Aviation VideosDiscuss 'Videos of the Day' an ongoing thread in the World War II - Aviation forums; Here's another good one - modern Luftwaffe and so on with a perfect example of how music can sometimes be ...
"Success is not Final, Failure is not Fatal, it is the Courage to Continue that Counts"
Sir Winston Churchill
"To him the People of the World Largely owe the Freedom and Liberties they Enjoy Today"
Enscription on Hugh Dowding's (AOC Fighter Command 1936-40) statue in London
C-141, designed in Marietta, ends 43-year career
Associated Press
MARIETTA, Ga. - It served as a massive air ambulance, a troop transport and as the plane that brought the first American prisoners of war out of Vietnam.
The C-141 Starlifter - the first plane ever designed and produced by Lockheed-Martin's Marietta plant - has been retired after a distinguished 43-year career. The cargo plane's career included service in every military operation from Vietnam to Iraqi Freedom.
"This is an extremely historic airplane," Lockheed spokesman Jeff Rhodes said.
From 1963 to 1968, a total of 285 C-141 planes were built at the plant. Of the surviving planes, 13 are now in museums, NASA owns one and 251 already have been retired.
In its most upgraded form, the C-141B, the airplane could carry 200 troops, 155 paratroops, 14 aeromedical attendants and a maximum cargo of 68,725 pounds. It had its own oxygen lines for patients and could be used as a massive ambulance for wounded.
"The C-141 was the first jet-powered logistical transport we had," said Bob Ormsby, former president of Lockheed Marietta. "It's service to the nation was really incredible."
C-141s flew 10.6 million service hours for the United States. The four-engine plane even flew Apollo 11 astronauts to Houston after they returned from landing on the moon.
But the plane's most famous mission was in 1973 when a C-141 carried the first 40 American POWs out of Vietnam.
A total 124 POWs who flew the "Hanoi Taxi" or other rescue planes gathered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton base earlier this month for two flights, with 62 aboard each. That plane was painted in its 1973 color scheme as it looked during the POW rescues.
The C-141 Air Force Reserve transport plane, the last in service, was retired May 6 after landing near the National Museum of the United States Air Force on the base. Some of the veterans and pilots wept when the engines were shut down, Rhoades said.
Ormsby said a C-141 should be permanently displayed at the proposed Marietta Aviation Museum.
As a special weekend treat here is a stunning airshow routine that probably will never be repeated. In the 80s the BoBMF decided it would be a good idea to represent the old and the new in one display. Since the RAF's latest fighter, the ADV Tornado, shared Conningsby with the BoBMF it was an easy connection.
Less easy was reconciling the differing performance characteristics of these warhorses.
We saw these perform at least once that year (at Mildenhall) and I nabbed this clip off a TV airshow programme.
Funnily enough the BoBMF star in another jet-piston combo later this week on this channel when we see a flypast with Concorde.
The yanks have been in on the double act routine too - also at MAF we saw an F15 with two Mustangs and I filmed it.... now where did I put that?
BTW recently I have seen pictures, but as yet no video, of the F22 formating with a P51.
Good one Roy! The BBMF was planned to do flypasts with their modern counterparts at Leuchars last year (Spitfire - Tornado, Dakota - Hercules etc) but they didn't come because of the weather. Hopefully it will be better this year and I see them.
__________________
"Success is not Final, Failure is not Fatal, it is the Courage to Continue that Counts"
Sir Winston Churchill
"To him the People of the World Largely owe the Freedom and Liberties they Enjoy Today"
Enscription on Hugh Dowding's (AOC Fighter Command 1936-40) statue in London
The F-22, F-4 and P-51 on the following pages is an interesting one of airpower through three generations, if they added an F-86 and F-15 they could cover perhaps all the topline USAF fighters for the past 50 years or so.
__________________ Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living; the other helps you make a life.
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