The A and B models have a special place in my heart as they were equipped with the screaming TF39s which to this day are one of my top favorite jet engines ever made!
I grew up less than a mile from the runway at Norfolk operations base I believe it's called Chambers field. And where I lived the landing gear would come down and so you would hear that mechanical Hydraulics opening the door and then dropping the landing gear Mains and it was was so intense you thought something broke. And as a little boy the original c-5a engines would give you plenty of warning that the plane was coming so you could run outside and look at it. Nowadays the C5 can fly over and I hardly ever notice them anymore they're so quiet.
Those original screamers were perfect for the C-5. I was a little kid when we first saw it at its introduction, it sounded as awesome as it looked. No one had seen or heard anything like that giant plane with the giant roar.
The original sound brings back so many memories. It's comforting to me, all I hear when ever I see a C5 take off, and that original C5 sound, is AMERICA.
Love the A's and B's, that sound makes me cry because I remember going to Saudi sitting up top of a C5-A going to War. The M models, bleck sound like any everyday jet, bleck!
Yeah seeing that C5 M taking off. The sound was just all wrong for that plane. I just wish they would have kept one or two C5's with the TF39's for enthusiasts at air shows and super bowl fly overs. Everyone even civilains like myself knew that plane was near by just by the sound. I have great memories hearing that plane fly over.
Alas, I'm going to miss the C-5A/B models with one of the most distinctive sounding airplane engines in the world. When it flies over you, you first hear the distinct growl of the front fan blades and as it passed over you, the sound changes to that of the the high-pitched engine whine. The C-5M--since it uses essentially the same engines found on the 747-400--sounds exactly like a 747-400, too.
I was standing on the flight line once with my dad at TAFB in the mid 1980’s about where that SUV was parked @2:55 in relation and watching a C5 take off, that is one moment i will never forget until the day i die and i think about it every day, as a teenager it was scary as hell but also beautiful. The C5 was a B model i think with the camo paint
I Worked on Fred in the early aughts, and I do not miss that scream. It just permeated everything on base. It was unescapable. Cannot deny how iconic the sound is though.
I remember as a child living in Germany 🇩🇪 my Omas place was right in line with Rammstein. I could here the C-5 coming long before it was over her place. Similar but not he same as an L1011 that deep growl you could hear it coming. I would run outside to see it. It and the B-52 were my faves while my Daddy was in the USAF.
My Grandparent's house in Bowers Beach, Delaware was directly under the flightpath of the C-5s orbiting and landing/taking off at Dover Air Force Base. My earliest memories were those behemoths thundering overhead at all hours, with Granddad standing on the porch telling us that they were "One-thousand-fifty-two feet up" or some other arbitrary figure. It never occurred to me until recently that my childhood was so unique in that very few others experienced the privilege of seeing these monstrous machines landing and taking off from one of the most active Air Force bases in the world........... It makes the utterances from my Grandfather all the more poingnant, and his passing all the more painful.......
In the C-5A video, you can even hear the thrust reduction at such a distance... Unfortunately never got to hear those TF39s in real life :/ But I'm happy, it's well documented by great videos like this one :)
You gotta love the sound of those old General Electric TF39 High Bypass Turbofan Engines on the Lockheed C-5A and C-5B Galaxy when compared to the new GE F138s of the Lockheed Martin C-5M Super Galaxy
The second C5 called an A model appears to actually be a B model. The Antenna on the nose is squared off where on the A it had a delta shape..Of course that could have changed. The real difference is not noticeable from the outside. The A had x-wind landing gear where the B did not. The A had Fire bottles in the cargo compartment, the B did not...and as stated previously, both A and B used the same engines. As far as I know, the C5 is the only plane to ever use the GETF-39 engines...an awesome sound that will be missed.
Correct, but the TF39 was just a designator, the core was used extensively in many applications not just in aviation but as the LM2500 as an industrial engine. They moved the "1/2"" core to the rear of the fan and it made it quieter and called it a LPC or a "Booster" .
Wow that sound brings back memories of when dad would take me to the base for what ever and that sound was in the background with the C5 and 141's out of Norton AFB in Berdoo.
I remember going to the old James connelly Air base in Waco Texas in the 80's. Those C-5's would constantly come in there and practice touch and goes!! We would park right at the end of the runway!
The new engines suck. It sounds like any airliner. The unique one-of-a-kind sound of the old engines is classic on the C-5. No other plane sounded like that. Too bad we will never hear those again.
The first B747 with CF6-6 did sound very similar to the C5's TF39s. The CF6-6 was a modified TF39 for commercial use therefore the TF39 is the origin for the entire CF6 family. So even the modern M-version's CF6-80C's are relative to the original engines.
I like they finally have better engine, but there was just something about the old engines that was just so cool. We'd hear them often flying overhead in San Antonio as they headed in and out of Kelly and Lackland AFBs. I always thought they looked like they were just hanging in midair.
C-5 AMP and C-5M Super Galaxy[edit] New C-5 cockpit avionics, installed under the Avionics Modernization Program Following a study showing 80% of the C-5 airframe service life remaining,[93] AMC began an aggressive program to modernize all remaining C-5Bs and C-5Cs and many of the C-5As. The C-5 Avionics Modernization Program (AMP) began in 1998 and includes upgrading avionics to Global Air Traffic Management compliance, improving communications, new flat panel displays, improving navigation and safety equipment, and installing a new autopilot system. The first flight of a C-5 with AMP (85-0004) occurred on 21 December 2002.[94] The Reliability Enhancement and Re-engining Program (RERP) began in 2006. It includes new General Electric F138-GE-100 (CF6-80C2) engines, pylons and auxiliary power units, upgrades to aircraft skin and frame, landing gear, cockpit and pressurization systems.[42][95] Each CF6 engine produces 22% more thrust (50,000 lbf or 220 kN),[96] providing a 30% shorter takeoff, a 38% higher climb rate to initial altitude, an increased cargo load and a longer range.[specify][42][97] Upgraded C-5s are designated C-5M Super Galaxy.[98]
Yes the idea was proposed in '98, but the C-5M didn't fly until 2006 I believe. The C-5B's did get upgraded first with the AMP program.... I already knew that. The plan for these upgrades came way earlier before it was actually put in place. The C-5M's are actually B models, just on steroids with the new engines.
My dad saw a lot of the old C-5A/B in Germany but i never saw it live :/ The old TF39 are iconic with its characteristic sounds. But the GE CF6-80 are true monsters with 22% more thrust. They made a huge difference in performance. Its like compare modern F1 v6 engines with F1 2000 v10 engines. Cause F1 is entertainment its clear the old v10 engines. But in military only power is important not sound.
If there is a difference then it is too subtle for me to figure out. Worked around on TF39 engines for many years and still can't distinguish between the two. The "M" version did sound a mite quieter.
Miss the low menacing growl of the original engines. It's as if each engine had two banshees living inside it. One with a very low voice and one with a very high voice, both screaming at the same time.
2 and 3 were both B models. You can tell by the serial on the 3rd one and the chin antenna and what looks like a B model serial as well on the 2nd one. Engines were the exact same ones As and Bs. They went to rebuild after X many hours. They sucked. They sounded great but dumpster fires as far as everything else. I worked on these at Dover in the early 2000s. They needed the AMP and M upgrade badly... A and B models used basically what amounted to 8 track tapes for fault recording and to calibrate one of these TF39 engines you had to do it manually via what looked like a Vietnam era analog "computer" that was literally hooked to a running engine with a really long extension cord. Lets not get started on the instruments before the AMP mod lol.
Yeah, I require that ringing-screaming sound! ❤ I love my Galaxy ❤ The M series ain't ringin'....😞. And yes, I am a female who loves military aircraft!!!!
I challenge the aviation community to prove me wrong, but I believe this video will not be out-classed in terms of C-5 pass by and model comparison (quality) for 15+ years.
Why 15 years? I have more C-5 footage that I got from RAF Mildenhall that I#d like to add, its only a Super Galaxy mind as thats all that is left flying, but I have the rear wheels up close whilst it is turning after backtracking the runway!
M every day of the week and twice on Sundays. If the A and B were adequate the M wouldn't exist. Looks like we'll just have to be happy with the IL-76 for screaming engines. If the C-5M update didn't exist the USAF would probably just end up withdrawing the C-5 altogether and bringing more C-17s out of the backup fleet
Está claro si usamos la comparación futbolistica el C5 Galaxy gana a su hermano gemelo Súper Galaxy por goleada .Siempre será el n°1 de los aviones de carga desde la destrucción del gigantesco Antonov an 225 Mriya. Un saludo desde Sevilla, España 👋
Me gusta más el ruido que hacen los motores del c5 Galaxy, suena más poderoso, que el Súper Galaxy que parece menos potente y ruidoso aunque los 2 "hermanitos gemelos" tienen la misma potencia.
The Air Force needs to retrofit ALL those M models back to the old TF-39s... who needs performance and economy when you can get GREAT SOUND in exchange??
