Biggest Aircraft

 Do big things surprises you ? or did you ever try to find logic and science behind big machines?

To me , Yes it is. 

Whenever i see any plane in sky , sometime tiny one or sometime little bigger , over me in sky, i always feel amazed that , how big it would be when it just passed by me. What if pilot took nap for some minutes ? and what if fuel vanished just like my scooter? 

Im always find myself  in situation of mid road , with empty tank of my scooter and than try to remember , how its possible, that i can repeat same mistake again and again.

When i cant control my own personal scooter than how would it be possible to control the big , bigger , biggest aircraft.  Last Saturday i went up on the ride with Sir Richard Hammond  to solved mystery of  biggest US military aircraft .

The marvel of flight never ceases to amaze, and the spectacle is that much more unbelievable when the aircraft are longer than Olympic swimming pools, heavier than the world’s biggest tanks, and taller than five-story buildings.

The world’s biggest military transport aircraft

                                               

Giant airlifters such as the An-124 Ruslan, C-5M Super Galaxy and C-17 Globemaster III enable the quick transportation of heavy equipment, supplies and troops directly to remote areas.

The C-5M Super Galaxy strategic transport aircraft, a modernized version of the legacy C-5, was designed and manufactured by Lockheed Martin to extend the capability of the C-5 Galaxy fleet to remain in service at least until 2040. The C-5M aircraft is operated by the US Air Force (USAF).

The C-5M Super Galaxy transport aircraft achieved initial operational capability (IOC) in February 2014. The aircraft set 89 world aeronautical records to date.

Details of the C-5 Galaxy modernization programmed

The C-5 Galaxy was modernized in two phases involving the avionics modernization programmed (AMP), and reliability enhancement and re-reengining programme (RERP).

C-5M Super Galaxy features

The C-5M Super Galaxy transport aircraft offers greater reliability and efficient performance at reduced operating and lifecycle costs. It integrates more than 70 enhancements and requires reduced maintenance per flight hour.

The aircraft has a length of 75.53m, a height of 19.84m and a wingspan of 67.91m. The operating and maximum take-off weights of the aircraft are 181,437kg and 381,018kg respectively. The aircraft has a fuel capacity of 150,819kg and payload-carrying capacity of 129,274kg.

The aircraft is equipped with five sets of landing gears with a total of 28 wheels.

Cockpit and cargo compartment of C-5 Galaxy

The advanced glass cockpit integrates a multimode communications suite, a mission computer, enhanced navigation radios, digital autopilot, multifunctional display units, flight management system, safety equipment and surveillance components. It is also fitted with built-in controls and diagnostic systems for the identification of maintenance requirements.

The cockpit also features integrated data link capabilities and situational awareness displays, as well as provides predictive flight performance cues and improved situational awareness to the crew.

The C-5M Super Galaxy can carry more air-transportable cargo than the C-5 aircraft and be loaded with cargo quickly and efficiently. The dedicated passenger compartment of the aircraft accommodates troops and their supplies.

Engine and performance of C-5M Super Galaxy

The C-5M Super Galaxy transport aircraft is powered by four GE CF6-80C2 turbofan engines each developing a thrust of 50,580lb. The length and diameter of the engine are 4.26m and 2.69m respectively. The dry weight of the engine is 9,860lb. The engines comply with Stage 4 noise and emission and provide the aircraft with 22% more thrust and 58% higher rate of climb.

The aircraft can fly at a normal cruise speed of 0.77 Mach. It has an un-refuelled range of about 4,800nm with 54,430kg of cargo, as well as 7,000nm with no load.

The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is a large military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed, and now maintained and upgraded by its successor, Lockheed Martin. It provides the United States Air Force (USAF) with a heavy intercontinental-range strategic airlift capability, one that can carry outsized and oversized loads, including all air-certifiable cargo. The Galaxy has many similarities to the smaller Lockheed C-141 Starlifter and the later Boeing C-17 Globemaster III. The C-5 is among the largest military aircraft in the world.

Design Features:

♣The C-5 is a large, high-wing cargo aircraft with a distinctive high T-tail fin (vertical) stabilizer, with four TF39 turbofan engines mounted on pylons beneath wings that are swept 25°. (The C-5M uses newer GE CF6 engines.) Similar in layout to its smaller predecessor, the C-141 Starlifter.

♣ The C-5 has 12 internal wing tanks and is equipped for aerial refueling. Above the plane-length cargo deck is an upper deck for flight operations and for seating 80 passengers in rear facing seats (unlike most commercial airplanes) and the embarked loadmaster crew in forward facing seats. 

                                                      

♣Bay doors at both nose and tail open to enable "drive-through" loading and unloading of cargo.

♣The cargo hold of the C-5 is one foot (30 cm) longer than the entire length of the first powered flight by the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk. For its voracious consumption of fuel and its maintenance and reliability issues the Galaxy's aircrews have nicknamed it "FRED", for Fucking Ridiculous, Economic/Environmental Disaster.

♣Takeoff and landing distance requirements for the plane at maximum-load gross weight are 8,300 ft (2,500 m) and 4,900 ft (1,500 m), respectively. Its high-flotation main landing gear provides 28 wheels to distribute gross weight on paved or earth surfaces. The rear main landing gear can be made to caster to make a smaller turning radius, and rotates 90° after takeoff before being retracted. "Kneeling" landing gear permits lowering the aircraft when parked, thereby presenting the cargo deck at truck-bed height to facilitate loading and unloading operations.

♣The C-5 features a malfunction detection analysis and recording system to identify errors throughout the aircraft.

♣ The cargo compartment is 121 ft (37 m) long, 13.5 ft (4.1 m) high, and 19 ft (5.8 m) wide, or just over 31,000 cu ft (880 m3). It can accommodate up to 36 463L master pallets or a mix of palletized cargo and vehicles.

♣ The nose and aft cargo-bay doors open the full width and height of the cargo bay to maximize efficient loading of oversized equipment. Full-width ramps enable loading double rows of vehicles from either end of the cargo hold.

                                                       

♣The C-5 Galaxy is capable of moving nearly every type of military combat equipment, including such bulky items as the Army armored vehicle launched bridge, at 74 short tons (67 t), from the United States to any location on the globe; and of accommodating up to six Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopters or five Bradley Fighting Vehicles at one time.

Operational history

C-5s were used to transport equipment and troops, including Army tanks and even some small aircraft, throughout the later years of the US action in Vietnam. C-5s have also been used to deliver support and reinforce various US allies over the years. On 24 October 1974, the Space and Missile Systems Organization successfully conducted an air-launched ballistic missile test, where a C-5A Galaxy aircraft air dropped an 86,000-pound (39,000 kg) Minuteman ICBM from 20,000 feet (6,100 m) over the Pacific Ocean.