US Air Force C-17 Globemaster

 The Boeing C 17 Globemaster is a military aircraft of the US Air Force, designed for military transport, with capacity to transport trucks with a weight of 45 t, M1A1, M2 and M3 tanks, 155 mm caliber self-propelled artillery vehicles, and up to three AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, for 18 463L cargo containers.

The beginnings of its development date back to 1972, when the US Air Force made the decision to seek a replacement for the C-130 Hercules. They were looking for a medium transport aircraft with STOL capability, Boeing made the attempt with the YC-14, and the McDonnell Douglas with the YC-15.

It is at the beginning of the 80s, that the Air Force decides to request a construction of ships of the type C-X, choosing a design presented by the McDonnell Douglas and since then it would receive the name of C 17 Globemaster in the presented project had the nomenclature C-17A Globemaster III, this airplane was acquired in August of the 81, had the sharp wings, motors of great power and a greater size, and it is in year 1995 when its production on great scale settles down.

Technical Characteristics of the C-17

• Crew 3, 2 pilots and 1 cargo manager
• Troop capacity134 soldiers with pallet seats, 102 soldiers in standard seats
• For medical evacuation 36 stretchers and 54 patients
• Vehicle transport 1 M1 Abrams, 3 armored 8 × 8 Stryker, 6 armored 4 × 4 M1117 Guardian
• Load capacity 77,519 kg
• Length of 53 m
• Wingspan of 51.8 m
• High of 16,8 m
• Wing area of 353 m²
• Empty weight 128 100 kg
• Maximum weight at take-off 265 350 kg
• Propulsion 4 × Pratt & Whitney turbofan F117 PW 100
• Fuel capacity 134,556 liters
• Cruise speed 830 km/h Mach 0.69
• Tricycle landing gear, retractable and hydraulically operated
• Bendix Meteorological Radar
• Range 4482 km
• Flight ceiling 13 716 m
• Distance to take off 2.316 m
• Landing distance 1,060 m

C17 facts

• NATO countries signed agreements to acquire C-17 aircraft on July 19, 2006, including Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and non-NATO countries, including Finland, India and Sweden
• In February 2007 the Canadian Air Force purchased four C-17s
• On July 14, 2009, Boeing delivered the first C-17 to the NATO Program, with the rest delivered in September of the same year
• These planes were used to transport military supplies and humanitarian aid in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan
• The C-17 was also used as military transport in Operation Iraqi Freedom. On March 26, 2003, 15 C-17 airplanes of the US Air Force took part in the largest airborne operation, during the night 1000 paratroopers jumped over Bashur in the Republic of Iraq

This majestic aircraft can land and take off even on unpaved runways, with an armor on the bottom of the fuselage that provides protection against small arms, allowing it to fly at low altitudes without danger, in military air transport the C-17 is so far the King.