for fl ight-testing following installation on C-5A
serial 68-0214. Designed with an increased
service life of 30,000 hours, the new wing
utilized a stronger aluminum alloy that offered
increased corrosion resistance. Constructed by
Avco Aerostructures Textron, it also allowed
the C-5A to carry a 245,000lb (111,130kg)
payload, providing an increase of 25,000lb
(11,340kg). Flight-testing began during August
1980 and was completed in late 1981.
Production of the new design started on
August 14, 1980 and the fi rst wings were
installed on serial 67-0173, which was
delivered on February 24, 1983. The last of 77
re-winged aircraft arrived with the 436th
MAW at Dover AFB on July 7, 1987. Although
the fl eet modifi cations cost around $1.1
billion, the project added 30,000 fl ight hours
to the service life of each C-5A.
Lockheed fi rst proposed a C-5N to the USAF
as an alternative to the C-X, which later
became the C-17A Globemaster III, in
September 1981. The unsolicited proposal
was prepared in response to a 1981 Mobility
Study that called for the procurement of
additional heavy-lift airlifters. On December
31, 1982, Lockheed received a contract for the
fi rst C-5B and options for a further 49 aircraft.
In addition to all of the improvements that had
been made to the C-5A since it entered service,
the C-5B featured around 100 modifi cations
intended to improve reliability and increase
service life. These included the Bendix
AN/APS-133 color weather radar, inertial
navigation system, more powerful 43,000lb st
(191.3kN) TF39-GE-1C engines and other
upgrades to the structures and systems.
Externally indistinguishable from the C-5A,
the fi rst C-5B was rolled out on July 2, 1985
and made its initial fl ight on September 10.The cavernous internal
cargo bay of the C-5
main deck is shown to
good e ect in this view.
This example from the
9th Airlift Squadron
is being loaded by
members of the 455th
Expeditionary Aerial
Port Squadron at Camp
Bastion, Afghanistan.
USAF/SSgt Jeremy
BowcockA C-5 Galaxy ies over
Gillette Stadium, Foxboro,
Massachusetts, from
nearby Westover ARB.
USAF/SrA Kelly GallowayUS Army CH-47D Chinooks
being unloaded from a
C-5M at Dover AFB
on their return from
Afghanistan.
USAF/Greg L. Davis72 May 2015 http://www.combataircraft.net70-77 AMC Part 1- C5 C.indd 72 20/03/2015 11:16