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BOEING C-17 GLOBEMASTER III 100 YEARS OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE

PATROLLERS AND AIRLIFTERS RAF CENTENARY CELEBRATION 87

Type: Three-crew heavy military transport aircraft

First fl ight: September 15, 1991, entered service August 2001

Powerplant: Four 40,440lb st (180kN) Pratt & Whitney F117 turbofans

Dimensions: Span 169ft 8in (51.75m), length 174ft (53.04m)

Weights: Empty 282,500lb (128,100kg), all-up 585,000lb (265,350kg)

Max speed: 515mph (829km/h) at 28,000ft (8,534m)

Range: 5,179 miles (8,334km)

Capacity: 102 paratroopers, 134 troops or 169,000lb (76,655kg) of cargo

Replaced: Vickers VC10

Taken on charge: Eight

Replaced by: N /A

BOEING C-17 GLOBEMASTER III

Above

ZZ175 was the fi rst

‘new’ C-17 to be

acquired by the

RAF following the

initial lease of four

aircraft (ZZ171-174).

This machine was

delivered in February

2008. ANDY HAY/WWW.
      FLYINGART.CO.UK

Below

The formation fl ypast

over Buckingham

Palace for the 2002

Queen’s Jubilee was

led by a 99 Squadron

C-17. The aircraft is

seen here during

the practice run for

the event. CROWN

COPYRIGHT/SGT JACK

PRITCHARD

MA

to Boeing at the end of the deal. The

lease restricted the use of the aircraft,

prohibiting para-dropping, airdrop,

rough field, low-level flying and air-

to-air refuelling.

The first of the leased C-17s was

delivered to the RAF at Boeing’s

Long Beach facility on May 17,

2001 and was then flown to RAF

Brize Norton by a crew from 99

Squadron. All four aircraft had been

delivered by the end of the year.

The aircraft quickly proved very

useful and although the A400M

project was then progressing, the

decision was made in July 2004 to

buy the four Globemaster airframes

at the end of the lease. A fifth C-17

was ordered in 2006 (and delivered

in February 2008) and a sixth

example arrived in June 2008. The

fleet gradually increased and by the

end of 2012 it stood at eight aircraft.

CAPABILITIES

The C-17 fleet was used extensively

during operations in Iraq and

Afghanistan, and even after the

arrival of the A400M (see page 94)

it remains a vital part of the cargo

group. Compared to the turboprop

Airbus’ maximum payload of

82,000lb (37,195kg) the C-17 can

carry up to 169,500lb (76,885kg)

and the aircraft can also act as a

fully equipped airborne hospital for

medical evacuation.

The jet is capable of rapid, strategic

delivery of troops and all types

of cargo to main operating bases

anywhere in the world. Its weight-

bearing rear ramp and digitally

controlled loading systems enable

large, complex items of equipment,

including Chinook helicopters,

military vehicles and other heavy/

specialist items to be loaded.

The C-17 can carry 100,000lb

(45,360kg) of freight more than

5,000 miles (8,047km) at altitudes

above 35,000ft (10,668m). Using

high angle, steep approaches at

relatively slow speeds the aircraft can

land on unprepared strips as short as

3,500ft (1,067m).

In RAF service the C-17 is

primarily operated by 99 Squadron

at RAF Brize Norton, although 24

Squadron trains new crews for the

type. The aircraft soon became a

key part of the airbridge operation

that sustained UK operations in

Afghanistan, but even at the peak

of Operation Herrick the C-17

continued to provide humanitarian

relief around the world.

BOEING C-17 GLOBEMASTER III

C-17 GLOBEMASTER III

to Boeing at the end of the deal. The

C-17 GLOBEMASTER III

Left

Personnel from 904

Expeditionary Air

Wing and the Joint

Force Support Unit,

based at Kandahar in

Afghanistan, about

to return to the UK

on an RAF C-17 in

November 2014. They

were among the last

troops to come home

following the closure

of Camp Bastion and

the end of Operation

Herrick. CROWN

COPYRIGHT/CPL ANDREW

MORRIS