I flew and jumped lots of the B’s out of McChord and Pope. It was awesome to jumpmaster a 141, the sound of the wind deflector deploying and retracting is something I’ll always remember- hanging out of the open paratroop door looking at the massive engines and the remainder of the aircraft in trail was surreal. The jump was smooth like butter compared to a 130. This plane took me all over the world and back home safely. Thanks to the air crews and maintainers! RLTW!
I flew as a loadmaster on the A models. I love preparing the troop doors for a drop. The side of the aircraft is circular, so when you pull the door open and slide it up, you are looking straight down. Quite a thrill! Then, the air deflector, followed by the jump platform. Fun times!
I was a flying Crew Chief on 141A & B's. Saw a lot cargo drops and troop jumps. Loved that acft. And not that it matters, but we called those air deflectors, spoiler doors.
I remember being there at GELAC when the B model was rolled out. It was a rainy day as I remember. Still have my commemorative picture given out to the attendees that day.
I enjoyed working on the C-141 more than the C-5's or C-130's due to the ease of loading cargo using the K-loaders or forklifts. I loved flying on them too and flew from Norton AFB to McChord AFB and back many times on duty and on vacation. I flew on them to McGuire AFB, and to Dover AFB on duty as well and they were flawless. I wasn't crazy about flying on the C-130's, but have done so many times also, and the C-5's.
C-141 starlift length are longer than C-130,,,, single pass load for c-141 A&B and C-130, 2-pass load with truck or single pass load with cannon tank or helicopter for C-5 & C-17
I got into the C-141 back in 1979 as a Flight Engineer out of McGuire Air Force Base then later into the reserves at Charleston and the 707 mas/als till the end. Miss it greatly. Was on the first SOLL crews at McGuire also and a certification the aircraft for 30,000 pound Pope Air Force Base flying out Pope Air Force Base back in the day.I think I've seen almost every kind of action that that airplane could do and I did a do. My first air metal was at largest Azores with the left gear crash landing incident. The c-141 was a great launching point for a great career after the Air Force and Air Force reserves which I retired from. The best part of it all is the great dedication and crew in American patriotism that we have to be blessed to fly out of such a wonderful aircraft . Amen 😎
From 85 to 88 at FBNC I rode 130's, 141's ,C5s, Crash Hawks, Huey's and shit hooks. To Hondo and back, C5s. To Panama and back,C5's. To the desert somewhere in Arizona, C-130. The best ride was on a 141 stretch from FBNC to Chippewa co Int'l ap in Kinross MI. Did some winter training in Raco in the UP for a week and left a week later from CCIA in a whiteout blizzard. All flights canceled except for our stretch home. We had two blizzards that week and got about 36' of snow. We got back to AP the night before and had to melt off the hummers before morning. Defrosted 4 hummers overnight in a hangar and loaded them and our asses in a plane we couldn't see until it pulled in front of us on the tarmac because the biggest blizzard was happening that morning. If I recall, 5' per hour. Doors open, quick load. Get in, tie down, sit down and shut up. De-icers spraying as we loaded. Quickest tie down I ever seen with two LMs directing us and double checking everything. We did about 30 minutes from plane stop to wheels up. When I tucked into the sling seat and covered up with my poncho liner while making sure my mickey boots had the valve open, I couldn't see the terminal about 200ft away. I learned if we hadn't beat it within the next few minutes we would be staying there awhile. It was a decent size airport but it was used to shitty weather. They had all four of the sprayers they had shooting anti-freeze on the plane while we loaded hot. About 25 MPs and four HMMWVs. In about another ten minutes we were above the storm with blinding sunshine. Went to sleep right after that. Woke up at Pope and peeled off my field jacket, mickeys, and pants. It was about 65 degrees. I don't remember anything about the flight home. I was exhausted, cold and tired. I don't remember waking up once. That's what made it the best ride ever. To be honest. It was the only flight that worried me a little. That was an Effin BLIZZARD! Planes aren't supposed to fly in that shit!. This one did it like the sun was shinin"! Smooth, quiet considering, and I felt safe. The crew was confident like it was just another day flying. You couldn't see 200 ft and they weren't worried. What a plane and what great crewmen and pilots! Forgot to add. I'm pretty sure that was Nov-Dec of '87. Shit gets foggy as we get older. Pretty sure it was since uncle sammy sent me to Panama in Jan '88.
I was Radar/Nav at Norton AFB from early 1978 through 1984, with the Reserve Wing there, and remember when this conversion took place. The first bird shown being modified in this video was assigned to the 63 MAW, which was stationed at Norton. The 445th MAW, which was the Reserve Wing at Norton, was an associate wing, meaning we shared aircraft and shop facilities with the 63 MAW. On duty weekends, the Regulars would get the weekend off, and we'd take over handling the work. I don't miss some of the political nonsense that went on in our outfit, but I do miss working on the Starlifters. It's almost heartbreaking to see them sitting in the Boneyard at Davis-Monthan here in Tucson now.
I feel your pain. I was a C-141 nav at KSBD for two active duty tours from 1975 to 1986 at Norton. C-141B 06-0257 is on static display at the KRIV museum.
Ahhhhhh back in the day when people actually worked hard to ensure a quality product and not float through the day making mistakes just to get quantity.
I loved the "Flying Lizard", I spent eight years rattling around in the back of them, as an Aeromedical Evacuation Flight Nurse. Lots of trips between Charleston and Panama, and Charleston and Europe, and some between Ramstein AB and Saudi Arabia during Desert Storm.
My dad was one of the pilots who flew one of the 1st 3 C-141's to McChord, I was in the 3rd grade. One day I heard on the playground that a C-141 blew up on the tarmac. After school, I asked my dad if we could go look at it. Sure enough there it sat a brand new C-141 burnt to the ground. The only parts left were the tail section and the wingtips. I knew EVERYTHING about the C-141at 9, it was so sad! What a beautiful airplane. The 1st 5 C-141's lost were all from McChord.
April 9, 2019----Thanks for the video, though never flew on the B's. Anyone remember the box lunches passed out on them & the C-130's? Those ham sandwiches were okay, but really happy when I got a chicken meal.
The best inflight meal I ever got was a restaurant quality meal on an Air Force Reserve C-118.(DC-7) it was a steak meal equivalent to any first class section on a modern airline today. I think the Air Reserve was wanting to impress us. They did. On the way back on a Regular AF C-135 we got the typical sandwich, chips, apple, and pint of milk. That was a disappointment.
I was a Loadmaster on A models. It was nice to crew rest, as a benefit of long days, rather than refuel and make them longer. Many Reforger Missions. But nonstop from Conus (McChord) might have been misery.
Agreed! I am fortunate to have gotten VHS copies of them, and for having the ability to convert them to files, and for having a place where they can be widely shared.
Worked A's and B's at McGoo and McChord 77 to 85. Had 130's at McChord as well and worked C-5's at Travis for 30 days when McChords runway was down. Could still work a 141 Hydro system 30+ years later. Best of all three. My favorite of all acft worked in 21 years.
3 года назад
Man, I've got some web seat marks on my ass still. Best airlifter in my time. Figured out I flew around the world about three times in the 141. Web seats and long TDY flights. Moody AFB to Chong-Ju for Team Spirit twice for example.
So did I! (Well, until I was about nine, we moved to Salem County when my dad's job changed) We lived in a house that was just off East Garden Street, right on the Mt. Holly/Eastampton township line. The family still has a place on Long Beach Island.
Rick Lippincott, Rick thanks for your reply, i knew all the different planes, but not their designations untill later in life, we both know those planes were neat/fun to watch!!!!!!! Edit i grew up in Tabernacle township
My sis went to the USAFA and then flight school. She flew C141 for the rest of her AF career. She flew to the Middle East during the gulf war with a pistol on her ankle :)
Back in 86 when I was at Ft Carson CO my battalion flew on C-141s from Peterson AFB to Norton AFB to load on buses and head over to Ft Irwin CA aka NTC
Flew on a C-141 once in 1991 right after Desert Storm and was sent back to CONUS for school. Flew from Fujairah, U.A.E. to Diego Garcia and from there on to Clark AFB in the Phillipines. Was not comfortable as a passenger, was incredibly cold (especially sitting on a metal bench) and the cabin pressurization wasn't great. Of course this plane had to be very old by this point so it was probably doing the best it could.
I never had the chance to fly on a C-141, but I spent a lot of time with guys who had spent a lot of time on them. They all said the same things that you did about the lack of comfort and the cold.
I don't think the landing gear was modified. The original design maximum weight for the A model was not changed for the B model, so the gear didn't require modification. The major reason for the stretch was that the A model's cubic volume was often filled, but the average payload weight was not near a maximum payload weight.
Extending the C-141 ensured its early death. It was then used as a Tactical Airlifter when it was never engineered to do so. It was purely a Strategic Airlifter. It went to an early grave due to all of the Frame and Wing cracks from improper use. Operation Dessert Storm was the final blow, and it lived its final 15 years under constant limitations and daily waivers just to get off off the ground. There were more boron patches on the frame than rivets.
The stretch mod made a huge difference in the load carrying ability of the 141, but took years off of its service life, which was only realized after the fleet had already been stretched. Great aircraft, in any case. Crews loved it. Too bad the stretch killed it off early.
I seem to recall that in the late 1980s (years after the stretch program had been completed), the 141s were retired rather quickly once the C-17s started coming online. We went, in very short time, from a scenario of "The 141s are great, in fact we want to make them all C-models" (as some were) to "Oh, geez, let's retire these airplanes ASAP." Another factor may have been that right around that time we won the Cold War, and entered a phase where people wanted to make the military smaller. If you remember what the end of the Cold War was like, and haven't ever seen the 1946 movie "The Best Years of Our Lives," give it a view. It's about the post WW2 years, but some of it rings home for the early 1990s as well.
By the time the C-141A's were converted to the B model, USAF had already started planning for its replacement. They had discovered a need for a short field capable plane with greater lift capability than either the C-130 or the C-141B, although the C-130 would remain because of its other use demands. The C-141A/B served the USAF for over 30 years, and much of the airframe wear came during its service as the A model. Certainly, heavier loads and longer flights, and the limited number of aircraft, accelerated airframe wear. I don't consider that the stretch killed it off early, I think it extended its life. Had the USAF not enlarged its cargo capacity, it would have been replaced sooner.
The stretching didn’t take years off the 141’s, it was the low level flying that was originally only supposed to be for 500 hours. All exceeded that. Besides the military always wants new toys, just like me and sports cars.
I often wondered, whether this was implemented because of the failure of the C5A program to be effective. Of course this is only my opinion, based upon all the broken C-5 we would see throughout the system that we flew. Just a thought. But it certainly expedited the demise of a wonderful aircraft that I personally flew on as a loadmaster
After the Israeli Airlift, the GAO did an audit that determined we need to increase our airlift capacity. So the stretch was done. As for the C-5, what was the significance of pulling onto the ramp and seeing two C-5's with one up on jacks? It meant the base only had one set of jacks.
@@michaelfox10 The jacks are one thing. But the NORs parts that I carried in my flight suit and amongst my inbound load probably covered the other five that were grounded.
