Photo: USAF/Airman 1st Class Christian Silvera
The C-17 Globemaster III is described by the U.S. Air Force as “the most flexible cargo aircraft to enter the airlift force.” America’s military is so in love with the plane that over 200 of them are deployed with the U.S. Air Force (USAF), Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve. Yet they very rarely happen to fly in large packs.
The C-17 was introduced by Boeing in 1991, with the first production model being delivered in 1993 to what was then the Charleston Air Force Base in South Carolina. Now called Joint Base Charleston, the base is home to the 628th Air Base Wing, and the place from where, at the beginning of the month, a large pack of C-17s departed for the first time from the same place in a record mission.
We’ve told you all about that back in early January. A number of 24 such airplanes departed the base’s runways, heading out for a show-of-force flight over the Ravenel Bridge in Charleston Harbor. They then dispersed and landed at four other bases in the area: the Pope Army Airfield, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, and Hunter Army Airfield.
The exercise took place on January 5, and also involved other elements of the USAF, including 20 F-16 Fighting Falcons that were conducting mock air battles in the region, but also Army and Marine Corps units. An E-3 Sentry and several KC-135 Stratotankers were also involved to support the mammoth drill.
As it usually happens with such events, the Charleston outing was the perfect opportunity for military photographers to snap the most modern USAF gear in action. We expect the military branch to continue releasing related images, many of which will probably make it in our Photo of the Day coverage.
Like the main pic we have here, snapped a few days prior to the record flight, on January 3. It shows one massive C-17 front and center, sitting on the flight line of the airbase as it got ready to take to the sky with its peers.
The massive machine occupies almost the entire field of view, but if you look behind it, at least three other planes of the same family seem to sneak up covered by fog, giving us yet another glimpse at what the American military is capable of doing if it puts its mind to it.
And just to give you another taste of that, here’s a quick reminder of what just one C-17 is capable of. Powered by four large Pratt & Whitney turbofan engines rated at 40,440 pounds of thrust each, the Globemaster can lift in one go 585,000 pounds (265,352 kg), including its own weight. The thing can carry a small military unit of 102 troops, or 170,900 pounds (77,519 kg) of cargo.
We’ve told you all about that back in early January. A number of 24 such airplanes departed the base’s runways, heading out for a show-of-force flight over the Ravenel Bridge in Charleston Harbor. They then dispersed and landed at four other bases in the area: the Pope Army Airfield, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, and Hunter Army Airfield.
The exercise took place on January 5, and also involved other elements of the USAF, including 20 F-16 Fighting Falcons that were conducting mock air battles in the region, but also Army and Marine Corps units. An E-3 Sentry and several KC-135 Stratotankers were also involved to support the mammoth drill.
As it usually happens with such events, the Charleston outing was the perfect opportunity for military photographers to snap the most modern USAF gear in action. We expect the military branch to continue releasing related images, many of which will probably make it in our Photo of the Day coverage.
Like the main pic we have here, snapped a few days prior to the record flight, on January 3. It shows one massive C-17 front and center, sitting on the flight line of the airbase as it got ready to take to the sky with its peers.
The massive machine occupies almost the entire field of view, but if you look behind it, at least three other planes of the same family seem to sneak up covered by fog, giving us yet another glimpse at what the American military is capable of doing if it puts its mind to it.
And just to give you another taste of that, here’s a quick reminder of what just one C-17 is capable of. Powered by four large Pratt & Whitney turbofan engines rated at 40,440 pounds of thrust each, the Globemaster can lift in one go 585,000 pounds (265,352 kg), including its own weight. The thing can carry a small military unit of 102 troops, or 170,900 pounds (77,519 kg) of cargo.
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