undoubtedly the most successful.
This flying giant even saved the world once.
Now, we are investigating the C-5, an aircraft that has carried the burden of the U.S. military
for a half-century.
Please don't forget to subscribe to our channel before we start, and give us a thumbs up if
you like our video.
To be notified of our new video, please click the bell button.
Also, you can now click the join button to support our channel.
And as always, we would greatly appreciate all the likes, comments, and shares.
The C-5 Galaxy has many nicknames, such as Falt Albert, Big MAC, or White Elephant.
But, it is generally known as FRED, an abbreviation of F.cking Ridiculous Economic/Environmental
Disaster, due to its enormous consumption of fuel and its maintenance and reliability
issues.
Despite this semi-joke contempt, the Galaxy has proved its value countless times.
The story of the C-5 goes back to the early 1960s.
In 1961 Washington requested several aerospace companies to study a heavy jet transport aircraft
to replace the C-133 Cargomaster.
It would also complement the C-141s and have higher overall performance and a larger cargo
bay than the Starlifter, whose interior dimensions were too small to carry many oversize army
vehicles.
Initially, the CX-4 concept with six engines was revealed.
Yet, this design was expensive and had no significant advance over the C-141.
So, the U.S. Air Force rejected the CX-4 in 1962 and initiated the new CX-X concept study
one year later.
The new aircraft would have four engines.
In 1964, Boeing, Douglas, General Dynamics, Lockheed, and Martin Marietta presented their
designs.
Also, General Electric, Curtiss-Wright, and Pratt & Whitney offered their engine designs
for the new aircraft.
Washington chose Lockheed's C-5.
Initially, the U.S. Air Force had considered Boeing's design, which had better performance
than its rival.
But, as Murphy's Laws of Combat says, "never forget that your weapon is made by the lowest
bidder."
Lockheed was the lowest bidder, so it won the tender in 1965.
The same year, Washington chose General Electric's TF39 engine for the new aircraft.
This new revolutionary turbofan promised a bypass ratio of eight-to-one, while previous
ones were less than two-to-one.
So, the TF39 offered a higher engine thrust and lower fuel consumption.
However, things did not go as expected.
During the development of the C-5, many complications happened, which caused significant cost overruns.
So, Lockheed suffered major financial difficulties.
Still, the Galaxy made its first flight on June 30, 1968.
But, the prototype of the aircraft failed to fulfil many initial requirements.
For example, its maximum take-off weight was below what had been projected.
The wing could not meet the initial limit load criteria.
Even though some changes were made, it failed again during the test in 1970.
Although these shortcomings had brought a U.S. congressional investigation in 1968 and
1969, the U.S. Air Force took the C-5 into service in June 1970.
Still, in those years, Lockheed was also working on the L-1011 jetliner.
These two ambitious projects caused a financially overburden on the company.
So, production of the C-5 nearly came to a halt in 1971.
Washington had to give Lockheed a loan to avoid possible bankruptcy.
But, the troubles continued.
Cracks occurred in the wings of many C-5s.
So, the U.S. Air Force could use its Galaxys by implementing restrictions until corrective
work was completed.
Washington had chosen Lockheed since it had offered the lowest cost.
But in the end, the unit costs of the aircraft increased nearly four times than what was
initially projected.
So, the U.S. Air Force had to reduce the number of orders from 115 to 81.
In 1976, a programme was launched to fit 76 C-5s with new aluminium alloy wings to increase
strength and resistance to corrosion.
The first modified aircraft was delivered in 1981.
The programme was completed in 1987.
During this time, Lockheed offered the U.S. Air Force a new version of the Galaxy called
C-5N.
The letter N stood for the new.
In 1982, U.S. Air Force decided to acquire it to expand its airlift capacity and called
this version C-5B.
The B variant had all C-5A improvements and also improved wings, simplified landing gear,
upgraded TF-39-GE-1C turbofan engines and updated avionics.
The C-5B made its first flight on September 10, 1985, and became operational one year
later.
The C-5C was a specially modified variant of the C-5A with a larger internal cargo capacity
to accommodate large payloads, such as satellites.
Two aircraft of this version were used for the U.S. Department of Defense's spacecraft
programmes and NASA.
In 1998, the C-5s gained new avionics, including a glass cockpit and navigation equipment,
besides a new autopilot system.
In 2006, the U.S. Air Force decided to reequip 49 B, two C, and one A variant of Galaxy with
the General Electric F138-100 turbofan engines.
This modernization also included over 70 changes and upgrades on the aircraft.
The new variant is called C-5M Super Galaxy.
Still, due to budget restrictions, only 22 Galaxys had been brought to the M standard
until 2014.
The C-5M has a 30 per cent shorter take-off, a 38 per cent higher climb rate to initial
altitude, an increased cargo load and an extended range than the previous versions.
The L-500 with four Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7 engines was a proposed civil variant of the
C-5.
But, no one has ordered it.
Lockheed also offered NASA a twin-body C-5 as a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.
Yet, the agency chose two Boeing 747-based aircraft.
The C-5 is a real giant.
Its rudder area is equal to the size of ​​the main wing of the F-104G.
The weight of the paint on a Galaxy is 1,200 kilograms.
There are 165 kilometres of wires, 6 kilometres of tubes, and 8 kilometres of control cables
inside the aircraft.
There is a large area for 15 people, such as relief crew, trainees etc., at the front
of the upper deck.
The rear of the upper deck can accommodate 75 passengers.
The pressurized cargo compartment is 37 metres long, 4.1 metres high, and 5.8 metres wide.
Its maximum cargo capacity is 127,459 kilograms.
The C-5 can carry two M1 Abrams main battle tanks, seven Stryker wheeled armoured vehicles,
14 Humvees, four multiple rocket launchers, two Patriot air defence missile launchers,
36 463-litre cargo pallets, or up to 600 troops.
The aircraft can also transport four combat-loaded Bradleys.
If the additional armour packages and other loads of these vehicles are removed, this
number can be increased to six.
We should add that the Galaxy could carry ten medium-range Pershing II nuclear ballistic
missiles.
The C-5 can also transport six AH-64 Apache or UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters.
The nose and aft cargo-bay doors are opened at the complete width and height of the cargo
bay.
Thanks to full-width ramps, double rows of vehicles from either end of the cargo compartment
can be loaded and unloaded.
Thanks to 28-wheel "kneeling" landing gear, the C-5 can lower its fuselage when parked
to ease loading and unloading operations.
It can take off from 2,500 metres distance with maximum weight.
The aircraft requires a 1,500-metre runway for landing in the same condition.
The MADAR II analysis device system can test 800 locations, process the data, and detect
possible malfunctions.
In 1974, Iran considered acquiring the C-5, but no aircraft were ever ordered.
So, the U.S.A has remained the only user of the Galaxy.
The five-person crew of the C-5M variant consists of a pilot, a co-pilot, a flight engineer,
and two loadmasters.
But, the crew composition can be changed depending on the mission.
The aircraft has a length of 75,31 metres, a wingspan of 67,98 metres, and a height of
19.84 metres.
Its wing area is 580 square meters.
The empty weight of the C-5M is over 172 tons, while its maximum take-off weight is over
381 tons.
The powerplant consists of four 230 kiloNewton General Electric F138-100 turbofan engines.
Its top speed is 856 kilometres per hour, while its cruise speed is 830 kilometres per
hour.
The service ceiling is about 12,000 metres, in other words, 41,000 feet.
The aircraft range is 8,900 kilometres with 54-ton cargo and 4,260 kilometres with 127-ton
cargo.
As mentioned before, the C-5 experienced many cost and technical problems.
But since the Galaxy offered a critical capability, Washington did not terminate the programme.
For example, in 1963, the U.S. Armed Forces moved 15,500 soldiers and their equipment
from Texas to West Germany using 234 C-118s and C-124s in 63 hours, whereas only 42 C-5As
could do the same job in just 13 hours.
Since the Vietnam War, the C-5 has proved its critical strategic transport capability
in many cases.
But, we could say that Operation Grass Nickel was the most critical achievement of the Galaxy.
A surprise attack launched by Arab armies on October 6, 1973, left Israel with the threat
of extinction.
The Israeli losses were enormous.
Losing Israel would seriously harm U.S. interests in the Middle East.
Besides, Tel Aviv was considering using its nuclear arsenal to stop the Arabs.
All these facts could have triggered the Third World War.
So, Washington decided to resupply the Israel Defense Forces, shortly IDF, to prevent the
catastrophe.
Initially, the airliners of El Al began to transport war materials.
But, their capacities were too low.
On October 14, the C-5s and C-141s started to carry the necessary supplies to Israel.
When the first Galaxy arrived at Lod airport, the Israelis had already taken the initiative
on both the Golan and Sinai fronts.
Still, the IDF had to compensate for its losses to exploit this achievement.
Until Operation Nickel Grass ended on November 14, the Galaxys and Starlifters had shipped
22,325 tons of equipment to Israel.
These aircraft performed 567 flights during the operation, 147 of which belonged to the
C-5s.
Yet, they had carried 10,757 tons of supplies.
During the same period, the USSR sent war materials to its Arab allies by air.
Still, Soviet transport aircraft could carry fewer than C-5s on 935 flights.
The photograph, which shows an M60 unloaded from a Galaxy, is the iconic scene from Operation
Nickel Grass.
But actually, it was just a deception.
Israel demanded new main battle tanks from Washington during the war.
But, Germany opposed sending the U.S. tanks stationed in its own country to Israel.
Yuval Ne'eman was in charge of the operation on behalf of Israel.
Later, he disclosed that the M60 on the photograph flew to Israel and returned after all the
photographers left.
During Operation Grass Nickel, the C-5 did not save only Israel but also protected humanity
from a global nuclear catastrophe.
On October 24, 1974, a C-5A successfully performed an air-launched ballistic missile test.
Over the Pacific Ocean, It released a Minuteman ICBM from 6,100 metres altitude, in other
words, 20,000 feet.
Of course, there are many other stories, facts and details about the Galaxy we had to skip
to keep the video short and sweet.
You can share them in our comment section.
We will see the C-5s in the sky until 2040.
In the remaining 18 years, this flying giant will undoubtedly add new pages to its saga.
And after that, the legendary C-5 Galaxy will continue to fly in the hearts of aviation
and military enthusiasts.
Thanks for watching our video.
And please don't forget to subscribe to our channel and click the bell button to be notified
of our new videos.
Also, you can now click the join button to support our channel.
And as always, we would greatly appreciate all the likes, comments, and shares.