C-5M Super Galaxy VERY SHORT Takeoff!! San Juan (SJU), Puerto Rico 

I live in Dover and these planes have flown over head as long as I can remember. If I'm driving near the base and see one about to land or take off I still stop and watch like a kid. After 38 years it never gets old.

It's TOTALLY AMAZING that something that big could ever get airborne, let alone use minimal runway for lift. Unbelievable!!!!! 👍👍👍👍👍

I flew on a C5, from Ramstein Air Base, to Dover AFB. We always call this plane pigs in space. It is amazing to see it take off in person. The flight was long, cold, and cheap. An emergency flight, my mom was dying of cancer, no one told me. We left Germany December 24th, horrible Christmas that year.

Some people call into question the damage caused by hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, which I believe was the reason why this particular aircraft was taking off so light from SJU on that particular date. Let me quote from somebody who has no reason whatever to be biased towards Puerto Rico, Major General Thomas Sharpy of the United States Air Force: "My heart sank when I arrived in Puerto Rico and saw the damage and destruction of Hurricane Maria first hand. I had seen some of the news reports about it beforehand but was unprepared to witness the level of destruction the hurricane had wreaked on the Island - it was mind blowing. After spending two weeks traveling to different regions, the devastation of Puerto Rico’s infrastructure was visible but more apparent was the resilience and strength of the Puerto Ricans. Civic leaders, government officials, small business owners and local citizens alike demonstrated resourcefulness, hard work, and they showed how much they cared about each other. As dedicated and driven as the citizens of Puerto Rico are, the devastation is just too much to handle alone. They will need the United States military’s continued support to get back to the lives they knew before this year’s hurricanes and in some areas, it will likely take years before normalcy is restored." Read more here: www.bnd.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article185071073.html#storylink=cpy

This baby is what took me over to the Middle East during Desert Storm and then brought me back home 6 months later. Dover to Spain. Refuel. Spain to Saudi Arabia. Reverse on the way home. Jump seats for about 12 hours each way. Oy my aching back!

Outstanding footage of a classic military transport. I wonder what it was like to be able to fly something like this.

Do you think that the UPS pilots looking over at the C-5 are thinking...."I'd like to give that a GO !"...?

80 KNOTS, V-1, ROTATE. Beautiful Takeoff. I ❤Airplanes. I am a 72 yr. old man who was put on this earth to fly big lanes in my next life.❤

I live close to a major AFB. I see virtually every air force jet made. These giants defy gravity.

I have that tail number in a limited edition artist rendition, framed and on the wall in my office. My son flew C-5's all over the world for 20 years. I also had the opportunity to go up on the cat walk of the Travis A.F.B. air control tower (12 stories), and watch these beasts do touch and goes. What an experience to go inside one of these behemoths! It's like walking into Mamoth Cave.

Truely amazing how such a big plane can takeoff in such a short distance Totally awesome

As my mom would have said "Lord have Mercy. Something that big can take off that fast. God's Work". What a Magnificent Dictator. I think this beauty just pushed the AIRBUS A380 to #2 spot. The C-5 GALAXY is my new #1.

Incredible absolutely amazing aircraft the C5 galaxy is just absolutely an marvel of aviation Engineering

My first love was the C-141B starlifter, they were the unsung heroes of the US Air Force. We could fly to anywhere on the planet and ruin their day, if needed. I was a Crew Chief at Charleston for years.

When they are light on fuel and load, they have a near 1:1 ratio of pounds of thrust to pounds of weight. Amazing. They can fly nearly straight vertical.

Pilots knows theirs job. Respect.👏👏👏

Wow I never get tired watching these huge planes taking off.

Love the way the landing gear rotates 90 degrees before being lifted up. Such a beast. Awesome video!

Super Galaxy. Just Amazing. Nice Takeoff!

Even the wheel retraction is amazing on this aircraft!

FRED! My favorite MADAR breaking jack flyer!

What a beautiful bird.

Waoo it just take off in less than 25 second. Amazing big aircraft doing that.

Flew in 1 with my M1A1 Abrams from Hunter Army Airfield to Cherry Point back in 1992-3 4/64 Armour👍👍

Saw a couple flying over Charleston SC . so big they almost looked stopped in midair.

Seems impossible that something that big could take off and fly! And with only 15 or so seconds of acceleration. Amazing!

Amazing short takeoff, light payload. ✈✈✈🇺🇸💯💯💯

Flew on one of these from Mildenhall to Dover. The seats were backwards. Much better than the KC-135's I used to fly around in.

I can guess it was empty - but notice the date. This was just under two months after hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, and we were short of a great number of things, not only food and drinking water, but also utility poles (which the hurricane took a special odium to), heavy machinery and so on. So my guess is, it took off light, after delivering relief supplies.

I live very close to Travis, never tire of seeing them.

And still a better turning radius than a ram 1500

Here's a fun fact. I worked this jet about a month or 2 ago. Good old f.r.e.d stopping in for scheduled ISO maintenance

My God what a monstrosity super Beast Beautifull C-5M super galaxy🇺🇸🇵🇷👏👋👏💪😤 GOD BLESS OUR AMERICA🇺🇸

Will forever blow my mind how something with that monstrosity, especially loaded too, can lift off the ground and fly thru the air😕

I remember going to an air show at Travis Air Force Base back in the summer of 1990. Everyone was wondering why there were so many C-5 Galaxies lined up, apparently getting ready for something. We found out in August.

These planes weigh more than 9,000 pounds empty. It's just incredible that they can lift off. They use less than 210,000 gallons of fuel to fly from Florida to Alaska. Just amazing. And to think they werent even around before the 1930s. The leaps and bounds in technology is more than some people can handle.

The UPS plane- “Move along buddy, I have to get somewhere! Helloooo!!!”

Nice catch! Dover also visited st. Maarten back on october after irma! Glad to see her still hopping arounf the caribbean

This is probably my favorite plane, concorde coming in at 2nd, 747 third. It's such a amazing plane, truely.

What I find fascinating is that these heavy military transports have the wings on top of the fuselage, whereas commercial airliners have them on the bottom. And yet either of them can fly. I'm not a scientist at all, but aerodynamics is very interesting to me.

That's a Marvelous take off...WOwww

Its cool to watch the L-gears do their thing. I was a direct part of reclaiming a lot of gear components from decommissioned C-5's to fit active birds when I worked at AMARG. Funny to see it all happen(retraction) when you know you've been stuffed up in the nether reaches of it all. HAHA!

I miss the mind-bending grinding scream of the old engines on takeoff.

I rode a C-5 in 1971 from Yokota Japan to Charleston SC with a fuel stop in Alaska. It was a much more comfortable and quiet flight compared to the C-130, C-141 and KC-135 I'd ridden previously. Heck, I miss all of them....

What an incredibly short take-off. Amazing.

When we were stationed at George AFB, the first C5 from Edwards AFB use to do touch and goes. They were so magnificent and it was hard to believe they could fly. I even had one go right over me on air base rd. Wow what a thrill.

Beautiful. I love what men can make

It just floats up into the air. Unbelievable.

Absolutely Amazing

It’s amazing how little runway these bad boys need to take off

What an awesome plane. It looked to be just slowly warming up on the runway then up it went,

Wow, interesting to see how the main landing gear rotates a few times before being fully up and closed.

If you ever go for a ride on a C-5 it's either very hot or very cold depending on where you sit. If you're next to an emergency exit it's freezing but if you sit far away it's very hot.

Transport category aircraft have a wide range of takeoff weights. I flew the C-141. Empty it was about 150K lbs , but the fuel load could be up to 153K, more than the weight of the jet itself. Max gross weight was 344,900 but 325,000 on routine runs. Approach speeds were as slow as 118 kts empty with about 20K of fuel to 157kts fully loaded. I liked to think it had the same personality but different moods. Either way, a very light transport can climb like a bandit. BTW- I'm sure the Vr for the pictured C-5 was about 120 (never flew it but did jump-seat several times). It's a really big jet and it looks like it's moving slower.

Now that was impressive !

wow awesome take off, yhanks for the videos keep it up.

A thing of wonderment and beauty

Never seen a 5 MPH takeoff before!

Beautiful video! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Impressive, LOVE it, Thank You for sharing

That landing gear is cool as hell

I really love how the landing gear retracts

This same c-5 visited st maarten to deliver supplies around the same time. Truly a magnificent aircraft

I walked around under a C-5 at an open house at Andrews one day. You stand there looking up at it and it seems impossible that anything that big could fly.

I’ve flown tail 5003 many times!

Saw Puerto Rico, clicked and Subscribed 🇵🇷 Btw, that aircraft is a beast!

They should convert them into passenger airlines, I bet they would work really well 😊

Wow! Never seen one take off that quick

I am in the aviation parts business and I can tell you first hand, the main landing gear for that thing are over 15,000 lbs each, its a wonder it gets off the ground with the kind of weight its foisting..just stunning.. Lockheed kicks butt!!!

Flew in a C-141 from Ft. Benning to Saudi Arabia via McGuire & Torrejon going over to Desert Shield/Desert Storm. Flex several C-130's from/to BHM to Panama back in the day for Annual Training, flew back one time in an Alabama Air Guard KC-135. C-130's were absolutely miserable, left one time (mid February) w/snow blowing sideways & landed six-seven hours later thunderstorms, mid 80's temp & humidity.

They have to be seen in person to really appreciate them taking off.

Hmmm..no more screaming sound during takeoff on C-5M version. i missed that sound. I rode the C-5A/B during my space "A" flight from Travis Airforce Base, Fairfield, CA crossing the pacific all the way to Clark Air Base in the Philippines via Hickam AFB in HI, Yokota AFB in Japan and Kadena Air Base in Okinawa.

I was stationed with them in Altus. On take offs and landings, they are so big it looks like they are flying in slow motion. I can't believe they grounded them. They also had a different sound from the engines. A higher pitch? All you had to do is hear one to be able to identify it. Maybe Thats Why They grounded them? She was a big girl!

there are 50 or so of these planes in service - ALL of them have flown over my house at one time or another. im under the flightpath of a former airforce base that is the only place on earth where the infrastructure to service these behemoths exists...

UPS... hold my beer, I'll show you how to haul the mail..

I got to Charleston Air Force Base about a month after the first C5A arrived in 1970. Then rode on one to Guam TDY in 1972.

So the rear landing gear do articulate. Cool.

It would be good if the spooling of the engines was recorded also. anyway, awesome video :)

A marvel of engineering

Soon this badass would be a part of indian airforce.. 😊 love from india to usa... 😊😊

I'll never forget the sound those things make, especially the APU which would drown out Deep Purple at their loudest. Also, that IS an amazingly short distance for something that big and heavy to take off, was it helium aided?

Damn, that's a monstrous plane! How much does it weigh?

How in the hell did that huge plane skip a few feet and lift off???? Insane!!

God Bless our military and their families 💕 be safe and may your journeys be good ones!

For those who are skeptic about the damage Hurrican Maria caused in the SJU Airport and surronding areas. Pay close attention after 1:56 That is Muñiz ANG Base which was badly beaten by the Hurricane. Prior to assess damages based on a C-5 take off video, I encourage all the skeptics to hop on a car and take a cruise around the island. Just to be safe and refresh those conclusions.

What a nice little plane :)

That looked freaky!

You know the Navy model carry’s more cargo as the landing gear drops off and they land on a knew set at destination; the AF tried that but they were worried about only 10,000’ of runway and they couldn’t handle it much less a 400’ angled runway Thanx from the left coast near the Krapitol of California

Very impressive.

Ok so I saw a video where one landed on wrong run why do I see a ups plaine next to him just asking

Negative dihedreyal on wing equal superior lift at slow speeds and controlability at slow airspeed. But terrible induced drag at high speeds therefore lower cruise speeds at altitude. The Dassault Falcon was king of negative dihedreyal on wings but even they got rid of it for triple slotted fowler flaps and 3 position leading edge slats on a laminar flow super critical wing with same low speed results but faster speeds at altitude. This wing design also can lift around 17% more its on the b52.

Nice very nice very very nice Ummmm must say so very nice

I wonder why more commercial airliners didn't adopt the over wing configuration, it looks cool.

I worked on the C-5 from 1984 to 1994.

Short but nice thank you keep smiling lol

That is one big-a** plane!!

Awesome plane

Caught a ride on one of these back to Spain.

Si el 767..es grande este super galaxy es bestial...para llevar de todo.. un poco..saludos

Absolute unit.