The Lockheed C-141 Starlifter debuted in 1963. It was the first aircraft designed to carry troops and cargo on the same flight, which is accomplished by using a double-deck fuselage configuration. The maiden flight occurred on December 17, 1963; however, it wasn’t until October 1967 that active service began with the United States Air Force (USAF). The last aircraft delivered was retired from active service in May 2006 and was replaced by the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III.
The total number of aircraft built was 285; however, only 284 were delivered because one crashed during training at McChord AFB in 1978 due to mechanical failure due to contaminated fuel supply from an engine fuel pump module (FPM) which had cracked on previous flights but went undetected until it caused catastrophic engine failure during takeoff roll for this final mission.
The C-141B was designed to be more powerful and have more range than the original version. It can carry up to 120,000 pounds of cargo, or 70 tons of cargo compared to the 60-ton capacity of its predecessor. It also has a maximum speed of over 500 miles per hour and a range of 3,900 miles—over 1,000 miles greater than the C-141A.
During its time in the Air Force, the C-141 made many advances in the travel industry. The C-141 has been part of the Air Force since 1964 and has played a major role in many areas of service. In its early days, the C-141 was used for medical evacuations between hospitals on American soil. This allowed injured soldiers to receive treatment without having to travel far from their homes or bases.
The next use for this aircraft was as an airlift plane when it was required to transport cargo across long distances with little personnel needed to operate it. The Department of Defense (DoD) started using this plane as transportation for troops who were being deployed overseas or moved around within bases within the US itself. It could also be used during humanitarian missions such as helping out with relief efforts after natural disasters struck various locations around the world, such as earthquakes in Haiti or tsunami warnings at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). Its most recent use before retirement was by DoD officials who wanted equipment sent overseas quickly but didn’t want them shipped through commercial airlines because they thought this would take too long and could potentially cause delays due to flight cancellations due to bad weather conditions during the winter months which may hinder delivery times beyond expectation levels set forth by military commanders overseeing operations abroad.
The C-141 set many aviation records, including the most passengers carried over the longest distance in 100 hours.
In February of 1967, a C-141 made the first nonstop flight from Tokyo to London carrying 141 crew members and 112 passengers. The flight took 10 hours and 45 minutes without refueling. The aircraft flew at an average speed of 752 miles per hour (1,203 kph) during this time—which was faster than a Boeing 747 on its initial commercial flight! By carrying so many people at once, this record-breaking flight demonstrated that it would be possible for future military operations to transport large numbers of people quickly around the globe.
The C-141 also holds records for any twin-engine cargo aircraft and any four-engine cargo aircraft that has flown between New Orleans and Phoenix, Dallas and St. Louis, or Toronto and Los Angeles. These flights were completed on March 6th, 1972 by a crew of six including two pilots and four loadmasters in 1 hour and 50 minutes.
The fastest flight time between New Orleans to Phoenix was set by Air Force Reserve Colonel Paul Wittenberg who piloted the aircraft flying 2 hours 35 minutes at an average speed of 711 miles per hour; while the fastest flight speed between Dallas/Ft Worth International Airport (DFW) and Lambert-St Louis International Airport (STL) was set by Captain William Fogleman who piloted another C-141A on October 22nd, 1975 reaching 710 miles per hour over a distance of 921 nautical miles with an average cruise altitude of 43,000 feet. In 2002, the last flight of a C-141 Starlifter was made by Lt. Col. Bob Broome on May 6.
The C-141 has been retired from active duty, but the aircraft still flies in civilian hands as well as with the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard.
The C-141 was an important part of military history serving our country for nearly 40 years. The aircraft served in numerous missions, including support for the Berlin Airlift, Vietnam War, and Operation Desert Storm.
The C-141 also played a vital role in President Dwight Eisenhower’s 1953 trip to Korea, where he met with South Korean president Syngman Rhee at Kimpo Air Base near Seoul. The plane carried Ike and his entourage from San Francisco to Hickam AFB in Hawaii then onwards to Tokyo where they boarded another plane for Korea.
The aircraft is no longer used for the majority of the transport flights that it was initially designed for. Many of these duties have been shifted to the C-17 aircraft, but the C-141 will continue to be used in some capacities through 2017. The length of time that this aircraft is flown around the world will ensure that it marries its history with future endeavors.
More than 700 men and women of the 7th Airlift Squadron of the 315th Air Mobility Wing delivered the final flight to Dover Air Force base by way of Dover, Bermuda, and Bangor, Maine. This was the finale for the military version of this aircraft; however, there are some commercial airlines that still use this plane.
