USAF Accepts Delivery Of First C-5M

KC135R · Wed May 24, 2006 10:46 am

From the article:

http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123020473

At a roll-out ceremony May 16 at Lockheed Martin's plant in Marietta, Ga., the Air Force accepted delivery of the first C-5M Galaxy, the first of 111 that will undergo modernization at the facility, extending the fleet's life by more than 25 years.

Two more photos on the linked page - one inside and one more outside - plus a brief video (click on links RH side "view all images" and "C-5M Rollout").

The CF-6 looks pretty good on the C-5 IMO, and I have no doubt the upgrades will increase FRED's reliability.

LMP737 · Wed May 24, 2006 10:51 am

Quoting KC135R (Thread starter):
The CF-6 looks pretty good on the C-5 IMO, and I have no doubt the upgrades will increase FRED's reliability

One thing is for sure, with the CF-6 the engine shop guys will have a lot of spare time on their hands.

Galaxy5007 · Wed May 24, 2006 11:02 am

I was going to post the roll out last week, but figured I'd wait until they fly it first...I haven't heard of a firm first flight date yet.

RayChuang · Wed May 24, 2006 2:16 pm

It will be so strange to have C-5's sounding like 747's on takeoff and landing from now on.

Lumberton · Wed May 24, 2006 7:18 pm

What's the "red thing" on the nose?

Lurch · Wed May 24, 2006 7:56 pm

The red thing on the Nose is a flight DATA Probe.

If you look at origonal C-5s you can se a similar Probe that was installed while the 1st C-5s under whent Flight testing!

MigFan · Wed May 24, 2006 8:35 pm

I see the name "Beluga" coming into play here. Couldn't they at least repaint it?

/M

Lumberton · Wed May 24, 2006 10:42 pm

Quoting Lurch (Reply 5):

So this isn't a permanent modification?

Galaxy5007 · Thu May 25, 2006 12:40 am

Its not permanant. It is installed for flight testing only. They have to do it with the probe(which is orange by the way) so they can calibrate all the computers upstairs and monitor everything that is happening in flight testing. As said already, it was on the original C-5s, only in black. The C-17 and 141 had it as well in flight testing. Once flight testing is done, they'll remove it and put a traditional radome back on. With the info the collect, they can load the proper calibrations in to future C-5Ms without having to do flight testing over and over again. They made it orange so it would be noticable. The people working on that plane for 2 years now aren't exactly used to having a stick coming out the nose)especially when kneeled).

Confuscius · Thu May 25, 2006 1:23 am

"I see the name "Beluga" coming into play here."

Are we allowed to call it a Whalejet?

Wink

seefivein · Thu May 25, 2006 4:58 am

I heard that it will be 2 years before others are done ..

Anyone have photo's of the new wing modifications.

jetjack74 · Thu May 25, 2006 11:14 am

Quoting KC135R (Thread starter):
The CF-6 looks pretty good on the C-5 IMO, and I have no doubt the upgrades will increase FRED's reliability.

A new paint job would be nice. I see that Dover AFB will have her first.

Galaxy5007 · Thu May 25, 2006 12:13 pm

Quoting Jetjack74 (Reply 11):
A new paint job would be nice

From what I heard, they are going to paint and refurbish it after flight testing before delivering it to us. 86-0013 is the first one, 86-0025 is second, and 69-0024 is third, all Dover birds. The first 17 will be going to Dover. They planned on incorporating it into the PDM process to minimize down time.

B747 · Fri May 26, 2006 2:42 am

I for one would love to see the side view of the new engines. I have worked C-5's for over 12 years, and this is very exciting for me. In fact 86-0013 is the last C-5 I flew on as a flying crew chief, before I PCS'd

Please some one give pics or links to side on shots

Thanks in advance,
Brian

greaser · Fri May 26, 2006 2:59 am

So what is the expected lifespan of FREDy now?? What's the frames lifespan?

KC135R · Fri May 26, 2006 12:12 pm

Quoting Greaser (Reply 14):
So what is the expected lifespan of FREDy now?? What's the frames lifespan?

According to globalsecurity.org -

The upgrades include structural improvements that will extend the service life of the C-5 through the year 2040.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/c-5m.htm

seefivein · Sat May 27, 2006 9:19 am

http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/1527776/posts

In this Air Force photograph, a C-5 gets a new
General Electric CF6 engine at the Lockheed
Martin plant in Marietta. The C-5 airlift fleet is
undergoing major modifications that could result
in major guidance, navigation and engine upgrades.

[Edited 2006-05-27 02:22:32]

seefivein · Sun May 28, 2006 12:24 pm

more pic's of the new engines

this engine is listed under the A300 ??

http://www.airguideonline.com/pix/A300cfeng.gif

http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/kc767/kc7674.html

anyone have any others ??

socal · Thu Jun 15, 2006 12:22 pm

What base is the Galaxy from?

Looking good..... bigthumbsup

Galaxy5007 · Fri Jun 16, 2006 12:58 pm

Quoting Socal (Reply 18):
What base is the Galaxy from?

Dover AFB, Delaware, 436th and 512th AW.

Lumberton · Wed Jun 21, 2006 8:22 am

Article on first flight from today's FI--with pictures!
http://www.flightglobal.com/Articles...C-5M+Super+Galaxy+makes+first.html

EMBQA · Wed Jun 21, 2006 12:33 pm

Quoting Socal (Reply 18):
What base is the Galaxy from?

Looking at the plane it says 512th Air Wing, 436th Air Wing.... which is Dover. Any idea why it carries two Air Wing assignments...??

Galaxy5007 · Wed Jun 21, 2006 12:44 pm

Quoting EMBQA (Reply 21):
Looking at the plane it says 512th Air Wing, 436th Air Wing.... which is Dover. Any idea why it carries two Air Wing assignments...??

436th is active duty

512th is reserve

MigFan · Wed Jun 21, 2006 8:03 pm

Looks ready for a jousting tournament... Big grin

EMBQA · Wed Jun 21, 2006 11:34 pm

Quoting Galaxy5007 (Reply 22):
436th is active duty

512th is reserve

So they share the use of the plane...??

JohnM · Thu Jun 22, 2006 10:29 am

Yes they share the airplane. AMC has associate wings that allows active duty and reserve wings to share airframes at the same base. This is common in the C-5, KC-10, and C-17 worlds. On a given day the only way to tell who is operating the plane is to look at patches on the crew. Maintenance works the same way. An active duty troop, air reserve technician, reservist, and AMC civilian could be working together on a job. For the most part the aircrews tend to be one type of the other, they don't mix very often. Flying crew chiefs do mix with either type of aircrew, and could be active duty or reserve. Both wings have their patch on the airplanes so everybody can have a warm fuzzy and can't complain (too much) about who's plane they are flying. It's a different matter when however lets say a Dover crew uses a Travis airplane, or vise a versa, it is mandatory to throw out many comments about how crappy the airplane is!

B747 · Thu Jun 22, 2006 6:47 pm

Quoting JohnM (Reply 25):
It's a different matter when however lets say a Dover crew uses a Travis airplane, or vise a versa, it is mandatory to throw out many comments about how crappy the airplane is!

That's funny John,
I have heard the same complaints so many times. I did however here the opposite one time when a Travis pilot told me he would rather fly on a Dover A-model, than Travis's best B-model!

Brian

Galaxy5007 · Thu Jun 22, 2006 9:19 pm

Quoting B747 (Reply 26):
I have heard the same complaints so many times. I did however here the opposite one time when a Travis pilot told me he would rather fly on a Dover A-model, than Travis's best B-model!

As of Tuesday, Dover doesn't have any more A-models. All ar B models, B AMP models and the 3 C-5Ms (which one was an A-model, but is in the process of being converted, 69-0024)

Galaxy5007 · Sun Jun 25, 2006 11:29 am

Does anyone have video footage of 6013 flying its first flight as a Super Galaxy?