The Lockheed C-141 Starlifter is a military strategic airlifter that served with the Military Air Transport Service (MATS), its successor organization the Military Airlift Command (MAC), and finally the Air Mobility Command (AMC) of the United States Air Force (USAF). The aircraft also served with airlift and air mobility wings of the Air Force Reserve (AFRES), later renamed Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC), the Air National Guard (ANG) and, later, one air mobility wing of the Air Education and Training Command (AETC) dedicated to C-141, C-5, C-17 and KC-135 training.
Introduced to replace slower propeller driven cargo planes such as the Douglas C-124 Globemaster II and Douglas C-133 Cargomaster, 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 USAF, and a company demonstrator later delivered to National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for use as an airborne observatory. The aircraft remained in service for over 40 years until the USAF withdrew the last C-141s from service in 2006, after replacing the airlifter with the C-17 Globemaster III.
The Lockheed C-141 Starlifter is a long range strategic airlifter, designed for transporting large quantities of either cargo or passengers. It is powered by an arrangement of four TF33 turbofan engines, each capable of generating up to 21,000 pounds-force (93 kN) of thrust; these were installed in pods beneath the high-mounted swept wing. The underside accommodates the retractable tricycle landing gear, consisting of a twin-wheel nose unit and four-wheel main units, the latter of which retract forward into fairings set onto each side of fuselage. The flight deck is typically operated by a crew of four.
The use of a high-mounted wing enabled internal clearance in the cargo compartment of 10 feet (3.0 m) wide, 9 ft (2.7 m) high and 70 ft (21 m) long. Accordingly, the C-141 was capable of carrying, for example, a complete LGM-30 Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in its container; it was capable of carrying a maximum of 70,847 pounds (32,136 kg) over short distances, and carry up to 92,000 pounds (42,000 kg) when appropriately configured to carry the Minuteman, which lacked other equipment. In terms of personnel, the aircraft could carry a maximum of 154 fully-equipped troops, 123 paratroops or 80 litter patients at a time. In practice, it was discovered that under typical conditions, the cargo deck of the C-141A would run out of volume before the maximum weight value could be reached.
In terms of ground logistics, an important aspect of the C-141 was the floor height of the cabin being only 50 inches (130 cm) above the ground, enabling easy access to the cabin via the large rear doors incorporated into the upwards-sweeping rear fuselage. This section is furnished with a large single-piece hydraulically-actuated loading ramp for simplified loading/unloading of both vehicles and general cargo. The two side-facing rear doors were designed to allow the type to be used for dropping paratroops (in August 1965, the C-141 performed the first such drop from a jet-powered aircraft). The rear cargo doors could be also opened in flight to perform airborne cargo drops. More details
Introduced to replace slower propeller driven cargo planes such as the Douglas C-124 Globemaster II and Douglas C-133 Cargomaster, 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 USAF, and a company demonstrator later delivered to National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for use as an airborne observatory. The aircraft remained in service for over 40 years until the USAF withdrew the last C-141s from service in 2006, after replacing the airlifter with the C-17 Globemaster III.The Lockheed C-141 Starlifter is a long range strategic airlifter, designed for transporting large quantities of either cargo or passengers. It is powered by an arrangement of four TF33 turbofan engines, each capable of generating up to 21,000 pounds-force (93 kN) of thrust; these were installed in pods beneath the high-mounted swept wing. The underside accommodates the retractable tricycle landing gear, consisting of a twin-wheel nose unit and four-wheel main units, the latter of which retract forward into fairings set onto each side of fuselage. The flight deck is typically operated by a crew of four.
The use of a high-mounted wing enabled internal clearance in the cargo compartment of 10 feet (3.0 m) wide, 9 ft (2.7 m) high and 70 ft (21 m) long. Accordingly, the C-141 was capable of carrying, for example, a complete LGM-30 Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in its container; it was capable of carrying a maximum of 70,847 pounds (32,136 kg) over short distances, and carry up to 92,000 pounds (42,000 kg) when appropriately configured to carry the Minuteman, which lacked other equipment. In terms of personnel, the aircraft could carry a maximum of 154 fully-equipped troops, 123 paratroops or 80 litter patients at a time. In practice, it was discovered that under typical conditions, the cargo deck of the C-141A would run out of volume before the maximum weight value could be reached.