The Boeing (former McDonald Douglas) C-17A
Globemaster III is a high-wing, T-tailed
aircraft with a rear loading ramp.
The C-17 is intended as a
replacement for the Lockheed C-141 Starlifters
of the US Air Force. The program has a long and
convoluted history, beginning with the selection
of McDonnell Douglas as the winner of the C-X
cargo aircraft competition on August 28, 1981.
Assembly of
the first aircraft was completed in December
1990. The first flight of the C-17A (87-0025)
was on
September 15, 1991
, from the manufacturer's
Long Beach
,
California
, facility to Edwards Air Force Base where
developmental testing was to begin.
The initial production aircraft
followed on May 18, 1992. Also, two static test
airframes were built, beginning their test
programs in November 1991 and the second quarter
of 1992 respectively. Development flight testing
was completed in December 1994, by which time
some 16 aircraft were already delivered. Initial
operational capability was achieved on January
17, 1995 by the 17th Airlift Squadron at
Charleston AFB in North Carolina.
During flight-testing at Edwards Air Force Base,
CA., C-17s set 33 world records – more than any
other airlifter in history – including payload
to altitude, time-to-climb, and
short-takeoff-and-landing marks in which the
C-17 took off in less than 427 meters, carried a
payload of 20.000 kg to altitude, and landed in
less than 427 meters.
The C-17A aircraft can be configured for cargo,
paratroopers, combat troops, hospital litter
patients, or combinations of all of these. The
C-17A is intended for
strategic airlift and delivery of cargoes by
landing on unimproved runways close to the
battlefield, but can be employed for LAPES
(low-altitude parachute extraction system)
delivery of cargo.
A
cockpit crew of two and one loadmaster operates
the C-17, which can be refuelled in flight. This
cost-effective flight crew complement is made
possible through the use of an advanced digital
avionics system and advanced cargo systems.
The four engines are Pratt & Whitney PW2040
series turbofans, designated as F117-PW-100 by
the Air Force, each producing 18.382 kg of
thrust. The engines are equipped with
directed-flow thrust reversers capable of
deployment in flight. On the ground, a fully
loaded aircraft, using engine reversers, can
back up a two-percent slope.The
C-17 fleet has amassed nearly one million flying
hours -- and in the global war on terrorism, has
flown combat missions for nearly 1.600
consecutive days.
Boeing C-17A Globemaster III in
combat:
Boeing C-17s have been involved in numerous
contingency operations, including flying troops
and equipment to Operation Joint Endeavour to
support peacekeeping in Bosnia, Allied Force
Operation in Kosovo, Operation Enduring Freedom
in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
