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| Description | |||
| Manufacturer: | Lockheed | ||
| Designation: | C-141 | ||
| Version: | B | ||
| Nickname: | Starlifter | ||
| Type: | Cargo / Transport | ||
| Specifications | |||
| Length: | 169' | ||
| Height: | 39' | ||
| Wingspan: | 160' | ||
| Payload: | 90,880 lbs | ||
| Empty Weight: | 148,120 lbs | ||
| Gross Weight: | 343,000 lbs | ||
| Propulsion | |||
| No. of Engines: | 4 | ||
| Powerplant: | Pratt & Whitney TF33 | ||
| Horsepower (each): | 21,000 lb thrust | ||
| Performance | |||
| Range: | unlimited with in-flight refueling | ||
| Cruise Speed: | 495-566 mph | ||
| Max Speed: | 495-566 mph | ||
| Ceiling: | |||
A product of John F. Kennedy’s first official order as President, the C-141 was designed to be a fast, long-range strategic and tactical transport capable of delivering 60,000 pounds of cargo 3,500 miles while retaining the slow speed capability to airdrop paratroopers and cargo while in-flight. Produced on-time and under budget, Lockheed engineers gave the C-141 a high-mounted wing swept back 25 degrees for high-speed performance, powerful flaps for low-speed capability, four under-wing TF33 turbofan engines, integral wing fuel tanks, a T-tail, externally housed landing gear, dual paratroop doors and rear-mounted clamshell doors with an integral loading ramp for quick on and off loads.
Brought into service in October 1964, in less than seven months squadrons of C-141s began ten years of nearly daily flights into Southeast Asia, carrying troops, equipment, supplies, medevac’ing wounded and, in 1973’s Operation Homecoming, repatriating freed POWs. In April 1975, C-141s airlifted the last remaining American personnel from Saigon as it fell to North Vietnamese forces.
In the following years, Starlifters supplied U.S. forces throughout the world, aiding in humanitarian efforts and military conflicts in Grenada and Panama and providing support to Israeli forces during several flare-ups in the Middle East. In the first half of 1990, modified C-141Bs with 23-foot fuselage extensions permitting an increased cargo capacity of 13 pallets, 205 troops, 168 fully loaded paratroopers or 103 litters for wounded and equipped with an aerial re-fueling capability, were engaged in Operation Desert Shield. In an around the clock strategic airlift push, C-141Bs landed in Saudi Arabia at an astounding rate of one every seven minutes.
The last C-141 left the U.S. inventory in 2006 replaced by a new generation of global airlift, the C-17 Globemaster III.
The museum's C-141B Starlifter serial number 65-0257, currently on loan from the National Museum of the U.S.A.F., the “Spirit of the Inland Empire” entered active service in 1966. Its assignments have included Travis AFB, CA. McCord AFB, WA. Norton AFB, CA. and finally the 452nd Air Mobility Wing, at March. After completing 44,130 flight hours 65-0257 retired and moved across the runway to the March Field Air Museum on November 10, 1999.
According to the AF Historical Research Agency, Maxwell AFB, AL, this aircraft had the following history:
- Manufactured by Lockheed Aircraft, Marietta GA and gained by the USAF on 27 May 1966.
- Jun 1966 To 60th Military Airlift Wing (Military Air Transport Command), Travis AFB CA
- Apr 1971 To 62nd Military Airlift Wing (Military Airlift Command) McChord AFB WA
- Mar 1982 To Lockheed Aircraft, Marietta (to C-141B)
- Jun 1983 To 62nd Military Airlift Wing (MAC), McChord AFB (deployment to Travis AFB)
- Nov 1986 To 60th Military Airlift Wing (MAC), Travis AFB (last assignment located)
This aircraft is on loan from the Air Force Museum, Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio.
