Comparaison transporteurs

Apparament oui, mais sans suite (une version Tanker si j'ais bien lu).

Sources

un petit coin de Normandie à faire palir l'armée de l'air, discretion assurée

golgot1 a écrit

un petit coin de Normandie à faire palir l'armée de l'air, discretion assurée

Pas mort le C-5. Il faut dire que cette nouvelle version - C-5M - a l'air particulièrement réussie.

A Dover aircrew flying a C-5M Super Galaxy, named The Spirit of Normandy, unofficially set 41 world records in a single flight, taking off from the base before dawn Sept. 13.

41 records, rien que ça !!

One of the records broken during the flight was previously held by the Russians who set it in 1989 with a Tupolev Tu-160 aircraft, said Mr. Maynard. It's one of the more significant records broken: the altitude attained in horizontal flight.

Les Russes continuent de se faire tailler des croupières les pauvres…

The C-5M crew also set a new record for the greatest mass carried to 2,000 meters, set by a C-17A Globemaster III in 1993. The crew also broke six other records previously held by the C-17.

Le C-5M concrétise donc la revanche du Galaxy sur le fameux C-17…

A C-5M, which was used for the record-breaking flight, is a C-5 Galaxy that has received a modernized glass cockpit and avionics upgrade as part of the Avionics Modernization Program and new engines through the Reliability Enhancement and Re-engining Program.

Bref, un nouvel avion, selon le principe “faire du neuf avec du vieux” !!

The C-5 Galaxy, one of the world's largest aircraft, has been the backbone of America's strategic airlift fleet since the late 1960s. However, years of wear and tear impacted the C-5s' reliability rates. Yet testing revealed the C-5 fleet had 80 percent of its structural service life remaining. Rather than doing away with the aircraft, Lockheed Martin officials proposed a plan in September 1998 to update the C-5 Galaxy fleet with new avionics and engines.

These improvements are predicted to raise the aircraft's reliability levels.

As it seems, mission accomplished !

"This aircraft is capable of significantly shorter take-offs than the previous (C-5) aircraft," said Lt. Col. Mike Semo, 709th Airlift Squadron pilot and C-5M Program Office chief." We are able to take more cargo farther distances with greater reliability. They've also vastly improved to a glass cockpit, which results in greater situational awareness for the pilots. There are upgrades to navigation, safety equipment, communications and a new autopilot system. This really is a modern aircraft for a modern Air Force."

Très bon ça ! Les capacités de décollage étaient justement un des points noirs du C-5; alors que celui-ci soit corrigé… Magnifique !

Current Air Force plans call for Lockheed Martin to deliver 52 C-5Ms by 2016. Dover currently has three C-5Ms.

Un beau programme. Décidément, les américains ont tout de même une bonne stratégie quant à leurs avions cargos !