When the need arose for a jet powered tactical airlifter, Lockheed stepped in and developed the great C-141 Starlifter. Before being replaced by C-17s in the late 20th century, it proved itself as an unparalleled strategic airlifter by combining several practical elements, such as speed, ease of loading, and versatility into one package. In fact, its recorded loads ranging from IFVs to fully armed troops to an actual whale are a testament to the C-141's versatility.
Before the C-141's introduction, the bulk of the American air transportation duties were carried out by propeller driven aircraft such as the C-130 or a small number of jet engine types such as Boeing C-135s. However, the United States did not yet possess a dedicated strategic jet-powered lifter in large enough numbers to carry out the majority of all transportation roles. When Lockheed proposed the C-141 design, the U.S.A. saw an opportunity to improve their transport efficiency by a hundredfold. The C-141 was specially designed for the transport role, with features such as loading doors present on different areas of the plane, allowing for loads of all shapes and sizes to be lifted onto the aircraft. The original C-141A made its combat debut in Vietnam, transporting mainly equipment, but also troops, into the Vietnamese theater.
The C-141A soon became the main USAF front-line transport aircraft. Whenever a crisis erupted, and a vast amount of supplies were needed, C-141As would be sent out in large numbers, their ranks occasionally supplemented by C-5 galaxies, which are much larger aircraft but in smaller supply. In the year 1970, the decision was made to extend the cargo hold of the C-141A as well as add a receptacle allowing for the aircraft to be refueled by flying tankers such as the KC-135. At the time of the decision, the entire Starlifter fleet numbered 263 planes, and not until 7 years later, in 1977, would the first C-141B take to the skies. The 270th and last C-141B was delivered in 1982.
The C-141B is powered by four Pratt & Whitney TF33-P-7 turbofan engines delivering 93, 42-kN's of thrust each. Two engines on mounted on the underside of each wing in cylindrical nacelles. It has a maximum speed of 911 KmH, a maximum range of 4773 Km, and a relatively high service ceiling of 12, 879m. The fuselage of the C-141B was an unmodest 51 meters long, compared to the original C-141A starlifters 44 meter-long fuselage. Although the C-141B is much longer than the C-141A, it utilizes the same powerplant, resulting in a greater volume capacity but no increase in the amount of weight that may be carried. This is extremely beneficial since wider or longer cargoes can be easily stored in a larger fuselage. This eliminated the problem of extra trips needed per cargo (Due to bulkiness), even if they did not exceed the weight limit of the C-141A Starlifter.
The only main differences between the C-141A and C-141B variants being fuselage lengths and the addition of an air-to-air fueling receptacle, the two aircraft are remarkably similar in airframe design. The aircraft's rudder, flaps, and moveable flight services are all controlled hydraulically. High-set wings help to lessen the length of runway needed for takeoff, and also help to prevent debris or foreign particles other than air from entering the engines. The rear doors of the aircraft open to the side, allowing for cargo or troops to be dropped with ease in flight, at the cost of increased drag. When on the ground, an extendable ramp stored in the Starlifters fuselage may be deployed, to allow wheeled aircraft and loads mounted on rollers to be stored without difficulty. The four main wheels of the C-141 can retract and extract from the undercarriage, as can the nosewheel. Once the wheels are brought back into the craft, small doors slide shut, sealing them in.
The C-141A Starlifter flew its way into the record books in mid-1965 by becoming the first jet transport aircraft to drop cargo in mid-flight. The ramp was also tested for use in mid-air cargo drops, and found to slightly improve the accuracy of heavy cargo drops. Droppable cargo would be tightly secured to a pallet before a flight, and a parachute lashed to it. When the time came for the load to be released, the Starlifter would descend to lower altitudes, the rear fuselage doors would be opened and the cargo released. A safe method of dropping the cargo was pre-deploying the parachute prior to the drop. The load would be pushed out of the aircraft and the parachute would slow its descent instantly, and sometimes the chute could be used to help pull the cargo out of the plane. Since cargo cannot deploy a parachute itself unlike a paratrooper, this was a practical method of dropping cargo that is still put into practice with aircraft today.
Vietnam was the high point of the Starlifter's career, bringing troop trucks and amphibious vehicles as well as tanks to bases in the South of the country. At best, the aircraft's load could be unloaded in 17 minutes and reloaded in half an hour, allowing it to spend less than 50 minutes on the ground before it could depart again. C-141s ended their Vietnamese tour of duty bringing a cargo of liberated POWs home to the USA from North Vietnam.
The most recent modernization program involved 63 unscathed-by-combat-and-age C-141B Starlifters being upgraded to the C-141C variant. One of the reasons for the upgrade was the aging fleet of Starlifters were slowly becoming obsolete as jet transporters in the modern age. Another reason, and the key reason, was that the USA needed reliable modern transport aircraft to serve until the C-17 Globemaster III aircraft could arrive and replace the rest of the C-141 fleet in the mid-late 2000s. While the C-141B received mainly structural upgrades and additions, the C-141C received avionics and electronics upgrades, as well as an ultra-modernized cockpit.
The simplistic controls in the C-141A and B variants have been replaced with computerized controls, glass mounted HUDS of sorts, digitized displays, and touch screens replacing more traditional switches, dials, and status indicators. Improved navigation systems and top-of-the-line ALE-47 Countermeasure Flare Dispensers were also present. The first C-141C was operational by October of 1997. All C-141s have been long since replaced by the C-17 Globemaster III.
Written by: Pace51