Wednesday, March 26, 2008

C-17 Globemaster Traffic

I've seen several of these VERY LARGE planes landing at Quantico Marine Corps Base recently. We can also hear them when they take off...very loud. Since they are so big, I assumed they were C-5 Galaxys. But I cant find any official C-5 photo that as those little verticle pylons at the end of the wings. Therefore I conclude that these are C-17 Globemaster III.

These shots were taken today after the plane flew directly overhead my house.... they haven't done that before...usually they are south of my neighborhood. When it went overhead, the house vibrated and I heard a loud "whoosh" suction-kind of noise.

I found some interesting things about the Quantico runway, and here's a quote:

The runway has seen increasing C-17 and C-130 traffic and it is expected that a permanent C-17 mission may be stationed at MCAF Quantico with the construction of the new apron areas and hangars. From discussions with Air Operations personnel, it is estimated that the runway will receive approximately 2000 passes per year of a C-130 at 155,000 lbs. and 2000 passes of a C-17 at 580,000 lbs. The runway was analyzed using this yearly traffic estimate projected over the next 25 years, which correlates to 50,000 passes of each aircraft. Fifty thousand passes of a C-130 equates to approximately 20 passes of a C-17.
Yeah, these are HUGE and HEAVY airplanes.

No comments: