C-141 STARLIFTER

C-141A 

C-141A, Tail number 61-2775,  was the very first C-141A aircraft built and had its maiden flight on 17 December 1963, the 60th Anniversary of the Wright Brothers' first flight. It spent its entire career as a test aircraft in numerous programs. The last program this A model carried out was to test a new tension rope from NASA while towing a QF-106 in the air.  The last C-141A off the assembly line was tail number 67-0166 and was delivered to the US Air Force in February 1968.

C-141B 

 The first C-141 converted to the "B" configuration was aircraft 66-0186. On 8 January 1977, the first "YC-141B" 66-0186 (stretched C-141A Starlifter) rolled out of the Lockheed Georgia Marietta plant. The first "YC-141B" conversion performed its initial flight on 24 March 1977. It was estimated that this stretching program was the equivalent of buying 90 new aircraft in terms of increased capacity.

 The C-141B is a stretched C-141A with in-flight refueling capability. Stretching of the Starlifter consisted of lengthening the plane 23 feet, 4 inches (53.3 centimeters), which increased cargo capacity by about one-third - 2,171 cubic feet (65.13 extra cubic meters). The lengthening of the aircraft had the same effect as increasing the number of aircraft by 30 percent. The C-141 was the first jet aircraft designed to meet military standards as a troop and cargo carrier.

 A universal air refueling receptacle on the C-141B transfers 23,592 gallons (89,649.6 liters) of fuel in about 26 minutes, allowing longer non-stop flights and fewer fuel stops during worldwide airlift missions. The C-141 force, nearing seven million flying hours, has proven reliability and long-range capability.

 On 29 June 1982, Tail No. 65-0248 was the last C-141A converted to the "B" model configuration. 

C-141C

A total of 63 C-141s were upgraded throughout the 1990s to C-141C configuration, with improved avionics and navigation systems to keep them up to date. This variant introduced some of the first glass cockpit technology to the aircraft and improved reliability by replacing some mechanical and electromechanical components with their electronic equivalents.

NC-141A

Four "NC-141As" were built as testbeds and not converted to C-141B standards. One of these, the "L-300" prototype for a commercial Starlifter that never went into production, was obtained by the US National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) as a flying astronomical observatory and designated the "Kuiper Astronomical Observatory (KAO)."

The need for the C-141 Aircraft

Introduced to replace slower piston-engined cargo planes such as the C-124 Globemaster II, the C-141 was designed to requirements set in 1960 and first flew in 1963. Production deliveries of an eventual 285 planes began in 1965: 284 for the Air Force, and one for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for use as an airborne observatory.

The C-141 aircraft was the workhorse of the Air Mobility Command from the 1970s into the early 2000s. The Starlifter fulfilled the vast spectrum of airlift requirements through its ability to airlift combat forces over long distances, delivering those forces and their equipment either by air, land or airdrop, resupply forces and transport the sick and wounded from the hostile area to advanced medical facilities.  The aircraft remained in service for almost 40 years until the USAF withdrew the C-141 from service on 5 May 2006, replacing the aircraft with the C-17 Globemaster III.

On 16 September 2004, the C-141 left service with nearly all active duty USAF units, being confined to Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard units for the remainder of its operational service life. As of 25 September 2005, there were only eight C-141 aircraft still flying, all from the Air Force Reserve's 445th Airlift Wing (445 AW) at Wright-Patterson AFB. In 2004, 2005, and 2006, the C-141s assigned to the 445 AW participated in missions to Iraq and Afghanistan, mostly for the medical evacuation of wounded service members. The last eight C-141s were officially retired in 2006.